Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra

The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra) is a youth orchestra based in Vienna, Austria. It was started in 1986 by the conductor Claudio Abbado. 
Auditions are held in many European capital cities. From the start it included people from Eastern Europe. This was before the collapse of the Iron Curtain. It is a very big orchestra. The musicians play music that needs a large orchestra, usually music from the late Romantic period or the 20th century.
The orchestra has been conducted by very famous conductors including Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Pierre Boulez and Bernard Haitink.
The orchestra played at the 2008 BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London with Sir Colin Davis conducting. They will be playing again at the Proms in September 2009 when they will perform Richard Strauss's huge work "Also sprach Zarathustra".