The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra has announced that it is adding a youth orchestra to its Academy music education program, to be led by Music Director José-Luis Novo. The tuition-free ensemble, the Orion Youth Orchestra, will be the program’s top-level ensemble and serve as a key component in the expansion of the Academy, whose offerings include early-childhood music classes for children ages 4 to 7 and lessons and coachings, chamber ensembles, and large-orchestra ensembles for musicians of all ages. Auditions for Orion Youth Orchestra are open to both students from the Academy and those studying with non-Academy teachers. The Annapolis Symphony Academy, founded in 2018 as an educational project of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, provides music instruction to students of all cultural and economic backgrounds, while addressing the under-representation of musicians of color in the classical music field. The orchestra states that 51 percent of the current student body is comprised of non-white youth. The Academy offers need-based financial aid, full tuition waivers, and merit-based scholarships. Annapolis Symphony Concertmaster Netanel Draiblate is founder and executive director of the Annapolis Symphony Academy.
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