Each December, the New York String Orchestra Seminar (NYSOS)—one of the country’s most respected training programs—offers exceptional string, wind, brass, and timpani students 16 to 23 years of age a joyful learning experience. The no-cost program combines orchestral rehearsals, performances presented by Carnegie Hall, and rigorous chamber music exploration, all focused on personal expression and musicianship rather than technical perfection. Injury avoidance workshops help students work in healthy ways during the ten intensive days of the seminar. Through orchestra rehearsals, chamber music sessions, and performance, the NYSOS introduces students experientially to the philosophy that a great orchestra plays like a great string quartet.
2026 marks the beginning of Michael Stern’s tenure as Artistic Director and Conductor of New York String Orchestra Seminar, only the third in the program’s fifty-eight-year history. Stern’s superb musicianship, decades of innovative leadership as a music director, and his proven record with orchestras worldwide make him a natural leader for the Seminar as it launches its next chapter. Above all, his close bond and profound commitment to the Seminar and its mission, paired with his lifelong advocacy for young artists, made him an inspired choice to succeed Jaime Laredo’s long and successful tenure. We look forward to seeing him continue the impact the Seminar has had on thousands of exceptional young musicians who have gone on to major careers, helping to shape the world of classical music as we know it today.
"It was one of the defining moments for me as a teenager. The passion of people your own age is very important; it puts you in touch with a larger world, beyond schooling and everything else you do."
The New York String Orchestra Seminar is committed to ensuring accessibility. All seminar housing, rehearsal, and performance venues are ADA compliant. We invite students to request additional required forms of support in their New York String Orchestra Seminar applications.
Rohana Elias-Reyes
Director, New School Concerts
55 West 13th Street, room 929
New York, NY 10011
nsc@newschool.edu
212.229.5873
Leadership support is provided by the Alexander Schneider Foundation, and the seminar is made possible in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Further support is provided by an anonymous foundation grant and the tax-deductible gifts of many individual donors.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.