The New York Youth Symphony includes musicians from ages 12 to 22, performing standard and newly commissioned repertory, and provides educational programs. The symphony maintains a chamber music program, a jazz band, a conducting program, and Making Score, a composition program.

The New York Youth Symphony was founded in 1963. Its conductors have typically served short terms and have involved young artists who have gone on to prominent conducting careers, such as Leonard Slatkin (1966-1968) and Myung Whun-Chung (1976-1977). The present music director is Michael Repper. The orchestra has a distinguished group of alumni that includes violinists Shlomo Mintz, Peter Oundjian, and Cho-Liang Lin. The instructors in the Jazz Band Classic program are a similarly prominent group that has included saxophonists Joe Lovano and Jimmy Heath and orchestra leader Maria Schneider. Guest lecturers in the Making Score program have included violinist and composer Laurie Anderson, composer Stephen Sondheim, and composer Nico Muhly. Chamber music program coaches have included cellist Joel Krosnick of the Juilliard String Quartet, pianist Gilbert Kalish, and violinist-violist Ani Kavafian. Rehearsals of the main orchestra are supervised by members of the New York Philharmonic.

The New York Youth Symphony performs three programs annually, and each program is presented at Carnegie Hall and at the United Palace theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Generally, the concerts consist of one or more works from the established classical repertory paired with a newly commissioned piece. There are often soloists, either well-established performers or those from the Roy and Shirley Durst Debut Series, which was established in 1997. Chamber music concerts are given at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. The 2022 season also incorporated a new Musical Theater Student Songwriting Showcase. That year, the New York Youth Symphony released its debut album on the Avie label, featuring music by Florence Price, Valerie Coleman, and Jessie Montgomery. ~ James Manheim, Rovi