The nonprofit DC Youth Orchestra Program started its 59th season on Sept. 14 in Ward 4, after nine years away from its original home there. The move to Takoma Education Campus reflects the program’s rapid growth (with 650 students from all eight wards, it aims to double that number by 2022) and gives the program flexibility in programming that it needed. DCYOP is an institution in DC music instruction and has reached 50,000 students, making high-quality music instruction and performance opportunities accessible to students who otherwise would not have them. More than half the students receive tuition assistance. DCYOP is building this year’s orchestra in the new space, with room for students with little or no experience in woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon), brass instruments (trumpet, trombone, French horn), and strings (viola, cello, and string bass). Students learn basic music theory and performance technique, in addition to how to play the instrument, with lessons that carry over beyond the music itself. Learn more at dcyop.org.
