Next year, the Symphony Orchestra is open to students from conservatoires in Slovenia, students from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana and Slovenian students studying elsewhere in Europe, aged 16 to 26. In the future, the Slovenian Youth Orchestra will act as a bridge between students at home and students abroad who want to affirm themselves as orchestral musicians on the domestic market and maintain contact with their home musical institutions. The selected musicians will take part in several programmes in 2023, will perform with the SMO at the Ljubljana Festival Winter Festival in March, and will have the opportunity to compete for a place in this year's line-up of the Ljubljana International Orchestra. The orchestra's projects bridge the gap between formal education, which focuses on technique and theory, and the realities of the profession. It is the only project of its kind in the country that gives young musicians a first-hand experience of all aspects of life as a professional musician - from auditioning to selecting projects, rehearsals and concerts with substantial programmes on the most prestigious stages.