The Orchestra Project serves students from beginners to pre-college.

Students who perform in youth orchestras learn more than just music … they gain the confidence and leadership skills to help them be successful as adults. We have five youth orchestras to serve students at different skill levels and ages!

confidence—musicianship—leadership

Our orchestras play different roles in the lives of our students. Some of our young musicians thrive on a challenge, especially in a social environment. They want the music they perform to make them work hard in order to achieve proficiency, and they enjoy the thrill of succeeding after putting in hours of hard work. Others prefer to focus primarily on what they’re learning with their private teachers; these students often want their orchestra repertoire to be easy to put together. Most students fall somewhere in between. Either way, ensemble experience is part of a “balanced, healthy diet” for any music student!

Each of our five orchestras has group playing skills to be learned, skills that often take two to three years to develop. This timespan allows students time to transition from being a follower to serving as a leader in their ensemble. Students come into their first year, adjusting to new challenges in the level of music they’ll prepare while, at the same time, learning how to blend and match the sound and standards set by their new peers. It takes a while for most to become comfortable in their new environment, but over the following semesters, students bloom. Their confidence grows, they begin helping the students beside them, and they blend their sound into the group with ease and fluency. These essential elements of becoming a musician can’t be learned while practicing alone at home. These are skills that only come from experience in an ensemble.