ANNOUNCEMENT

Welcome to The Richmond Symphony School of Music

FOUNDED IN THE SUMMER OF 2020, the Richmond Symphony School of Music (RSSoM) is now in operation as a virtual music school open to the public. Together, we aspire to provide a broad range of programming to Central Virginia, the Commonwealth, and beyond, and to establish the foundation upon which a brick-and-mortar community music school will be established in the future.

During our first year, over 400 students attended more than a dozen offerings: digital ensemble classes based on our pre-COVID youth orchestras; precollege chamber music, music theory, and composition classes; and evening classes for adults with a vision for more in the future. As a virtual music school, we utilized videoconferencing software and an array of both digital and traditional resources to supplement instruction and exploration, and to facilitate real-time lessons and classes.

A diverse and dedicated team of musicians, students, teachers, parents, administrators, and music education professionals representing our region’s leaders in the field continue to develop our plans for growth.

Our sincere hope and dream is that RSSoM will grow to take its place among Richmond’s many fine institutions as a hub of a spectrum of activities, where music education is accessible to all and where all styles and traditions of music are valued, respected, and pursued with dedication, passion, and love: "changing lives through the power of music."

STAY POSTED

Get our weekly school updates, upcoming events, new semester classes, and school announcements.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

All RSSoM in-person classes and rehearsals on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 are canceled due to inclement weather. Tonight’s Future Music Educators Symposium class will still meet online, as planned. Stay warm, everyone! ❄️🥁
All RSSoM in-person classes and rehearsals on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 are canceled due to inclement weather. Students, check your email for more information and enjoy your unexpected snow day! ☃️🎺
Give your students the gift of live music at our March Hopkins-Eggleston Discovery Concert: Storytime with the Richmond Symphony, featuring The Sneetches™ by Dr. Seuss! 🎻🌟🎉

Held during the school day, Discovery Concerts engage young minds through exciting full-orchestra performances. These morning performances by the Richmond Symphony correlate with Virginia Standards of Learning. Participating schools receive student listening guides, a teacher guide, and concert repertoire in advance of the performance. Concerts serve city, county, private and home-schooled students. Our spring Discovery Concerts are best suited for grades pre-K through 3 and will feature Lorenzo Palomo’s The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss™, Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from The Sleeping Beauty, and excerpts from Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Wednesday, March 12 at 10:30 am and Thursday March 13 at 10:30 am | Teachers can register their groups by visiting the link in our bio

Interested in attending our spring Discovery Concerts, but unable to attend with a school group? Join us for our Family Concert on Sunday, March 16! Our Family Concerts are open to the public and welcome students of all ages. Visit the link in our bio for more information. 

@rvasymphony #classicalmusic #orchestra #symphony #richmond #tchaikovsky #dukas #storytime #story #drseuss #nationalreadingmonth #thesneetches #alsosprachzarathustra #rva #rvakids
Mark your calendars—our first concert of 2025 is just one month away on Sunday, February 23! 🎶

Woodwinds, brass, and percussion will join the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra for a performance of Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, nicknamed the “Drum Roll” symphony for the thunderous timpani roll at its start. Percussion Ensemble will also take the stage, featuring chamber music performed by percussionists in YCO and RSYO.

RSYO and Percussion Ensemble winter concert 🎻🎺🥁
Conducted by Hae Lee (@hae.conductor) and Dr. Justin Alexander (@justin.alexander.percussion)
Sunday, February 23 at 7:00 pm
Free and open to the public; no ticket is required

Photo of RSYO in March 2024 by Anna Mitchell (@annamiitchcreates). 

@rvasymphony #youthorchestra #orchestra #percussion #chambermusic #haydn #haydn103 #musiceducation #classicalmusic #rva #rvamusic
There’s a reason why they call December the most wonderful time of year! Earlier this month, our students in Youth Community Strings were invited to perform Carol of the Bells during a Sunday morning service with @myspbc. Between those who attended the service in person and those who viewed the livestream, over 3,000 people watched our young musicians perform!

We’re delighted to share our students’ performance with you today in celebration of the holiday season. On behalf of the Richmond Symphony School of Music, happy holidays to all, and we look forward to making music with you in the New Year! 🎇🎻

A special thank you to our lead teacher Caitlin Barry, our co-teacher Anita Williams, all of our amazing volunteers, and our partners at The Saint Paul’s Baptist Church and A to B Kid Shuttle.

@rvasymphony @myspbc @spbc_imagination @caitlinabarry #violin #violinist #youngviolinist #musiceducation #orchestra #elementarymusic #youthorchestra #youngmusician #carolofthebells
It’s time for music teachers to nominate students for our Future Music Educators Symposium (FMES)! This 8-week online program, offered in the spring semester, is designed to provide a meaningful experience for students who show exceptional promise and passion for a future career in music education. Virginia high school juniors and seniors are selected through teacher nominations and participate in a series of workshops and classes where their own hands-on teaching encounters are supported virtually by invited guest speakers, clinicians, and mentors, representing all of the rich diversity that exists in the world of music education. The class meets online on Wednesdays from mid-January to mid-March.

With the guidance and curriculum of Dr. Sandy Goldie, Director of Music Education at VCUarts Music, we are delighted to have a special guest lead teacher for our 5th annual cohort—Dr. Angela Ammerman! Referred to by the Washington Post as the first “music teacher prodigy,” Dr. Ammerman is the author of the Music Teacher’s Guide series and hostess of the viral Instagram page @musicteachersguide. 

Teachers can nominate students to participate through the link in our bio. Virginia high school juniors and seniors are eligible to participate and the deadline to nominate students is Monday, December 16, 2024. Space is extremely limited, so we encourage you to place your nominations early.

@rvasymphony #musiceducation #musicteacher #musiced #musiceducationmajor #musicedmajor #mued #orchestrateacher #orchestra #bandteacher #band #elementarymusicteacher #elementarymusic #vcuartsmusic

richmond-auditorium-students

RICHMOND SYMPHONY VISION STATEMENT:

We change lives through the power of music.

RICHMOND SYMPHONY MISSION STATEMENT:

The Richmond Symphony performs,
teaches, and champions music to inspire and
unite our communities.

STAY POSTED

Get our weekly school updates, upcoming events, new semester classes, and school announcements.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.


Music Explorations

A free series featuring guest artists and experts
in the music industry
Stay tuned for our next event!