Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA) is the Los Angeles Philharmonic's initiative, supported by a network of stakeholders, to provide access to exceptional instrumental and orchestral education in order to promote youth development. Central to YOLA is the LA Phil's plan to build, with community partners, youth orchestras in underserved communities throughout Los Angeles.
YOLA is inspired by El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education system that nurtured the Los Angeles Philharmonic's incoming Music Director, Gustavo Dudamel. El Sistema annually provides a quarter million children with free musical instruments and music instruction so that they may play in youth orchestras throughout Venezuela.
Two major projects currently exist under the YOLA umbrella: the EXPO Center Youth Orchestra and the YOLA Stakeholder Network.
EXPO Center Youth Orchestra
The EXPO Center Youth Orchestra is a beginning-level ensemble from South LA with a focus on excellence, community, and creativity. This first project of YOLA is a partnership of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, The Harmony Project, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
The instruments and the program are free to all participating students as long as they uphold their contract to take care of the instrument, practice, and attend lessons and orchestra rehearsals. Participating students come mainly from within a 5-mile radius of the EXPO Center and represent more than 60 public, charter, and private schools in South L.A.
Parents of participating students are able to enroll in parent workshops.
YOLA Stakeholder Network
The Youth Orchestra LA Stakeholder Network is a consortium of music and arts organizations, convened by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose mission is to transform lives and inspire social change in the heart of Los Angeles communities by increasing access to quality instrumental and orchestral education for Los Angeles’ underserved youth.
The Network’s vision is that all children in Los Angeles will have the opportunity to be transformed by the experience of playing in an orchestra and that youth orchestras will convey the power of harmonious collective effort.
The goals of the Network are to:
- Develop new orchestras of underserved youth.
- Pool resources to improve existing programs or develop new programs in targeted communities.
- Create a pipeline for underserved youth to develop the skills to perform in established youth and in-school orchestras in Los Angeles County.
- Share achievements of new/improved programming and best practices in partnerships.
- Support professional development initiatives for arts specialists and teaching artists.
The Stakeholder Network, along with Deborah Borda, President of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, stood united at the International Youth Orchestra Festival and Symposium in October of 2007 to promote orchestral education and to officially announce Youth Orchestra LA. Since then, the Network has worked together on important projects such as mapping resources for music education in Los Angeles County, as well as building new collaborative partnerships in underserved communities.
