LInk Up Music Education and Youth Concerts

Every year the Symphony provides a set of free morning concerts for 4th and 5th graders at both the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz and Watsonville's Mello Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2017 the Santa Cruz Symphony partnered with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and the various school districts to implement Carnegie Hall's Link Up program, and held our first Link Up concerts in 2018. Through Link Up, 4th and 5th grade students learn to read music, sing, clap to rhythms, and play recorders in their classrooms. The music they learn is the same music that will be performed at our Youth Concerts, so when they come, they engage and participate in the concert program.

Email education@santacruzsymphony.org for registration information.

School Visits

Prior to our Youth Concerts, one of our professional musicians visits each classroom to talk about their instrument, what an orchestra is, and what it's like to be a professional musician. Students have the chance to ask questions and even try out the instrument.

Family Concert

The Family Concert is an hour long version of the Link Up Youth Concert (and sometimes additional pieces) open to families of all ages. Immediately following the Family Concert, children are invited to come backstage to meet the musicians and try out their instruments in our "Orchestra Petting Zoo."

We believe students who are learning to play orchestra instruments should have the chance to play with larger ensembles, so we invite members of the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony to perform side-by-side with our professional musicians. We also invite members of the Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre, Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band, El Sistema Strings, and the Cabrillo Youth Chorus to participate in our Youth and Family Concerts.