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History of the Festival
The Festival was created in the late 1960s by the late Blyth
Major, Music Director of the Midland Youth Orchestra and th
late Lionel Bryer, Chairman of the International Youth Foundation.
They conceived the idea of bringing together youth orchestras
from all over the world at a festival using music as a unifying
bond to promote international understanding. The first International
Festival of Youth Orchestras was held in 1969 in St Moritz
in Switzerland.
Invited by the British Tourist Authority, in 1973 the Festival
moved to the UK and established a base both in Aberdeen and
London for the following five years. Due to the superb facilities
and local support in the City of Aberdeen and its University,
the Festival was able to expand to incorporate all forms of
dance, jazz and choral music.
Internationally renowned guest conductors such as Claudio
Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, Walter Susskind and Leopold Stokowski,
were invited to conduct the Festival Orchestra - a specially
created orchestra, which was invited to appear at the BBC
Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and also played
at the opening concert of the Edinburgh International Festival
in 1978 (the first youth orchestra to appear at The Edinburgh
Festival).
Due to the success and support from both the City of Aberdeen,
local businesses and growing audiences, in 1979 the management
decided to focus this international event entirely in Aberdeen
and North East of Scotland.
Nicola Wallis, who had been associated with IFYO since 1973,
was appointed Director in 1980 and the name of the Festival
changed to the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
Stephen Stenning, formerly Director of the Community Programme
at Dundee Rep, took over from Nicola Wallis as Chief Executive
of the AIYF in May 2003.
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