Student Placements

Our Insight placements will work on our non-residential Orchestral Weekends. These are held twice a year, and we welcome up to 100 children, aged 8-14, from Grades 3 – 8+ in each location (Bolton, Birmingham, Tiverton and London). They come together with a team of experienced music tutors, guest artists and conductors to work on orchestral and creative music-making.

We look for music students of varying instrumental specialties and experiences to gain valuable first experiences of delivering outstanding youth music activity and to inspire our young musicians. To be considered for this placement, students will need to be available for both weekends at one Orchestral Weekend location in Spring and Summer, attend the 2026 programme launch and participate in an online briefing and training session.

To apply please read the detailed application pack and complete the application form by midday Thursday 12th November.

Our Tutor Placement takes place on our residential Orchestral Weeks, which consists of three symphony orchestras – Under 14 (13-14 year olds), Under 13 (12-13 year olds) and Under 12 (11-12 year olds) – who meet for two week-long residentials in the spring and summer school holidays, culminating in astounding concerts in public concert venues.

Our Tutor placement provides the opportunity for young people studying Undergraduate or Postgraduate music to deepen their understanding, experience and skills of supporting youth ensembles through innovative approached to orchestral coaching. You will improve your confidence in tutoring and leading young musicians, and build a toolkit based on NCO’s distinct approach to learning with a focus on facilitating creativity, child voice and wellbeing.

To apply please read the detailed application pack and complete the application form by midday Thursday 12th November.

Working in partnership with Music Education Hubs, NCO has created an Advance placement opportunity for 2 emerging music leaders in 2027. The Advance placement opportunity is open to instrumentalists only and is not suitable for first study conductors or composers.

NCO Advance is a more intensive programme for a recently graduated music student (either undergraduate or postgraduate) with a higher level of hands-on delivery than our other placements; a chance for built-in progression in a broad variety of settings to inform their future career choices.

The Advance Placement will include around 20 days of activity plus 3 mentoring sessions. This activity ranges from working on our weekend activity, being part of our tutor team during a residential week, performing in our schools’ concerts and joining our partnering Music Hub for a bespoke project.

The successful candidates will be mentored by Helen Brew, who is a tutor for NCO. Helen is Associate Principal Flute of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has served on the faculty of the Royal Northern College of Music and the Chetham’s School of Music as well as numerous music courses around the country. Helen is a keen advocate for music in community outreach work especially working with young people with special needs.

Through this opportunity you will:
• have an enhanced understanding of mentoring large youth ensembles aged 8-14 years.
• improve your confidence in tutoring and leading young musicians
• gain a deeper understanding of your own practice
• gain experience in a variety of Music Education settings and forge valuable professional connections
• create a toolkit based on NCO’s distinct approach to learning with a focus on facilitating child creativity, child voice and wellbeing

To apply please read the detailed application pack and complete the application form by midday on Thursday 12th November.

NCO’s Conductor Placement takes place on one of our non-residential Orchestral Weekends, for one successful candidate. These are held twice a year, and we welcome up to 100 children aged 8-14 from Grades 3–8+ in each location. They come together with a team of experienced music tutors, guest artists and conductors to work on orchestral and creative music-making. This placement will be with the NCO Conductor working on that weekend of activity. To be considered for this placement, students will need to be available for one weekend of our Summer Orchestral Weekends activities and to attend an online briefing and training session.

To apply please read the detailed application pack and complete the application form by midday on Thursday 12th November.