Youth Orchestra LA
Overview
"We are inspired by the pending arrival of our next music director, Gustavo Dudamel. El Sistema, the brilliant music education system that nurtured Gustavo, provides a living breathing embodiment of everything people who believe in the power of the arts hoped could be true. In L.A., we are taking on something ambitious. That ambitious vision includes increased access to quality music education and the creation of youth orchestras in places they do not currently exist. We canít do it alone! So we are convening an impressive group of private and public stakeholders to help translate inspiration into action for the children of Los Angeles." — Deborah Borda, President, Los Angeles Philharmonic
Youth Orchestra LA is a network of public and private stakeholders devoted to providing quality instrumental music education for children with the greatest needs, fewest resources and little or no access to instrumental music education. The vision that unites this diverse coalition of partners is that every child in L.A. County who wants to play in an orchestra will be able to do so. The mission of Youth Orchestra LA is to put instruments in childrenís hands and give them the best quality instruction by creating new and leveraging existing ensemble programs.
Stakeholders within the network of Youth Orchestra LA include: city and county of Los Angeles, universities, LAUSD and other school districts in L.A. County, community music schools, non-profit music organizations, individual music educators, after-school programs such as Beyond the Bell and LAís Best, and funders. The inspiration for Youth Orchestra LA comes from the dynamic youth orchestra movement in Venezuela, where it is an agent for social change and has resulted in the formation of over 200 youth orchestras for low-income children.
The coalition will work together to coordinate and align
its community resources, in-school and after-school,
to provide a pathway of instrumental instruction and
ensemble experience for children. The target population
for Youth Orchestra LA is children ages 8 to 14 in underserved
areas of L.A. County.
The first youth orchestra — EXPO Youth Orchestra, Central LA
"This orchestra will be representative of the community from which it stems. The idea is to bring people from all walks of life together and share in the universal language that is music. This will be a safe environment in which each child will feel supported on their journey to find their voice. But more importantly, this orchestra will provide them with the platform to communicate what they each carry within themselves to their community." — Abel Delgado, Music Director, The Harmony Project
The first youth orchestra to be launched will be located in Central L.A. in October. The LA Philís partners for this youth orchestra include The Harmony Project, an afterschool music education provider, and the EXPO Center, a community center run by the City Department of Recreation and Parks, as well as a private board. Children will be drawn from a cluster of schools in close proximity to the EXPO Center. They will receive free music instruction, instruments and the opportunity to participate in a community youth orchestra.