For more than a generation, the National Orchestral Institute + Festival has nurtured the development of America’s most gifted young orchestral musicians. Begun in 1988 here at the University of Maryland, the Institute selects its members from a rigorous cross-country audition tour and pairs them with an international cast of conductors and faculty mentors. Institute members perform at The Clarice and throughout the community in a series of engaging concerts at schools, community centers and retirement villages. Their training at the institute reflects the current and future demands of orchestral performance, while fostering an ethos of experimentation, entrepreneurship, and discovery.