Empowering students & building Community
Our Programs
Education and Outreach Programs is a suite of nine award-winning programs designed to ensure music is accessible to all, reaching every age group and demographic in South-Central Pennsylvania.
LSO Neighborhood Series
Fun, educational, and engaging, these free performances will follow a briefer format than our Masterworks Series and allow the community to connect more deeply with the music, musicians, and each other. It’s perfect for people of all ages and musical tastes!
Carnegie Hall
Link Up
This season we are bringing The Orchestra Rocks to Lancaster! Link Up is a hands-on music program for students in grades 3–5 that explores orchestral repertoire in the classroom while preparing students to sing and play recorders or string instruments along with the Lancaster Symphony in a culminating LIVE LSO Link Up concert in March 2025.
Stand Partners
StandPartners pairs LSO musicians with Middle through High School classrooms for times of sharing performances and discussion. Sessions include in-person visits and side-by-side student ensemble rehearsals with LSO musicians.
Test Drive
With help from our musicians and community partners, students are able to “test drive” a musical instrument, learning how to hold and make a sound on as many instruments as they like.
Gift Of Music
The Gift of Music program collects, restores, and distributes band and orchestra instruments to music programs with students who cannot afford the cost of renting or purchasing an instrument of their own.
Play It Forward
Every season we invite local public school music teachers to submit a wish list of small items they need (valve oil, strings, slide grease, clarinet & saxophone reeds, etc). Since 2015 we have been able to supply wishlist requests, funding over $30,000 in needed instrument supplies.
Library Pass
Fourteen family passes are in circulation at local area libraries, and each Library Pass allows a family of 4 to attend any Masterworks program free of charge.
Open Rehearsals
Open Rehearsals offer community members a free and unique opportunity to view a working symphonic rehearsal. Attendees get a behind-the-scenes look at how a performance moves from a work in progress to a work of art.
Next Level Musicians
Young musicians complete a list of enriching music education activities to earn a swag bag of prizes from generous local businesses.
Invest In Music Education
Studies have shown that music education has a positive effect on children’s emotional and intellectual growth, improves basic reading and math skills, and strengthens self esteem, self discipline, teamwork, and school attendance. Children involved in a music program are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college and are less likely to be involved in gangs, violence and substance abuse. Invest in our students today by contributing to this project!
