Portland Youth Philharmonic

MusiciansOregon, United States11-50 Employees

The Portland Youth Philharmonic, founded in 1924 in Portland, Oregon, is recognized as the nation’s first youth orchestra and provides young musicians with opportunities for advanced creative exploration alongside high-quality music education. It comprises four large ensembles and two smaller groups, all open by audition to players aged 9 to 23; participants receive coaching from Oregon Symphony musicians and weekly music theory instruction from Kenji Bunch, with need-based tuition assistance available to those who pass auditions.

With a long-history of international activity, PYP has toured abroad, performed at Carnegie Hall, and represented U.S. Youth Orchestras at the Banff International Music Festival, earning multiple ASCAP Awards for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music. In addition to its core ensembles, the program maintains initiatives like the Peer Mentor program, which offers low-cost private lessons taught by orchestra members, and undertook contemporary composer initiatives, including a 2022 feature related to a Musiqa Emerging Composer Commission.

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