Iowa City student selected for 2023 National Youth Orchestra

CORRECTION: The Preucil School of Music offers instruction for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, flute and harp and voice lessons for students and adults.

IOWA CITY — Adam Zeithamel, a senior Iowa City High School, is the only Iowa kid to be selected for the 2023 National Youth Orchestra and one of only 109 students to be selected across the country.

Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in New York brings together some of the finest young musicians from across the country to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.

Zeithamel, 17, is a cellist and a student at Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, a fine arts program that offers instruction for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, flute and harp and voice lessons for kids and adults. The Preucil School of Music also has a preschool for children ages three to five that fosters the child’s ability to explore, create and imagine.

“This summer promises to be unforgettable as these superb young musicians come together to train with some of the best professional musicians in the country …” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s Executive and Artistic Director. “They will perform on some of the finest stages across North America.”

The students will undergo a multiweek training residency at Purchase College, State University of New York, in Purchase, New York, with faculty made up of players from top professional orchestras. Afterward, these remarkable teenagers will embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world, serving as America’s dynamic music ambassadors.

As part of their travel schedule, the student musicians also have the opportunity to meet and collaborate with local young musicians and experience the richness of the local culture. Following annual concerts at Carnegie Hall, the National Youth Orchestra has performed on landmark stages around the world including in the United Kingdom, China, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Colombia, and across the United States.

Last summer, the orchestra returned to touring for the first time since the pandemic, performing across Europe, including debuts at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and Ravello Festival held on the Amalfi coast in the Campania region of Italy.

The National Youth Orchestra is one of Carnegie Hall’s three acclaimed national youth ensembles, which also includes an orchestra for outstanding classical musicians for the nation’s finest jazz instrumentalists.

Over the last decade, well over a thousand young musicians have performed in the three ensembles, creating a unique musical community, spotlighting musical excellence found across the United States and transforming countless lives.

The members of the 2023 orchestra — who are between 16 and 19 years old — are from 31 states and Puerto Rico. These students have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as being among the finest players in the country after a comprehensive and highly selective audition process.

This is the 10th year of the national youth ensembles program.

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