NYO Jazz is Carnegie Hall’s youth jazz ensemble for outstanding young musicians, ages 16-19. It is one of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra (NYO) summer programs.
NYO Jazz 2025
NYO Jazz, Carnegie Hall’s youth jazz ensemble led by master trumpeter Sean Jones, features Brazilian composers with Grammy-winning Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, a new commission by Cuban drummer and Grammy-nominee Dafnis Prieto, and works by jazz greats including an NYO Jazz alumni commission by trumpeter Janelle Finton. This special jazz concert is at Carnegie Hall on the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage in Midtown, Manhattan; on Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 7pm. From $25. carnegiehall.org 🇺🇸 🇧🇷 🇨🇺
After the concert, NYO Jazz is touring Latin America.
Sean Jones
NYO Jazz is led by Artistic Director Sean Jones. The trumpeter and composer started his musical career in the church choir in Warren, Ohio. He has been lead trumpet for the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the SFJazz Collective, and now plays with the Baltimore Jazz Collective. He has been featured on Grammy-nominated albums by Dianne Reeves, Nancy Wilson, and Gerald Wilson.
Jones is a heavy-hitting educator. He teaches at Johns Hopkins University, and was the Chair of the Brass Department at Berklee College of Music which is famous for producing successful jazz musicians.
Something that struck me about Jones is his statement that “music and spirituality have always been intertwined” in his artistic vision. Most human culture originates in religious ritual. Though no longer religious, secular music retains the same goal of inspiring a transcendent experience. Artists earn their mastery with hard work, but performing in a flow state of relaxed concentration is a spiritual connection. When artists flow on stage, the audience shares the experience. That’s why we love live performance. It lifts us up. Jones is fully connected with that.
Most of the popular music and dances of the Americas originates in the traditions of Mother Africa, where traditionally music and dance guided every aspect of life. This may be coincidence, but this concert unites the three African Diasporic spiritual traditions that rooted in the Americas: Dahomey from Benin, which rooted in Haiti, and New Orleans and gave birth to jazz; Kongo from the two Congos and Angola, which rooted in Brazil and gave birth to bossa nova; and Yoruba from Nigeria with took root in Cuba and Puerto Rico and gave birth to rumba and salsa. The traditions blend together with European and Indigenous influences into jazz and Latin music, which have more of an influence on American popular music than most of us have been taught.
Dafnis Prieto’s 2023 album “Cantar” (To Sing) features Luciana Souza. These artists have already done great work together.
NYO Jazz
NYO Jazz is Carnegie Hall’s national youth jazz ensemble for outstanding young musicians, ages 16-19. It is one of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra (NYO) summer programs. The summer begins with a residency at Purchase College which has a famous jazz program. It continues with a concert at Carnegie Hall, and national and international tours.
Training the next generation of musicians is important work. Artistic genius usually shows early in life, so these young people are already great musicians. In the jazz and classical traditions, to become a master, you need to study with one. NYO ensembles enable talented young artists to study with masters, and provides experience on the world’s great stages.
Learn more about NYO Jazz on carnegiehall.org