carnigiehall2.jpg (84211 bytes) The Bergen Youth Orchestras Program was organized in 1968 to provide a training program for serious young musicians who are capable of working in a professional manner. The New Jersey Symphony, the Junior League of Bergen County and the Englewood Board of Education provided the initial support, which launched the orchestra. Eugene Minor has been music director and conductor of the orchestra since its inception.

The orchestra program is committed to offering to young people a type of musical exposure and training that is both energetic and artistically distinguished. In May 1976, the orchestra marked a major milestone with their New York debut at Lincoln Center. Critics, including The New York Times, were unanimous in their approval of the performance. In June 1977, the Orchestra was one of five youth orchestras chosen to participate in the first American Festival of Youth Orchestras held in Washington DC and in 1978, the Bergen Youth Chamber Orchestra made a guest appearance at Great Hall in the concert series of Cooper Union in New York City.

Other appearances include the Cathedral Concert Series of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ, Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Pihlharmonic, the School of the American Ballet at Lincoln Center and four appearances at New York's Carnegie Hall, the second being March 1998, where the Orchestra performed the world premier of Spohr's Tenth Symphony, the third in March 2002 and the most recent in June 2003.
Pictured above: World Premier: Louis Spohr: Tenth Symphony
Carnegie Hall, March 1998
Photo by: Group Photos, Inc.