The video above is a snapshot from our 2018-2019 season
The Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association currently has five youth orchestras to serve students at different levels and ages. Students interested in joining the orchestras must audition for appropriate placement.
What does orchestra bring to our students?
Serving a Range of Student Needs
Our orchestras hold a different role in the lives of each of our students. Some thrive on a challenge, especially in a social environment. They want their music to make them work incredibly hard to achieve proficiency, and feel the thrill of success after hours and hours of hard work. Others prefer to focus primarily on their solo technique work with their private teachers, and need 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!
Social Experiences
Being a dedicated music student requires a certain set of skills- dedication, attention to detail, and appreciation for the art you're creating, and many more. We aim to place our students with peers that are similar in age/grade, as well as musical experience and maturity. By doing so, there's a not only a common ground for building long term friendships, it helps to foster a strong sense of camaraderie. Each ensemble has a target age group, but when we include the outliers, each group spans 5 grades or more.
Maturity and Leadership
Each ensemble has group playing skills to be learned, that often take 2-3 years to cover. This 2-3 years also allows students time to learn how to move from being a follower to a leader in their ensemble. Students come into their first year in an ensemble and must learn to adjust to the new level of challenge in the music, to match the sound and standard set their new peers, and become comfortable in their new environment. In the following semesters, we watch them grow in confidence, help the students beside them, and blend their sound into the group with ease and fluency. This is a skill that only comes from experience in an ensemble, it can't be learned while practicing alone at home.
There's a place for every student!
Please feel free to reach out to our artistic staff with any questions or concerns about where your student may fit best. We look forward to having you join us!
Our orchestras hold a different role in the lives of each of our students. Some thrive on a challenge, especially in a social environment. They want their music to make them work incredibly hard to achieve proficiency, and feel the thrill of success after hours and hours of hard work. Others prefer to focus primarily on their solo technique work with their private teachers, and need 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!
Social Experiences
Being a dedicated music student requires a certain set of skills- dedication, attention to detail, and appreciation for the art you're creating, and many more. We aim to place our students with peers that are similar in age/grade, as well as musical experience and maturity. By doing so, there's a not only a common ground for building long term friendships, it helps to foster a strong sense of camaraderie. Each ensemble has a target age group, but when we include the outliers, each group spans 5 grades or more.
Maturity and Leadership
Each ensemble has group playing skills to be learned, that often take 2-3 years to cover. This 2-3 years also allows students time to learn how to move from being a follower to a leader in their ensemble. Students come into their first year in an ensemble and must learn to adjust to the new level of challenge in the music, to match the sound and standard set their new peers, and become comfortable in their new environment. In the following semesters, we watch them grow in confidence, help the students beside them, and blend their sound into the group with ease and fluency. This is a skill that only comes from experience in an ensemble, it can't be learned while practicing alone at home.
There's a place for every student!
Please feel free to reach out to our artistic staff with any questions or concerns about where your student may fit best. We look forward to having you join us!