The American Soviet Youth Orchestra was founded at
Oberlin College in 1987 by
Moscow State Conservatory director Boris Kulikov, Oberlin President
S. Frederick Starr, and diplomats Grace Kennan Warnecke and Edythe Holbrook as part of a surge in Soviet-American cultural exchanges following the loosening of
Cold War tensions during the period. {{cite web {{cite web {{cite web {{cite web In 1992, shortly after the fall of the
Soviet Union, the organization regrouped as the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) with Holbrook as executive director. In 1997, First Ladies
Hillary Clinton and
Naina Yeltsina joined ARYO in Yekaterinburg, Russia for their only appearance together without their spouse presidents. In 1998 the orchestra expanded to include a chamber orchestra which participated in the World Youth Music Forum at the invitation of the
Russian Ministry of Culture and
Moscow Mayor
Yuri M. Luzhkov. There ARYO joined nine other youth orchestras representing every continent to form a thousand-member "Orchestra of the World," which presented a concert in
Red Square. ARYO also played the 1998 Moscow Youth Olympics. In 1999 ARYO embarked on a world tour they called "Millennium Muzik," during which they visited twelve cities across the United States, Russia, and Central Europe. They performed works by
Szymanowski,
Duke Ellington,
Stravinsky,
Barber, and
Rachmaninoff, joining the
Kirov Orchestra In
St. Petersburg, Russia.
Baseball Hall of Fame member
Tom Seaver emceed their gala benefit at
Alice Tully Hall in
New York City. In 2001, ARYO became affiliated with
Bard College and came under the musical direction of its president,
Leon Botstein. In 2002 Holbrook retired and Christine Loomis took the helm as executive director, and ARYO launched a trio known as the Amirus players. {{cite web ==Notable conductors==