Company Profile
Contemporary Youth Orchestra
Company Overview
CYO is the first and only youth orchestra in the country dedicated exclusively to the study and performance of contemporary orchestral literature. The organization makes music that excites the imagination and develops independent thinkers, surprises audiences, and inspires confidence through the arts.
CYO, which began with 35 students 20 years ago, has provided life changing music education to more than 1,200 young musicians through 90 productions, 14 rock artists and over 500 world premieres. Perhaps most importantly, over 10,000 northeast Ohio students have been positively impacted by CYO through our Outreach programs.
By its mission alone, CYO presents extraordinary learning experiences to all who come in contact with this innovative, high energy youth orchestra. This orchestra celebrates contemporary music and offers unparalleled opportunities for high-quality music education. Through interaction with living composers and expert guest artists to explore new music, the orchestra provides a unique setting for creative and innovative instruction with professionals from both Cleveland and beyond that often cannot take place in school classrooms due to limited time constraints and capacity for access. These creative learning experiences enhance classroom instruction in language and fine arts and provide broad exposure to art forms and an industry that those students might not otherwise have access to through typical education alternatives.
Company History
Liza Grossman started the Contemporary Youth Orchestra in 1995 as a classically trained musician and conductor with a love of music and performance. Liza strongly desired to share that love with a new generation. She was inspired by the challenge of one of her mentors, professor and world-renowned composer Bernard Rands, to follow her passion for contemporary musical performance in new and creative ways. Photo feels a little odd to me.
Today, CYO is the first and only youth orchestra in the country dedicated exclusively to the study and performance of contemporary orchestral literature. CYO has provided life changing music education to more than 1,200 young musicians. The orchestra began with 35 students in 1995 and has grown to 115 young musicians ages 12-18, representing more than 60 Northeast Ohio schools, primarily from Cuyahoga County.
In service to the community, the orchestra performs at least six public concerts each year, routinely engages student musicians in workshops with guest artists, and collaborates with local arts and education organizations to create allied arts experiences that augment music education and concert experiences. Additionally, the orchestra conducts outreach workshops for local youth from underserved communities.
In residence at Cleveland State University since 2004, CYO has presented over 200 world premieres, all with the composers present, commissioned numerous works, and performed at Cleveland’s most respected music venues such as Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, Cleveland Masonic Auditorium, Nautica, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Its repertoire includes music of more than 180 composers including Charles Ives, Joan Tower, Bernard Rands, John Adams and Tan Dun. Since 2004, it has presented Rock the Orchestra concerts with illustrious rock musicians such as Graham Nash, Jon Anderson, Pat Benatar, Styx and Ben Folds and has maintained an ongoing partnership with AXS-TV for concert broadcasts and recordings since 2006. In 2014, CYO was named the official orchestra of the Alternative Press Music Awards. CYO and Liza Grossman are the recipients of the Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement in the classical music/opera category, the Sunshine Award from Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio (now the Center for Arts-Inspired Learning) for excellence in arts education, and the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) award for adventurous programming.
Through unique interaction with living composers and music artists, CYO celebrates contemporary music and nurtures Northeast Ohio’s talented student musicians into confident, creative and critical thinkers. Liza challenges her students’ intellectual curiosity and encourages self-directed learning through mastery and performance of challenging contemporary music repertoire. The organization’s music education and allied arts opportunities are invaluable experiences not only for orchestra members, but also for the many school-aged youth, family members, friends and community members who engage in the public performances and companion workshops that take place each season. By exposing youth to the infinite possibilities of contemporary orchestral music, and teaching the necessary skills to access the ever-evolving music of our present and future, CYO affirms the critical role of music in our lives.