About Us
Aotearoa's first and original youth orchestra, founded 1948.
About AYO
Founded in 1948 as the very first youth orchestra in the Southern Hemisphere, the Auckland Youth Orchestra (AYO) stands as Aotearoa New Zealand's premier regional youth symphony.
The result? First class experiences. Polish and freshness in equal measure, alongside genuine connections.
AYO performs widely, across Tāmaki Makaurau and beyond. We've taken our sound to Australia and the Pacific, North America, and Europe, and have built an international reputation as a world-class youth orchestra.
Our players do far more than master performance, they discover how to lead with courage, organise with precision, and support each other under pressure. Many go on to professional orchestras around the world. Others take that same discipline into business, science, public life, and beyond.
Wherever their path lies, you can be sure of one thing: here plays the future.
Making music since 1948
In 1948, AYO's founders had the bold idea of developing an orchestra in which Auckland's best young players could flourish, bridging the gap between school ensembles and the professional world. Since then, thousands of musicians have passed through our ranks, many going on to exceptional musical careers.
In 2023, we celebrated 75 years, and we're still delivering to that original vision.
Every new intake of young musicians brings fresh energy to a story which started back in 1948 and continues to be written with every single rehearsal and breathtaking performance.
What hasn't changed is the why. Aspiring young musicians grow fastest inside an orchestra: trusting a conductor, locking in with a section, creating something together that's so much greater than the sum of its parts.
Our legacy runs deep, and our players are at its heart, a family built on shared passion, creative camaraderie, and connections that outlast any single concert.
Our Players
The young musicians who make up the orchestra this season.
This year's orchestra.
AYO brings together some of Aotearoa's most driven young musicians, each one committed to the hours of rehearsal, the discipline of the ensemble, and the thrill of coming together to perform seriously ambitious repertoire
Our Team
The people who keep AYO running, on and off the stage.
The people who keep AYO running.
AYO runs entirely on the time, expertise, and passion of volunteers, people who've experienced first-hand what music can do, and who show up to make sure the next generation gets that same chance.
Artistic Leadership
Our Music Director and conductor Antun Poljanich shapes every AYO season, choosing repertoire that stretches the current cohort of players, showcases their growing skills, and gives audiences a genuinely great concert experience. His creative direction and ambitious performance standards set the bar, and through intensive sectionals with guest tutors and mentors, every AYO player who gives their best can be sure of being challenged to reach their full potential.
Antun Poljanich was born in Croatia, studying piano and theory at Dubrovnik School for Musical Education and conducting at the University of Ljubljana. Following post-graduate studies in Austria, he won a scholarship which took him to Leningrad for a three-year Master Course in Conducting at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.
Antun has since worked with the Leningrad State Symphony Orchestra, the Veneto Philharmonia, the Slovene and Croatian National Orchestras and other prominent orchestras in Russia and Europe.
Antun Poljanich
Music Director, Conductor
Executive Committee
Our Executive Committee oversees everything from finances to logistics to player welfare, all while planning for AYO's future to ensure we stay responsive to the needs of Auckland's young musicians in a changing environment.
The committee includes three player representatives, because we believe the people actually in the orchestra should have a voice in how it's run.
Administration
Music Librarians: Alison Dunlop and Louise Roe.
Our Alumni
Players who came through AYO and went on to music and beyond.
Once AYO, always AYO
Look inside almost any professional orchestra in Aotearoa New Zealand (and plenty overseas) and you'll find AYO alumni. Many of our players go on to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia, conservatory teaching posts, international orchestras and ensembles, and solo and conducting careers.
No matter where their professional life takes them, our alumni carry with them lasting friendships and the confidence that comes from channeling absolute focus, hard work, and inspiration into an exceptional collaborative performance.
Many of our alumni stay close to AYO for years as mentors, donors, and advocates for the next generation coming through.