The Kawartha Youth Orchestra was founded in 2002 to give young musicians in the Kawartha Region the opportunity to perform in an orchestral ensemble. The KYO is under the direction of music director Michael Newnham, who also conducts the Peterborough Symphony, the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir and the Mississauga Youth Orchestra. The KYO offers these young musicians an advanced level of instruction and a quality orchestral experience in Peterborough.

Membership in the orchestra is open to youth from 12 to 24 years of age. Musicians are not only from Peterborough and Trent University but have come from as far away as Haliburton, Bancroft, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Campbellford, Madoc and Cobourg. Admission is by audition only. Rehearsals are Saturday mornings from September to the beginning of May.

The KYO is the winner of:
The 2007 Kiwanis Club of Peterborough - Club President Award
The 2007 H.S. Dunham Memorial Award and Trophy
The OMFA 2007 Ontario Provincial Finals - Orchestra Competition

Michael Newnham is the Music Director of the Kawartha Youth Orchestra, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra and the Niagara Youth Orchestra. He holds a Master's Degree in Symphonic and Operatic Conducting from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland, and also studied at the Indiana University School of Music and the University of Toronto. He has conducted orchestras and opera throughout Canada, Europe and East Asia. Mr. Newnham is the recipient of the 'Best Operatic Conductor' Award from the International Workshop for Operatic Conductors in Slovakia, the Turzanski Foundation Award and holds the 'Order of Merit' from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland.

Swoboda holds a Masters Degree in Violin Performance from the Cracow Academy of Music in Poland. Formerly a member of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra and the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra, Swoboda also taught at Algoma University, Mohawk College and prestigious international music camps. Swoboda is the founder and artistic director of the International Chamber Music Workshop in Pulawy, Poland and Peterborough's Accademia Musica.

Wight is the principal clarinetist of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra. He studied clarinet performance at Wilfrid Laurier University and Indiana University. He also enjoyed tenure as a Resident Artist at the Banff School of Fine Arts and performs in a number of professional and semi-professional ensembles.

Zuzanna holds a Master's Degree in Cello Performance from the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. She was a member of the Polish Radio Orchestra, and taught cello at the Taegu-Hyosung University in South Korea. She currently enjoys a successful career as the principal cellist of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, as an ensemble performer, and as a private cello teacher on staff at Peterborough's Accademia Musica.