DC Youth Orchestra Program

The DC Youth Orchestra Program (DCYOP) is an American instrumental music education program in Washington, D.C. Although it is well known for its Youth Orchestra ensemble, it is a 12-level, curriculum-based (K-12) music education program that provides instrumental music classes for students throughout the Washington, D.C. area during out-of-school-time hours. The DCYOP is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization chartered in Washington, D.C. It is also a member of the League of American Orchestras, Americans for the Arts, and the United Way of the National Capital Area.

The program was founded in 1960 by Lyn McLain. By January 2012, the program had an average annual enrollment of nearly 800 students between the ages of four-and-a-half and nineteen. In December of 2004, Ava Spece was hired as the organization's first executive director. Since then, the organization has received much needed repair of financial stability and overall community engagement and public relations. With almost 800 students, the DC Youth Orchestra Program is the largest youth orchestra program in the DC Metropolitan region. Offering 17 times more classes than any other DC-area youth orchestra organizations, the DC Youth Orchestra Program is a leading music education resource. DC Youth Orchestra Program tuition is over 25% lower than other area youth orchestras for DC students. Students pay, on average, about 42% of the costs of programs offered by DC Youth Orchestra Program. In the fall of 2012, the program reduced its ensembles to two full orchestras, four string orchestras, and one wind ensemble. The most advanced orchestra, simply known as the Youth Orchestra, has toured in more than nineteen countries and played for multiple U.S. Presidents. Youth Orchestra students performed in the 2009 Easter Egg Roll, 2009 Holiday Reception, and 2010 Easter Egg Roll at the White House. In November 2009, the students in the program also performed for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Ecumenical Patriarch at the State Department building in Washington, DC. This is included in the below timeline for the organization.

Between 2005 and 2011, 100 percent of the students who graduated from the DCYOP also graduated from high school. Of those, 90-95 percent went on to attend college. The DCYOP's priority is to provide access to instrumental music education and orchestral training for all students of the D.C. area, regardless of socioeconomic status or prior experience.