JUNIOR ORCHESTRA OF YAMHILL COUNTY
“I love watching my child and others grow in confidence and experience music together.”
JOY PARENT
JUNIOR ORCHESTRA OF YAMHILL COUNTY
JOY is a student learning an instrument, connecting to their community, and growing a love of music. JOY currently serves over 950 children in Yamhill County. Here is an overview of our programs.
JOY K-1
Teaching Artists provide violin instruction to kindergarten and first graders during school. Students at the following elementary schools automatically are enrolled and have access to JOY K-1 classes: Edwards ES, Antonia Crater, Joan Austin, Wascher, Grandhaven, Newby, Sue Buel, Memorial, and Willamette.
JOY After School
JOY After School provides second through fifth graders the opportunity to learn violin, viola, or cello. We must be smart about our growth as a non profit organization in order to keep our programming sustainable and equitable. Students at the following elementary schools have access and should click the link to enroll or re-enroll for fall 2025:
Grandhaven/Wascher – JOY After School
Open to current 1st graders enrolled at Grandhaven/Wascher ES in MSD
Crater – JOY After School
Open to current 1st graders enrolled at Crater ES in NSD
Newby/Sue Buel – JOY After School and Summer Camp
Open to current 1st to 2nd graders enrolled at Newby/Sue Buel ES in MSD
Edwards – JOY After School and Summer Camp
Open to current 1st to 5th graders enrolled at Edwards ES in NSD
JOY Summer Camp
JOY Summer Camp is a two week event for young orchestra musicians. Current JOY After School Orchestra students can enroll in the forms above. If not in a JOY After School program, but you would like to enroll, click the link below.
JOY Summer Camp Sign Up Form – Open to current 2-5 grade Yamhill County orchestra students with at least one year experience
JOY Youth Orchestra
JOY Youth Orchestra for musicians in grades 4-12 will launch September 2025! There are two youth orchestras. The JOY Prelude Strings is for 4-8 Grade string players and the JOY Symphony is for 7-12 Grade string, woodwind, brass, and percussion players. An audition for placement is required. Students must continue to participate in their school’s orchestra, band, or JOY After School program to participate.
Sign ups coming soon – Open to current 4-12 grade Yamhill County string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instrumentalists.
Audition Date: TBA
I love that my daughter is learning how to read music and play an instrument that we may not have been able to afford.
MARIA G., NEWBERG
OUR MISSION
The Junior Orchestra of Yamhill County (JOY) transforms the lives of underserved youth in Yamhill County through high-caliber, intensive orchestral music instruction through emphasizing teamwork and collaboration, promoting student creativity, and engaging the community.
OUR VISION
JOY is inspired by the El Sistema movement, which started in Venezuela in 1975, to harness the power of music for social change. JOY’s vision is to establish youth orchestra programs throughout Yamhill County.
OUR VALUES
- Inclusion: We embrace a diversity of students and honor the unique contributions that children and families bring.
- Equity: We help improve the academic and social outcomes for students who are underserved in our county.
- Excellence: We pursue high standards of musicality through intensive music education.
- Community: We encourage students to use their skills to enrich their communities at school, at home, in their neighborhood, and religious groups.
- Teamwork: We teach our students to perform as individuals and as a part of the orchestra.
- JOY: An appreciation and a love for music, which we hope to instill in every child.
EL SISTEMA
JOY was inspired by the El Sistema movement, which started in 1975 in Venezuela by Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu. Because of Dr. Abreu’s successful work bringing music to underserved communities, El Sistema-inspired programs now operate in many countries around the world, including the United States. JOY is a member of El Sistema USA and is one of two El Sistema inspired programs that operates in the state of Oregon. For more information on El Sistema, follow the links below:
EL SISTEMA USA WEBSITE ►
TED TALK WITH DR. ABREU (2009) ►
GUSTAVO DUDAMEL CONDUCTS THE TERESA CARRENO ORCHESTRA, VENEZUELA (2009) ►
BENEFITS OF MUSIC EDUCATION
“Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout… playing an instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once. As in any other workout, disciplined, structured practice in playing music strengthens those brain functions, alllowing us to apply that strength to other activities.” (from Laura I. Saunder’s “Your Brain on Music: The Cognitive Effects of Music Education on the Brain”)
Music education is important for all people because it actively uses many parts of the brain at once. In engaging the many parts of our brains, we strengthen other skills such as focus, analysis, decision-making, planning, and attention to detail. In addition, participation in music groups oriented towards excellence also strengthens community and cultivates social responsibility. The cognitive and social benefits brought together lead to improving student outcomes in school attendance and academic performance.
FROM DR. ABREU
“In its essence, the orchestra is much more than artistic structures. They are examples and schools of social life, because to sing and play together means to intimately coexist toward perfection and excellence, following a strict discipline of organization and coordination in order to seek the harmonic interdependence of voices and instruments. That’s how they build a spirit of solidarity and fraternity among them, develop their self-esteem and foster the ethical and aesthetical values related to music in all its senses. This is why music is important in the awakening of sensibility, in the forging of values and in the training of youngsters to teach other kids.” -Jose Antonio Abreu, founder of El Sistema in Venezuela
“From the minute a child’s taught how to play an instrument, he’s no longer poor. He becomes a child in progress headed for a professional level, who’ll later become a full citizen.” -JAA
“I believe that to confront such a crisis [of spirituality], only art and religion can give proper answers to humanity, to mankind’s deepest aspirations, and to the historic demands of our times. Education– the synthesis of wisdom and knowledge– is the means to strive for a more perfect, more aware, more noble and more just society.” -JAA
