Three young Kolkata musicians have become the first Indians to win places in the prestigious Asian Youth Orchestra (AYO) here.

Anupam Halder, 19, Manob Naskar, 21, and Joseph Rozario, 24, were selected from about 2,000 musicians from 12 nations, who had been invited to audition and compete in Bangkok.

Their acceptance into the AYO, a 104-member orchestra with musicians from 12 countries -- India having become the 12th -- is expected to bring to limelight India's first national orchestra, the National Philharmonic of India (NPI), incorporated in August 2000 as a Kolkata-based charitable trust.

The break for the three musicians would not have come without the efforts of Tokyo-based music conductor Robert Ryker, who is also the music director of NPI on whose recommendation they were invited for the AYO auditions.

From July 21, the three will join 101 other AYO members between 13-25 years at its rehearsal camp in Hong Kong. After three weeks of intensive coaching under renowned artistes, the entourage will go on a three-week tour of seven countries.

Since 1989, AYO has presented more than 150 concerts in over 100 cities, at Amsterdam's historic Concertgebouw, Berlin's Schauspielhaus, New York's Lincoln Center as well as the U.N. headquarters and a private White House reception.

The cost of the AYO program is about $14,000 per student. Of this, the AYO contributes $10,000 per student. The remaining amount is raised in contributions made by local supporters.

"In other countries, the machinery is well-oiled to support students selected to AYO," says Ryker. "But in India, everything is still new."

Ryker's group has managed to raise money for two student scholarships: $3,000 was contributed by the Friends of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation Society, a group of NRIs based in Japan.

Another $2,600 was donated by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Mumbai. Air India, the long haul carrier, has agreed to fly them to Hong Kong.

But the fate of the third scholarship still hangs in the balance as the date of the rehearsals draws closer.

Ryker, who once worked as a music critic for Japan Times, hopes more Indian musicians will make it to AYO in the future. He says musicians trained at AYO will form the core of his national chamber orchestra, a tight group of 19 people.

He also hopes to attract young musicians from all over the world to join the Indian orchestra for a year. His dream is to bring the Indian Chamber Orchestra to Tokyo by 2002 for its first professional performance overseas. And to develop Indian leadership and support for the country's first national philharmonic.

Ryker's association with India began in 1975 when he was invited to be music director of the Calcutta Symphony Orchestra, which did not last long. In 1983, the Calcutta Foundation Orchestra was created.

Ryker plans to visit India this year to interact with people and to get them involved with the national orchestra.

Already, a voluntary body of Tokyo-based Indians has come together to form the Japan Planning Committee, the first support group for the national orchestra. Efforts are underway to network with NRI groups all over the world to set up an international group of trustees for the philharmonic.

A first-year operating budget of $13,000 has to be set aside to help the NPI project to take off. "We are asking NRIs and resident Indians for no-interest loans, not gifts," says Ryker. "We are willing to take the responsibility to drive our own engine. What we need is a start."