San Diego Youth Symphony

History

The San Diego Youth Symphony was founded in 1945 by Leo Scheer, a musician, assistant conductor of the San Diego Symphony, and a composer-violinist who envisioned a bright and enduring future for talented young musicians. He presented the first concert of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of San Diego City and County on September 6, 1945. By 1947 the Youth Symphony Orchestra had gained the sponsorship of the City of San Diego's Park and Recreation Department, with rehearsals held in Balboa Park - a relationship that continues to this day.

Specialties

For more than 75 years, San Diego Youth Symphony (SDYS) has served as a catalyst for investing in the future of thousands of young San Diegans through the study and performance of music. Through SDYS' flagship ensemble program in Balboa Park, its neighborhood engagement Community Opus Project, and the ChIMES early childhood music curriculum, SDYS is San Diego's most comprehensive provider of 'cradle to college' music programs and a national leader in outreach programming, serving 1000+ infants through pre-professional K-12 musicians across Southern California every year. At SDYS, we believe that music is a vehicle for giving young people the social, emotional and academic skills that transcend traditional educational models and prepare them to enter the 21st-century workforce. Our values, which focus on personal achievement, leadership, and community inclusiveness, form the basis of every SDYS program. We respect every young person who takes part in our programs and celebrate their accomplishments as musicians, as members of our community, and as future leaders, in San Diego and across the nation.