As stated in the New York Times, "Ireland has one; Sweden has one; even Iraq has one." Thus, Carnegie Hall announced the formation of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. Funding (reported to be in the millions of dollars as there is no tuition or fees) will come from Joan and Sanford L. Weill (long associated with Carnegie), the Weill Family Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation.
The USA first had a national youth orchestra that was organized and auditioned by Leopold Stokowski in the 1940, but the group was disbanded following the nation's entry into World War II. Thus, the time has really come for an ensemble made up of America's young musical elite, of which there are many.
The entire story can be found here.
But as my title would imply, what's the problem. Well the first conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America is Valery Gergiev. I would never state that Maestro Gergiev's credentials are nearly pristine (and I'm not being xenophobic) but really, for the first go-around, couldn't we find a native-born son (or daughter)? I know that I could come up with a plethora of nominations.
How much would you bet me that next year they pick the Dude?
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