A brief history of RYO’s conductors and leaders.
Conductors of the Reading Youth Orchestra
| 1944 – 49 | Humphrey Hare |
| 1950 – 52 | Mark Wigram |
| 1952 – 54 | John Russel |
| 1954 – 74 | Edward Underhill |
| 1974 – 76 | Roy Goodman |
| 1976 – 97 | Robert Roscoe |
| 1997 – 00 | Rupert D’Cruze |
| 2000 – 06 | Christopher Walker |
| 2006 – 19 | Paul Cox |
| 2019 – present | Mel Le Breuilly |
Leaders of the Reading Youth Orchestra
| 1948 – 54 | Gwynneth Reed |
| 1954 – 55 | David Gribble |
| 1955 – 57 | Margaret Martin |
| 1957 – 60 | Vivenne Martin |
| 1960 – 62 | Ronald Colyer |
| 1962 – 66 | Susan Armitage |
| 1966 – 69 | Stephen Lustig |
| 1969 – 70 | John Berridge |
| 1970 – 72 | Jane Chrzanowska |
| 1972 – 73 | Penelope Gouk |
| 1973 – 77 | Rosemary Seward |
| 1977 – 79 | Colin Albery |
| 1979 – 81 | Karen Fawcett |
| 1981 – 82 | Edward Morton |
| 1982 – 83 | Rebecca Richardson |
| 1983 – 85 | Sarah Ewins |
| 1985 – 86 | Patrick Evans |
| 1986 – 87 | Hannah Lynch |
| 1987 – 89 | Philip Montgomery-Smith |
| 1989 – 90 | Guy Haskell |
| 1990 – 91 | Laura Dudeney |
| 1991 – 93 | Richard Briggs |
| 1993 – 95 | Hannah Rowley |
| 1995 – 96 | Catherine Offord |
| 1996 – 97 | Hui Hui Ng |
| 1997 – 98 | Emma Gostling |
| 1998 – 99 | Rachel Rowntree |
| 1999 – 00 | Nick Sexton |
| 2000 – 01 | Biddy McClure |
| 2001 | Nathalie Dudman |
| 2001 – 04 | Tim Hawken |
| 2004 – 05 | Lucy Deeks |
| 2005 – 06 | Arangan Nagendron |
| 2006 – 08 | Lauren Willis |
| 2008 – 09 | Laurence Beveridge |
| 2009 – 17 | Rachel Newman |
| 2017 – 18 | Mel Le Breuilly |
| 2018 – 21 | Euon Mallett |
| 2021 – 22 | Oliver Quinn |
| 2022 – 23 | Seohyeon Baek & Jessica Quinn |
| 2023 – 24 | Seohyeon Baek |
| 2024 – present | Shree Rao |