VSO’s SymphonyKids educational programs reach all corners of the state, and over 4,000 students of all ages each year. We thank the Doolittle Family Foundation as a key and generous sponsor of our overall education programs. SymphonyKids is also made possible in part by the philanthopy of the George W. Mergens Foundation, the Music Performance Trust Fund,  Lucy Downing Nisbet Charitable Trust, the Oakland Foundation, Bob Kenny and Pat Suozzi, and VSO’s endowed funds including The Albert F. and Hilda Woodruff Gollnick Fund, The Frank Hensel Memorial Fund, The Susie Learmonth Upper Valley SymphonyKids Fund, The Lois H. McClure Musicians-in-the-Schools Fund, and the Kate Tamarkin Education Fund. We’re very thankful for this key support!

For more information or to book a program, email Hannah Hansen, Education Coordinator or call (802) 864-5741 ext. 113.

 

Musicians-in-Schools Programs
October 2025 – June 2026

Reaching 3,695 kids in the 2024-25 academic year, the VSO’s Musicians in Schools string, brass, and woodwind instrument trios travel around the state during the academic year, bringing live musical performance and education to K-6 students.

The concerts include a demonstration of instruments, a wide sampling of repertoire, audience participation, a storyteller who ties the music to STEM principles, and a good dose of zany humor. These groups can present up to three, 45-minute shows a day, which can be in three different schools if they are close enough geographically.  The cost is $300 per performance, with discounts for multiple performances in a single day. Subsidies are available for schools with limited resources.

“Wonderful program! So creative. Music and Math. Kids enjoyed it.” – Mount Holly school. “I’m delighted that VSO is offering these programs to some of our state’s schools and that my local school of Lyndon has been selected!” – Rep. Marty Feltus, Calendonia District 3

 

World Music & Drumming Workshops

September 24 & 25, 2025

Guest musicians Sandeep Das (tabla) and Rajib Karmakar (sitar) hosted a world music workshop for the general public and students at Vermont State University Castleton, followed by Das’ and East African drummer Ishmael Bangoura’s drumming workshop in partnership with Clemmons Family Farm. 

“I really enjoyed this event because it was free and up close and personal. I had never heard of either instrument so it expanded my knowledge. The stories of their journeys to become such talented musicians were fascinating!” – Joyce Space, World Music workshop attendee

 

First Steps in Music (pre-K)

Year long 2025/26

VSO’s preschool program returns, based on the First Steps in Music curriculum by Dr. John Feierabend! This research-based program nurtures children’s natural musical abilities through playful songs, movement, and interactive experiences. Rooted in the philosophy that every child is born with the potential to become musically expressive, First Steps in Music gives our youngest learners the tools to grow tuneful, beatful, and artful—laying the foundation for a lifelong love of music. Taught by Megumi Esselstrom.

 

Vermont Public Curious Kids Day

November 8, 2025

It’s a new partnership with Vermont Public! November 8, 2025 is Curious Kids Day with Vermont Public. Three VSO woodwind and string musicians join host Jan Lindholm to create a new episode of But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids, all about what musical instruments can do. You can hear the podcast at this link: But Why. VSO’s instrument petting zoo was also on offer at Curious Kids Day, which brought in over 300 kids and their families to experience hands-on, in-person musical performance.

 

Student Sectionals & Side-by-Side Concerts

November 13 & 14, 2025

• VSO musicians travel to St. Albans’ Bellows Free Academy and Montpelier’s U-32 middle- and high-school music programs to support their sectional training with one-on-one lessons as they prepare for the students’ winter concerts. In addition,  the two student youth orchestras join VSO’s string ensemble for side-by-side performances in schools with our Made in Vermont tour with The Moth Radio Hour. These concerts are generously supported by the Music Performance Trust Fund.

 

$10 Ticket Program
September 2025-May 2026

At six concerts this season in Burlington and Rutland, VSO provides $10 tickets to orchestra concerts for students and music teachers – with no seating restriction, so they can experience the concert up close! Holiday Pops concerts also provide free tickets for ages 12 and under (with paid, accompanying adult). With these programs, we’ve seen an increase of over 300% attendance since 2019 by students and music teachers at VSO concerts.

 

Student Insiders

Manchester: November 15, 2026 with Made in Vermont

Rutland: March 20, 2026 with Disney in Concert

For middle and high school school students, our Student Insiders program invites students and chaperones to attend a VSO concert free of charge while they gain an inside perspective on the orchestra and the repertoire. Participants and their families/teachers receive preparatory materials before the event, and are invited to a special meet-and-greet with the conductor and performers before the concert. This season’s Student Insiders concerts are in November, 2025 at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, and in March, 2026 at the Paramount Theater in Rutland. This program is fully funded by generous community members, and coordinated by VSO’s SouthWest Friends volunteer committee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music-COMP partnership: Young Composers

Winter 2025/2026

VSO premieres two works by Music-COMP students with the annual Brass Quintet & Counterpoint Chorus concerts in December, and David M. Wilson Farmers’ Night concert in February. For the 2025/26 season, the composers are Sam Acus from Mount Mansfield High School (“A Warm Winter”) and Louis Napolitan from Burlingotn High School (“Haunted Forest”).

“The ongoing support, masterclasses, music composition, and opportunities our learners have engaged in [with the VSO] are priceless. These are once in a lifetime experiences for learners, and I am proud to support the importance of arts in education at our school.” -Principal Donna L. Cauley, Monument Elementary School

 

Vermont Youth Orchestra partnership
October 2025, February and May 2026

Our Vermont Youth Orchestra (VYO) partnership started in the 2023-24 season with three young instrumentalists playing side-by-side with us at The Flynn in Burlington. Since then, VYO musicians are welcomed to a few concerts each year as part of their experiential learning as senior-level musicians, and  VYO quartets and quintets perform in the lobby before concerts (Photo: three VYO musicians backstage September 2024, performing Rhapsody in Blue with Bela Fleck and the VSO.) In 2025-26, five VYO string instrument musicians will perform onstage with the VSO in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, and Bizet’s Carmen Suites No. 1 and 2.

“Our young musicians, embedded with the VSO, learned what it is like to play in a professional symphony orchestra. They saw how musicians move together for precision, learned the way professional string musicians pass information back through a specific chain of command and what they note on their sheet music, and experienced tackling a piece of music in a single weekend on a professional schedule.” – Mark Alpizar, Music Director, Vermont Youth Orchestra

 

Adult Education
Year-long

• Vermont’s music educators can earn professional development credits towards their licensure by participating in VSO’s concert as a volunteer chorus member. This accreditation is made possible via a special partnership with Vermont State University Castleton’s music department.
• Vermont Humanities Fall Festival: On October 14, VSO’s Matt LaRocca collaborates with Vermont Humanties for a free talk on music as resistance and hope, and protest songs, in Waterbury (click here).
• Composer on the Rocks series: we’re reviving our popular cocktail hour mini party and introduction to a key composer of upcoming concerts, with “Beethoven on the Rocks” on October 21, 2025 and “Carmen on the Rocks” on February 10, 2026 at the Venetian Soda Lounge in Burlington (hosted by Andrew Crust and James Stewart).
• Open rehearsals are available for ticket-buyers to VSO at the Flynn concerts in September, October, February and May, providing an insightful and relaxed look at the rehearsal process with Music Director Andrew Crust. The September 25, 2025 evening open rehearsal includes guest tabla player Sandeep Das and sitarist Rajib Karmakar, and the February 13,  2026 afternoon open rehearsal includes guest violinist Jennifer Koh.