About this Artist

The CLAREMONT YOUNG MUSICIANS ORCHESTRA (CYMO) is comprised of musicians ages 12 to 20 who attend public and private schools in Southern California. Members are selected annually for two orchestras, the CYMO and the Claremont Young Musicians Intermezzo Orchestra. The Orchestra was founded in 1989 by Roger and Janet Samuel, both public-school educators in Los Angeles County for 60 combined years. Roger Samuel, also a trombone player, passed away in 2015, after 26 years as conductor of the CYMO.

CYMO’s repertoire is expansive, and it presents major symphonic works and soloists in concert each year at Bridges Hall of Music on the Pomona College campus and at other local venues. The orchestra provides special concerts for children, community programs, and chamber music performances. 

The CYMO took its first of four European concert tours in 1997, performing at such renowned venues as the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The CYMO returned to Europe in 2000, performing at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Municipal Theatre of Tours, Saint Francis Basilica in Assisi, and the International Music Festival in Meiringen, Switzerland. New venues on the 2007 and 2013 tours included the Schlessheim Castle in Munich, the Obecni Dum in Prague, and the Verdi Theater in Padua. 

In 2005, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented the Claremont Young Musicians Orchestra in concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall as one of its Sounds About Town series. The orchestra returned to Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2009 to perform at the Youth Orchestra Festival Day as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra Partners Program and again in 2012 to perform as an LA Phil “Premier” youth orchestra.   

The CYMO has collaborated with respected performers and guest conductors from orchestras and conservatories around the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the LA Opera Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the Juilliard School, the USC Thornton School of Music, the Shepherd School of Music, and many others.

Graduates of the CYMO have attended the most prestigious music schools in the country including the USC Thornton School of Music, the Colburn School, Juilliard School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Mannes College, Yale University School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Shepherd School of Music, Northwestern University, and Indiana University, among others. Numerous CYMO alumni are performing with or involved in the management of orchestras throughout the U.S., Germany, and Austria.

For more information, please visit cymo.org