The deadline to enter the Richmond Symphony League’s 55th annual Student Concerto Competition has been extended. The League’s concerto competition will take place on Saturday, January 3, 2026 and is open to any classically trained instrumentalist in Virginia who has not yet graduated from high school. The first-prize winner will receive a cash award and be considered for an invitation to perform with the Richmond Symphony. The application period is open now, with repertoire submissions due at 11:59pm on Sunday, December 14. For more information, click here.
Share This Post!
Recent Posts
You’re invited! ✉️🎶 The Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony come together in Carpenter Theatre for their first side-by-side performance since February 2020, weaving youth orchestra students together with professional musicians in each section of the orchestra.
The program will include works by Bizet, Márquez, Mascagni, Smetana, and Tchaikovsky and will be conducted by Hae Lee, RSYO conductor and Jack and Mary Ann Frable Associate Conductor Chair.
—
RSYO and Richmond Symphony Side-by-Side
Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 7:00pm
Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center
Admission is free; no ticket is required
—
@rvasymphony #YouthOrchestra #MusicEd #ClassicalMusic #Symphony #RVA
The first four measures of W.A. Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik are among the most recognizable openings in all of classical music! Pick an instrument—violin, viola, cello, or double bass—and follow along with RSYO in their recent performance of this iconic work. 🎻
Fun fact: Today, January 27, is Mozart’s birthday! Also celebrating his birthday today is our very own Hae Lee, conductor of RSYO! Happy birthday, Hae, and thank you for all you do to support our young musicians! 🎉
🎶: W.A. Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik, mvt. I: Allegro
Performed by the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra and conductor Hae Lee (November 2025)
@rvasymphony @dominionenergycenter #Mozart #EineKleineNachtmusik #RSYO #YouthOrchestra
On Friday, January 16, we welcomed music students from three Virginia colleges—Norfolk State University, Virginia State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University—for our first Open Rehearsal of 2026! 🎶
Before the rehearsal, students participated in a talk and Q&A with Richmond Symphony Composer-in-Residence Damien Geter. After, students were welcomed to the Carpenter Theatre to observe a full rehearsal of An African American Requiem, featuring four guest vocalists and guest conductor Kazem Abdullah alongside the Richmond Symphony.
Missed out on our fourth Symphony Series but want to learn more about An African American Requiem? Our Companion Course, taught by Dr. Julie Bemis, Vice President of Education & Community Engagement can be viewed for free at the link in our bio. 🎶
@rvasymphony @nsucc @vsumd_ @vsucc @vcuartsmusic @vcuchoirs #RichmondSymphony #DamienGeter #RVAmusic #ClassicalMusic #MusicEd
Today’s the day! This evening, members of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra (RSYO) will be competing in our annual Concerto Competition. Tonight’s winner will perform their concerto movement with RSYO in their final concert of the year.
The scores pictured here represent just a fraction of the students competing this evening. Good luck to all participants and stay tuned for the winner of this year’s competition! 🎶✨
@rvasymphony #YouthOrchestra #ConcertoCompetition #Concerto #Orchestra
2026 ins and outs, YOP version! We hope all of our students had a restful holiday break and a wonderful first week back in rehearsal ✨🎶
Photos from the 2024–25 and 2025–26 seasons by Demetrius Holloway and Dave Pearson.
@rvasymphony #MusicEd #YouthOrchestra #ClassicalMusicMemes
“I was very fortunate to play a lot of the standard orchestral pieces as a young musician. We played a lot of serious repertoire during my time in [YOP],” Erin said. One of her favorites? Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8—one of the pieces she played during her very first concert with YOP, which she recently revisited during the Richmond Symphony’s 2024–25 season. “I have played Dvořák 8 many times in my career. It is still one of my favorite pieces and there was something special about discovering it for the first time as a young musician.”
———
Our December Spotlight Series features Erin Lano, an alum of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program who now serves as Associate Principal Horn of the Richmond Symphony. To read Erin’s Spotlight, head to the link in our bio or visit our website. 🎶📯
Our monthly Spotlight Series is written by Anna Mitchell, Education & Social Media Coordinator.
@rvasymphony #RichmondSymphony #FrenchHorn #Horn #YouthOrchestra
Happy International Cello Day from the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program! 🎻🌟🎶🫶
Our November 2025 concert (pictured) featured 34 amazing young cellists across four different ensembles. If you’re interested in joining that number, save the date: Auditions for the next season of YOP will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026!
Photos by Dave Pearson (@pearsonphoto2000).
#Cello #InternationalCelloDay #YouthOrchestra #ClassicalMusic #Orchestra
Join the Valentine for some holiday cheer on their picturesque block of East Clay Street! Take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage, enjoy a performance and partake in refreshments and family crafts. Students from the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Honors Chamber Ensembles will perform works by Beethoven, Dvořák, and Schubert as part of this event.
Winter Wander 2025 ❄️ Hosted by the Valentine
Sunday, December 14 | 12:00 to 4:00pm
1015 East Clay Street, Richmond, VA 23219
12:45 to 1:30pm: Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Honors Chamber Ensembles perform
For more information, visit @thevalentinerva.
Photos by Dave Pearson Photography (@pearsonphoto2000).
#YouthOrchestra #ChamberMusic #RVAThingsToDo #StringQuartet #Violin
Flow state reached during our recent fall concert 🙂↕️🙂↕️🙂↕️
@rvasymphony #OrchestraMemes #MusicEd #Mozart #FlowState #ClassicalMusic
Another year wrapped for the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program, featuring Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and more ✅
Whether you listened to classical music this year or not, drop your Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay highlights in the comments below!
@rvasymphony #ClassicalMusic #ClassicalMusicMemes #MusicEd #SpotifyWrapped #AppleMusicReplay
This October, nearly three thousand 3rd through 8th grade students from across Virginia joined us for our fall 2025 Hopkins-Eggleston Discovery Concerts, The Science of Sound! Together, we discovered how orchestral instruments create sound and the mechanics of sound waves from outer space to the deep sea. 🔭🎶
Missed out on the fun? Registration is now open for our spring 2026 Discovery Concerts! These concerts will take place on February 18th and 19th and are open to public, private, and homeschool groups, targeting students in grades pre-K through 3. For more information and to register your school group, visit the link in our bio.
Spring 2026 Hopkins-Eggleston Discovery Concert: Carnival of the Animals 🦢🦁🐢🐘🐟
Wednesday, February 18 and Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 10:30am
Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center
Photos by Christian Thesken of True North Productions (@truenorthprods).
Deadline extended due to the recent holiday weekend! Music educators, now is your chance to nominate a student for our 2025–26 Future Music Educators Symposium (FMES), open to high school juniors and seniors located across Virginia. If you teach a student who’s got that spark, visit our website to nominate them on or before the new deadline of Wednesday, December 3, 2025. 🍎🎶✨
Led by Dr. Sandy Goldie, Department Chair and Director of Music Education, VCUarts Music, this 8-week online program is designed to provide a meaningful experience for students who show exceptional promise and passion for a future career in music education. Students are selected through teacher nominations, and accepted students 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. This year’s cohort will meet online on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:00pm, January 7 to February 25, 2026.
Each music educator may nominate up to two (2) total students for this course. To be eligible for a nomination, students must currently be a high school junior or senior and must be located in the state of Virginia. The updated deadline to nominate students is Wednesday, December 3, 2025. For more information and to nominate a student, visit our website or the link in our bio.
Photo from the 2022–23 season by James H Loving Photography (@jamesloving).
@rvasymphony @vcuartsmusic @virginiamusiceducators #MusicEducation #VMEA #MusicEd #MusicTeacher #MusicTeachersofInstagram
