Announcing the 14th edition of the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra!

About ILYO

International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra by Szczecin Philharmonic is one of the very few international youth orchestras in Europe and the only international symphony youth orchestra of its kind in Poland. The mission of ILYO is to provide young classical musicians from all over the world with the opportunity to gain professional experience and develop their orchestral skills by performing in a full-scale symphony orchestra.

Guided by the belief that music knows no borders or divisions and remains the only truly universal language of humanity, the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra is open to talented young musicians from every country. Since the launch of the project in 2013, the orchestra has been based at the world-renowned home of the Szczecin Philharmonic. Over the years, more than one thousand young instrumentalists from nearly all European countries, as well as from Asia and both Americas, have participated in this unique international orchestral project.

ILYO 2025 video summary

ILYO meets each year at the turn of summer and autumn for special orchestral workshops held at the Philharmonic in Szczecin, which has been the project’s main organiser from the very beginning. The ILYO orchestra line-up is renewed every year.

How to join ILYO?

The ILYO audition is conducted entirely online, allowing young classical musicians from around the world to apply without travelling or scheduling a specific audition time. All you need to do is prepare your video recordings and complete a simple online application form.

Auditions are open exclusively to musicians aged between 18 and 30.

Auditions for the 14th edition will begin on 2 March 2026 and run until 30 April 2026. The list of repertoire and sheet music is available on the project website in the “Auditions” section. You will also find a detailed guide there, leading you step by step through all stages of our online audition process.


Each year, members of the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra are selected by the Tutors of the current edition of the project. The Tutors carefully review all submitted audition videos and make the final artistic decisions. In just the past few editions of the ILYO project, our tutors have included musicians from such orchestras as (to name only a few): the Berlin Philharmonic Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Philharmonia Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Sinfonia Varsovia.