Audition & musicians

Membership and auditions

The National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands (NJO) is open to musicians who are at least 18 years of age, but less than 27 years old, and are enrolled at a Dutch or Belgian conservatoire. Also Dutch music students studying abroad may apply for a position in one or more projects of NJO.After auditioning succesfully and participating in at least one NJO project musicians can be accepted as NJO member. NJO decides about placement of applicants, based on the advice of the audition jury and the NJO artistic management. Only if vacancies for the summer projects cannot be filled will non-Dutch students from conservatoires outside the Netherlands and Belgium be given the opportunity to apply with a video audition.

Auditions for the NJO Winter and/or Summer Tour 2025 will take place in October and November 2024. Application is possible, the deadline to apply is September 20th. Go to Programme and planning for details. 

Bridge between conservatoire and professional practice

One of the most important goals of NJO is to bridge the gap between conservatoire education of individual students and professional practice. NJO offers conservatoire students an inspiring experience, creating and working together with the best conductors, coaches and other professionals. In addition to rehearsals, concerts and tours, we offer training and coaching on a wide range of topics such as musicological backgrounds, mental and physical health aspects (injury prevention), career development, entrepreneurship, profiling and marketing and more. Read more about talent development elsewhere on this website.