Youth Orchestra Waikato (YOW) draws upon young musicians from throughout the Waikato. The orchestra caters for young people in the 13 - 25 age range, although exceptions will be made in certain circumstances. The orchestra rehearses on Friday nights 6.30 - 9pm during the secondary school term at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato. The orchestra works on four programmes a year.

YOW's Principal Conductor is Simon Brew and the Associate Conductor is Catherine Polglase. The conductors are assisted by an expert team of tutors who are involved in rehearsals and sectional workshops. The YOW Manager is Catherine Polglase and Robert Lummus is our Librarian.

YOW musicians can take part in other Orchestras Central activities as appropriate, and attend other Orchestras Central events.

New Members
Secondary or middle school student or full-time waged - $338 GST inclusive (includes cost of YOW T-Shirt)
Tertiary level student in full-time study - $169 GST inclusive (includes cost of YOW T-Shirt)

Returning Members
Secondary or middle school student or full-time waged - $271 GST inclusive
Tertiary level student in full-time study - $136 GST inclusive

Camp cost
$165 GST inclusive

In cases of financial hardship please email artistic@orchestras.org.nz.

Friday 14 February | first rehearsal
Friday 14 March - Sunday 16 March | YOW Camp Epworth, Karapiro
Sunday 6 April | Cambridge Autumn Festival concert
Friday 23 May | Schools tour
Saturday 26 July | Kaleidoscope - formal concert
Saturday 23 August | Youth Showcase with Te Rauhi and WCSM
Saturday 6 December | Celebrate the Season concert

Record yourself on the best quality recording device you have.

• Say your name

• Say the name of each piece/excerpt before you play

• Play scales

Auditions will be judged on the following points: tone, intonation, style, rhythm, musicality, confidence, and preparation. If you have any questions, please email artistic@orchestras.org.nz

• Two contrasting sections of 2-3 mins from your repertoire. Choose sections that you have worked on with your teacher and that demonstrate your current ability. e.g. the exposition or section from a sonata, concerto, exam or NCEA piece.

• Percussionists are expected to audition this year - please play piano or mallet percussion 2-3 min of a piece demonstrating your current ability AND demonstrate a range of rhythms, and a roll on any drum or practice pad.

• Scales listed for your instrument (see below) - this is to show your agility, intonation and range.

• Concertmaster and string section leader positions – for those wanting to be considered for a string leadership role please tick the box on the registration form. After the first audition selected students will be invited to a second in-person audition on Monday, 3 February 2025.

• Concerto soloists – those wanting to be considered as a concerto soloist please play the full exposition of the movement you would like to perform as your solo and click the box on the audition registration form.

1. Upload your recording to a file-sharing website (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive) and set the privacy of the link to 'anyone with this link can view' so we can see it.
   
   OR
   

2. Upload your recording to a video-sharing website (e.g. Youtube or Vimeo) and set to 'unlisted'
   Go to www.youtube.com
   Sign in or create an account
   Click Upload
   Set privacy setting to ‘unlisted’ (this is very important)
   Upload your audition clip

3. Copy and paste the video link into your online registration form.