July 9, 2013 - Purchase, NY : Violinist Brendon Mezzetti, who is from Eagle River, AK, practices the banjo in the basement of the SUNY Purchase performing arts center on Tuesday afternoon. Mezzetti is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, which rehearsed with conductor Valery Gergiev at SUNY Purchase's Performing Arts Center in Westchester on Tuesday afternoon. The Orchestra, a new project of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, is comprised of musicians aged 16-19, hand-picked from across the country. The program -- and orchestra -- will kick off its inaugural season with a performance at SUNY Purchase on Thursday evening, and then head off to perform in Washington DC, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London. CREDIT: Karsten Moran for The New York Times