Louisville Youth Orchestra

We believe in providing an extraordinary experience for young musicians of all skill levels and interest areas. The Louisville Youth Orchestra includes over 320 student musicians from schools in the Louisville, Southern Indiana and surrounding counties.  Through our two full orchestras, two string orchestras, and our wind, brass, and percussion ensembles we create artistic education programs for young audiences throughout our diverse communities.

The LYO is committed to removing financial barriers for our members. Because of support from community members like you, a wide range of scholarships for instruction are available and awarded based on need. The majority of our revenue is applied directly to program expenses that serve our students and meet our mission.

That is why we need your help! 

Who We Are

Our mission is to provide a musical experience of the highest quality for all dedicated young musicians and to provide artful and meaningful education programs for young audiences throughout our diverse communities regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural heritage or economic circumstance.

Our vision is to offer a superior orchestral experience to any young musician who wishes to participate and to expand our performance reach to diverse communities with an emphasis on youth audiences without discrimination of any kind. We are committed to providing a means of participation for any child by addressing all barriers to entry including economic circumstances and physical challenges. We plan to accomplish this vision by continuing to offer beginning string programs throughout the area and to develop an infrastructure to accommodate these and all other musicians as they continue to perfect their art.

The Louisville Youth Orchestra was founded in 1958 and is one of the oldest continuously operating youth orchestras in the nation. Our members include students from Jefferson and seventeen surrounding counties (including Southern Indiana) between ages five to twenty-one who perform in one of two full orchestras, two string ensembles, beginning string classes (majority at-risk), Single Reed Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble as well as an array of Chamber Music Groups. Each string ensemble offers an increasing range of expertise and ability level from beginners to pre-professionals. Our wind ensembles are designed to prepare students for membership in one of our two, top level, full orchestras. Our percussion ensemble is dedicated to providing supplemental educational and performance experience. The LYO has a 42% minority representation and now provides scholarships based on need for 29% of its members. The LYO draws members from 101 schools across the region. The LYO performs at a variety of locations throughout the areas and is dedicated to offering performances to Metro-Louisville and surrounding counties.