Department of Music

The Charlottesville Symphony presents their annual Youth Concerts on Thursday, October 17 at 10:00am and 11:30am.

Each October, the Charlottesville Symphony presents two free Youth Concerts to area fourth and fifth graders.  These forty-five minute performances introduce students to orchestral instruments and serve as a recruiting tool for school band and orchestra programs.  Students are invited to attend the concerts in the academic year before they have the opportunity to join their own school ensembles, assisting children in making educated choices about what instrument they would like to play.  They are always popular with students, and serve for many as their first experience with live orchestral music.  The concerts have enthusiastic support from local music teachers, who consider the concerts a part of their school’s music curriculum. 

Who is Eligible to Attend

Reservations have closed for the Youth Concerts 2019. Reservations for the concerts can only be made by school music teachers or administrators and by home-school groups.  The concerts are NOT open to the public.  Fourth and fifth graders who attend public and private schools in the Charlottesville region are invited to attend.  Similar-aged home-school students are also invited to attend.  Schools are expected to bring one grade level, unless the school has a special classroom situation that would require multiple grade levels to attend.  For home-schooled families, siblings are welcome, however no one under age five will be admitted.

Reservations
Reservations have closed for the Youth Concerts 2019. Free for public schools, private and home schools, but space is extremely limited and advance reservations are required. Education@cvillesymphony.org or 434-924-6505. For further information about Youth Concerts, please visit the Charlottesville Symphony Youth Concerts page here.

 Funding is provided by the Charlottesville Symphony Society, the University of Virginia McIntire Department of Music, The Watterson Foundation and the Mr. and Mrs. James L. Brown Endowment Fund, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

The Symphony’s first Youth Concerts were presented in 1977.  Past programs include: A Musical Menagerie, Score One for the Orchestra, A Musical Forecast, Close Encounters of the Orchestral Kind, and Beethoven, Back to the Future.  The concerts are supported by area foundations, businesses, individual contributors and the James and Judy Brown Fund.