Success for Royal College of Music Junior Department students joining the National Youth Orchestra (NYO)

Monday 24 November 2025

26 talented musicians from the Royal College of Music Junior Department have secured places in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for 2026, continuing the success of RCMJD students joining the orchestra in previous years. 

The RCM Junior Department provides a tailor-made programme of outstanding individual lessons, chamber music, musicianship, orchestral and choral training. Founded in 1926, the RCMJD has nurtured the musical talents of young people leading them to careers performing on and composing for the world’s biggest stages. Alumni include composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber; pianist Martin James Bartlett, RCM professor and exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics; Grammy Award-winning recording artist Jacob Collier; and composer Mark-Anthony Turnage. 

RCMJD students will be joining all sections of the NYO in 2026, from string players to percussionists from a range of diverse backgrounds. The NYO was founded in 1948 to bring together the most talented teenage musicians in the UK, championing orchestral music as a powerful agent for teenage development. It regularly performs at major venues and events such as the BBC Proms and the Royal Albert Hall. Many of the musicians go on to have brilliant musical careers, with high-profile alumni including Anna Lapwood, Sir Simon Rattle and Judith Weir.  

Miranda Francis, Head of Junior Programmes at the RCM, said: ‘I am delighted that so many talented RCMJD musicians have been selected to be a part of the incredible National Youth Orchestra this year. This is a great tribute to their hard work and commitment to music making at the highest level. I am so proud of them all, and I look forward to hearing them perform!’  

Find out more about the RCM Junior Department.