First Chinese American Female for NYO-USA’s Apprentice Composer

On March 7, 2023, NYO-USA, the prestigious music program for American high school students, announced Lucy Chen as winner of the “Apprentice Composer”, making her the first Chinese American female to participate into the program ever.

Presented by the Carnegie Hall Corporation’s Weill Music Institute, NYO-USA (National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America) is a youth orchestra founded in 2013. By selecting the finest young musicians across the nation and offering them concert tours and training for several weeks per year, it aims to provide the best educational and performing opportunity for outstanding young musicians in the United States.

Why is NYO-USA one of the top music institutions for American high school students?

1. Highly Competitive Selection Process   

America has a well-established music education system. From elementary schools to universities, most schools have their orchestras, some of which have erned a good reputation. In addition, students are eligible to apply for the orchestra at the state or national level. Targeting young musicians 16 to 19 of age across the nation, NYO-USA selects top guns amongst the thousands of applications received annually.

2. Top Training Opportunity

The selected applicants will participate in an intensive training program for several weeks in the summer, where they collaborate with some world-class musicians to prepare for a concert tour at highly-esteemed venues.

3. National or International Concert Tour

Selected members of NYO-USA join the national or international concert tour held in places such as Carnegie Hall, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Walt Disney Hall. The tour may also include prestigious music halls in Europe and Asia.

4. All Expenses Covered

With all expenses participating into the program including travel and accommodation covered, a NYO-USA enrollment is a substantial achievement for any young, aspiring musician.

In NYO-USA, the Apprentice Composer program grants two young composers between 16 and 19 with commissions to write new pieces, which the NYO-USA will perform in its national or international tour.

The program provides the opportunity for young composers to collaborate with the top orchestra and develop their music careers while also connecting the NYO-USA musicians with promising composers.

Since its first edition in 2016, the Apprentice Composer has selected 16 composers, including only two Chinese Americans. Max Lu (2020) is the first Asian American participant of the program, and the other one is Lucy Chen (2023). Both learned composition from Mr. Yiming Wu, founder of the Mayflower Art Center.

Lucy’s current composition instructor is Lu Wang, an active composer and Associate Professor of Music at Brown University. Before her NYO-USA selection, Lucy has won the BMI Composer Award and the competition held by Luna Composition Lab. Lucy’s winning piece of the Luna Composition Lab competition will be performed at the Mannes School of Music in New York on June 10, 2023. As one of the participants of the Apprentice Composer, Lucy’s work will be performed in multiple places, including the Carnegie Hall, the Groton Hill Music Center in Boston, the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego, the Festival de Lanaudière in Quebec, and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. She is one of the leading composers of her generation in the US.

As a senior in high school, Lucy got offers from several top 10 universities in America. Beginning this fall, she will enter a new chapter of her life and career by double majoring in economics and composition.