Join the next generation of fine-tuned talent!

ABOUT OUR 2025-26 SEASON

We are very excited to return for our 50th season! Please check back for updates in the coming months about this season and auditions.

REHEARSALS:

Rehearsals are on Wednesdays from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

The first rehearsal for the 2025-26 Season will be Wednesday, August 27, 2025.

Want to Join the MSYO?

Future Students

MSYO Student Portal

This password-protected Student Portal is where MSYO members can access their calendar, important documents, rehearsal links, and more.

Enter MSYO Portal

About the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra

“In the conviction that music nourishes the mind, body and spirit of the individual and enriches the community, the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra provides a rigorous and inspiring orchestral experience for young musicians.”

Founded in 1976, the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra (MSYO) serves over 100 young musicians and their families from more than 40 public and private schools in the Central Valley. Led by a deeply engaged leadership team, the youth orchestra attracts a diverse group of outstanding musicians. Members are presented with the opportunity to share their gift of music in an inspiring and challenging orchestral setting alongside their peers from all social, economic, cultural, and geographical backgrounds. As a program within the Modesto Symphony Orchestra Association, members also have the invaluable experience of interacting with our professional musicians, conductors, and visiting guest artists through workshops, side-by-side performances, and clinics.

The MSYO serves students of varying skill levels and is made up of two full-orchestra (strings, winds, and percussion) groups:

The MSYO Concert Orchestra (Grades 5-9)
The MSYO Symphony Orchestra (Grades 9-12)

Both ensembles perform a three-concert series at the Gallo Center for the Arts throughout the season. In addition to the Gallo concerts, both orchestras also perform in and around the region. The MSYO Concert Orchestra has toured San Francisco, Sacramento, and the Central Valley. Each spring the Concert Orchestra tours through local elementary schools, providing free performances and advocating for the importance of music education. The MSYO Symphony Orchestra has also performed throughout the United States and world, including performances in England, France, Japan, Eastern Europe, Canada, and China. The Symphony Orchestra has previously partnered with the Napa Valley Youth Symphony to perform in the 2012 Mahler Festival in Vienna and for the 2014 New York Phil Young Composers workshop, where they performed at Carnegie Hall and in Central Park.

Chamber Ensembles

In addition to offering full orchestra experiences for middle school and high school students, the MSYO Chamber Ensembles Program will offer students who are aspiring to achieve a more demanding level of music excellence, an elevated and more challenging musical repertoire and small ensemble experience.

These groups will serve as showcase groups for the MSYO, and will be utilized for community outreach, MSO events, fundraisers, and numerous other performing opportunities.