Welcome to YOOF!

 What an amazing 2018-2019 season we have planned! We’ve got our Mozart + Mahler Concert on December 9 (4pm, Shaghoian)—with our YCO and YSO playing Mozart and Haydn and our YPO playing Mahler Symphony No. 1, the Titan.

At our Love Conquers All Fundraiser on February 10 (7pm, Shaghoian) we've got tenor/”human sub-woofer” Scott Piper coming back to sing favorite arias from Puccini, Rossini, and all the rest of the Italian heavy-hitters. Not to mention our amazing dessert auction!

We’ve got YCO and YSO celebrating family at our Mother’s Day Concert on May 12 (4pm, Shaghoian), and then almost immediately our Youth Music Extravaganza on Sunday May 26 (4pm, Saroyan), where this year's winner of the Indianapolis Violin Competition (Richard Lin) will play the Khachaturian concerto. As if that’s not exciting enough, the second half of the program will feature all our musicians, along with a lot of singers and audience members, performing Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. (Yes, the music that’s in all those commercials…)

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The Youth Orchestras of Fresno have been a Central Valley institution since 1950, when there was a single ensemble known as the Kiwanis Youth Orchestra.

Today our three orchestras accommodate young musicians of all levels, kindergarten through college. The orchestras currently serve 260 young players from seven Central Valley counties (Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Tulare) representing a full complement of socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicities. We have an additional 50 students in our free after-school Access Violin Program. Each summer we welcome 160 students from around the Valley and around the world to our FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy. Our dynamic Music Director is Dr. Thomas Loewenheim, cellist and professor at CSU Fresno, who is known for his ability to unite through musical vision.

Concerts & Events

Hear our three orchestras in concert! All Youth Orchestras of Fresno concerts, except our fundraising Love Conquers All, are offered free of charge, though we do hope for generous donations. Concerts this year are December 9, February 10, May 12, and May 26. Don't miss a single one!

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Auditions & Visits

Auditions are held in late August/early September each year. Placement is made at that time. Midyear auditions (placement as needed) are held in January. Interested young musicians are welcome to sit in, with their instruments, at our Sunday rehearsals.

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SponsorsHIPS
& Donations

There are endless great ways to support our work in the community! Make direct donations, attend concerts, support specific programs (our Accent on Access Violin Program, our Lesson Scholarship Program), buy program ads, sponsor a concert...

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FOOSA offers both a professional-level orchestral experience with its FOOSA Philharmonic program, designed for serious musicians of college and graduate-school age (younger musicians are also accepted), and a pre-college level program, FOOSA Half-Day. Both programs use the talents of our exceptional faculty members and benefit from the intense schedule of rehearsals, lessons, and performances. 

Inspired by Venezuela's remarkable music-for-social-justice program El Sistema, our free after-school Accent on Access Violin Program has been serving elementary school students in West Fresno since 2011. We welcome all interest and support, so please learn more by visiting our Accent on Access Violin Program page. 

ARE YOU AN ALUM?

Alumni of the Youth Orchestras of Fresno (aka Kiwanis Youth Orchestra, Fresno Junior Philharmonic, Fresno Youth Philharmonic, Junior Phil, etc.): please complete an ALUMNI UPDATE FORM! 
 

We yearn to hear from you!