SANTA CLARITA VALLEY YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Wind instruments, strings, and even a harp are skillfully played by youth ages nine to twenty. Interviews with music director Dr. Paul J. Sherman and a few of the talented musicians during the December concert at College of the Canyons Performing Arts Center.
The Santa Clarita Valley Youth Orchestra (SCVYO) is a non-profit organization that provides stewardship of several instrumental ensembles, including Novae Sinfonia, Orchestra, Preludes, and Chamber Ensemble. The SCVYO seeks to provide an instrumental education program for students eight years and older. Students study all periods of music with opportunities for master classes with Los Angeles’ finest musicians, chamber music performances, and travel.
All SCVYO artistic staff hold advanced degrees in music performance, many from Santa Clarita’s own California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). The SCVYO has served the Santa Clarita Valley community and surrounding areas for over 50 years.
Past performances include Walt Disney Concert Hall, Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons, CalArts Wild Beast, and numerous other venues in the greater Los Angeles area and beyond. In 2024 Novae Sinfonia will travel to NYC to make their Carnegie Hall debut.
Students, through exposure to expert instruction, musical knowledge, and ethnic diversity, acquire a love of beauty, learn to pursue excellence, demonstrate personal growth as musicians, and enrich the cultural life of our community.
Our Teaching Philosophy
The SCVYO family of ensembles strives to provide the highest quality music education in the greater Los Angeles area. We do this by providing the finest staff, with a combined teaching experience of more than 100 years and six graduate level degrees.
This set of ensembles takes the beginning players through advanced musicians, laying a solid foundation of correct instrumental technique, rehearsal etiquette, and practice skills. Students graduate from the program knowing how to prepare music to the highest level.
We do this by firmly but reasonably demanding a commitment to a very high level of performance. This means that the ensembles become a part of your life. You will meet like-minded, musical and intellectual friends that you will have for life.
The SCVYO attracts the best and brightest students from the area, and virtually all of them graduate to prestigious 4-year universities. These include Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Harvard, Northwestern, Yale, Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, and UCLA, among others. Being an orchestral musician teaches commitment, higher brain function, critical thinking, interpersonal skills and provides a love of the arts for life. This is not an easy path, but it will be one of the most rewarding commitments a young musician will ever make.