About Us

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Group Orchestra Method Classes

We teach violin, viola, cello, and  upright bass simultaneously in group classes using curriculum designed to have the instruments all learn and play together.  Our programs follow the school calendar year, with special classes offered in summer. Our program is available to students from 3rd through 12th grade.

Keyboard and Other Music Classes

We teach these foundational music classes in group settings at the AYO Music Center. 

Youth Orchestra Ensembles
After as little as two years of group class, many students are prepared to join the Junior Orchestra, a preparatory-level string orchestra for students throughout the area. The Chamber Orchestra is our top-level ensemble, giving the most dedicated players further opportunity to develop their ensemble playing.

Concerts and Performances 

Our students perform twice a year in concerts featuring all class levels and ensembles. These concerts are free and open to the public. We also perform for the community throughout the year for various events.

Community Outreach & Partnerships

We have performed for many charity and non-profit events and fundraisers. Not only is music our gift to our community, but it provides valuable experience to our young musicians. We are proud to partner with Greater Albany Public Schools, Linn-Benton Community College, and local businesses and churches for instructional space, equipment, curriculum, and resource sharing.

  AYO envisions a community that makes excellent music education available to all young people in the Mid-Valley area. 

Fighting racial injustice connects to the very core of the Mid-Valley Prelude Sinfonia — to make music available to all children in the area. We hold equity and inclusion as the cornerstone of our organization. No student is expendable. The death of George Floyd and so many before him has elicited grief and outrage in every corner of the nation, including here in Linn County. The well-being of our community requires that we acknowledge the pain, fear, and disillusionment that exist for many of our young students of color. It is a fact that systematic racism has, and still does, produce lower incomes and large gaps in generational wealth for people of color in the United States.

Youth music education, especially the individual study of instrumental music, has been exhaustively shown in the scientific literature to increase children's learning aptitudes and provide important social and mental health benefits. These are lifelong benefits. It is also known that poverty and racial disparities work in the opposite direction. Providing such a valuable resource to all children, but most especially to those at risk, is our way of pushing aside the barriers for these kids who could see lifelong benefit from music, yet may be the least likely to encounter it.

We are committed to breaking down the barriers that prevent BIPOC children from access to youth educational opportunities. Working with our community partners, we envision a world without racism where all children can enjoy the gift of music.

MVPS Board of Directors