In the spring of 2021, with music rehearsals and performances restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GVYO participated in the Apollo Initiative, a collective of six British Columbia youth orchestras (Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, Surrey Youth Orchestra, Langley Community Music School Orchestra, Coquitlam Youth Orchestra, Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra). Together they commissioned and recorded a new work, Apollo, by Juno award-winning Canadian composerJordan Noblesto raise funds in support of youth mental health in BC. The work premiered on May 7, 2021. Watch this short performance on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/cmhabc.
GVYO collaborated with the Victoria Chamber Orchestra and the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra on February 9, 2020, performing the complete cycle of Smetana's Má Vlast.
The GVYO has collaborated frequently with the Victoria Symphony to perform music including:
Holst: The Planets (2018)
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (2016)
Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (2009)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (2006)
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (1998)
Elgar: Enigma Variations (1997)
Mahler for the Millennium: the GVYO marked the Year 2000 by producing two performances of Mahler's Eighth Symphony (Symphony of a Thousand) in collaboration with 8 nationally acclaimed soloists, the UVIC Orchestra and Chorus, and specially prepared children's chorus all under the direction of János Sándor. Collaborations with Choirs include:
Victoria Children's Choir - Barakatt: Unicef Anthem; selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and works by Johann Strauss, Jr. (2009)
