At three years of age, Alexis’s teacher, a religious sister, bought her a keyboard from Walgreens. She spent time in her room with it. Music was part of the family environment, as in the morning before work, they listened to classical music, and in the evening, her dad turned on the radio to the jazz station.

Private lessons are a crucial part of the training that young musicians need for playing their instrument in an advanced orchestra, and for playing music that requires high-level skills to perform. Our families are encouraged to provide private instruction for their student by paying for weekly lessons with an established instructor.

What a delight it was to be immersed in the fun and fabulous music of the Spokane Youth Symphony.

Our organization offers a wonderful way to positively impact the lives of many young people in the Inland Northwest!

On Sunday, January 19th, 22 members of the Spokane Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) performed concerto solos before a panel of judges and an audience of SYS students and family members, competing for the opportunity to perform as a soloist at the March 16th "Hidden Gems" concert at The Fox Theater.

This is the second year that the Spokane Youth Symphony has provided a class for beginning string students. Each of our five instructors, led by program director, Vanessa White, are experienced teachers in the Suzuki methodology.

Five ensembles from our Chamber Program performed for the residents of Rockwood South Hill on Sunday, December 15th. Holiday music delighted the audience, as did a performance of the first movement of a Dvorak string quartet.

On November 17th, at The Fox Theater, all four of our SYS orchestras impressed a large audience with their strong performances.

You are invited to join us for our first concert of the 2024-2025 season! This concert will include performances by all four Spokane Youth Symphony orchestras, Spokane Youth Strings, Spokane Youth Sinfonietta, Spokane Youth Philharmonic, and Spokane Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Spokane Youth Symphony Artistic Director Philip Baldwin conducts the orchestra's first rehearsal of the season.

All students who were accepted into one of our orchestras at this weekend's auditions need to be enrolled prior to attending rehearsals on Monday, September 9th.

Tickets for the "Diamond Jubilee" Alumni Concert on Saturday, November 30th at 7 pm are now sale at the Fox Box Office. Ticket prices are the same as for our regular season concert individual tickets: Adult-$19, Senior-$17, Youth (under 18)-$15. We welcome all SYS alumni and community members to attend in addition to our SYS families. (Please note that this concert IS NOT included with our season tickets.)

Season tickets are a great deal for our concert audiences. Each subscription for all four concerts is only $48 per adult ($38 SYS Family rate), $44 per senior ($34 SYS Family rate), and $34 per youth under 18 ($24 SYS Family rate). You can choose the area of the hall where you would like to sit. Last season's subscribers can ask for their same seats as last year until September 1st.

The Spokane Youth Suzuki Academy class is intended as a beginning program for students in grades 3-5 who are curious and interested about learning violin, viola, or cello in a wonderful environment. String instruction is not an option in most school settings until 6th grade, but many students express interest much sooner and we are excited to provide a nurturing and affordable environment to make that a reality!