American Russian Young Artists Orchestra

The American Soviet Youth Orchestra was founded at Oberlin College in 1987 by Moscow State Conservatory director Boris Kulikov, Oberlin President S. Frederick Starr, and diplomats Grace Kennan Warnecke and Edythe Holbrook as part of a surge in Soviet-American cultural exchanges following the loosening of Cold War tensions during the period.[1][2][5][6][7][8] Their first performance was on August 5, 1988 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., conducted by Zubin Mehta.[8][9] The organization soon became a full-fledged year-round operation including chamber tours, residencies, and extensive community outreach programs in leading venues around the globe.[5]

In 1992, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, the organization regrouped as the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) with Holbrook as executive director.

In 1997, First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Naina Yeltsina joined ARYO in Yekaterinburg, Russia for their only appearance together without their spouse presidents.[1]

In 1998 the orchestra expanded to include a chamber orchestra which participated in the World Youth Music Forum at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Culture and Moscow Mayor Yuri M. Luzhkov. There ARYO joined nine other youth orchestras representing every continent to form a thousand-member "Orchestra of the World," which presented a concert in Red Square.[5] ARYO also played the 1998 Moscow Youth Olympics.[1]

In 1999 ARYO embarked on a world tour they called "Millennium Muzik," during which they visited twelve cities across the United States, Russia, and Central Europe. They performed works by Szymanowski, Duke Ellington, Stravinsky, Barber, and Rachmaninoff, joining the Kirov Orchestra In St. Petersburg, Russia. Baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Seaver emceed their gala benefit at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.[5]

In 2001, ARYO became affiliated with Bard College and came under the musical direction of its president, Leon Botstein.[2][5][7]

In 2002 Holbrook retired and Christine Loomis took the helm as executive director, and ARYO launched a trio known as the Amirus players.[7][10] That summer during its annual world tour, ARYO performed in Asheville, North Carolina for the first time, with an ensemble that included two performers from Ashevile's sister city Vladikavkaz.[2][4]

• Leon Botstein[2][4][5][10]
• Valery Gergiev[1][5]
• Dmitri Kitayenko[5]
• Zubin Mehta[5][8][9]
• Leonid Nikolaev[8]
• Constantine Orbelian[1]
• Eckart Preu
• Leonard Slatkin[5]
• Hugh Wolff[5]

ARYO alumni can be found in the world's leading musical organizations, including the New World Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Ural Philharmonic, the Novosibirsk Symphony, the Bolshoi Orchestra, the Kirov Orchestra, and the United States Marine Corps Band. Others have pursued careers in international relations.[1]