The program is based on the Mentor-Apprentice approach to learning, and successful applicants are often paired in the stands with established professionals from North America and Europe's finest orchestras.
These are not the only aspect of the NAO's activities - the orchestra also takes part in mock auditions, seminars, and performance classes.
In 2008 NAO World premieres of BMF-commissioned Dagwaagin (It is Autumn) by Barbara Croall Assiginaak, the beginning of a long association with the distinguished Odawa composer and Indigenous instrumentalist.
In 2009 NAO performed for then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the middle of Niagara Falls' Rainbow Bridge to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty between the two countries.
In 2020, NAO received national media attention for a successful pivot to online training during COVID pandemic lockdown[6] and in 2021, performed at five sold out drive-in/outdoor concerts in accordance with COVID protocols and the filmed world premiere of the first Indigenous opera for children by a Canadian (Odawa) composer, Barbara Assiginaak's Kikzootadwaak "They Are Playing Hide and Seek".
In May 2022, trombonist, conductor and composer Alain Trudel stepped in as Interim Artistic Director after the sudden & tragic loss of Boris Brott.