Meet some of our alumni

DCYOP was a family endeavor, everyone was involved. The experience shapes my vision of how each instrument and each person’s voice together and in harmony adds to the total. The many hours of collaborative and shared practice, listening and learning, shapes my work as Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Through the DC Youth Orchestra Program, I was able to significantly improve my skills. I learned the value of working hard and received great amount of encouragement from the instructors. The trip with the DC Youth Orchestra was my first trip overseas and gave me an interest in travel and learning about other cultures. I later went on to have a lengthy career in the Foreign Service with USAID.

One of the primary things that the orchestra teaches is humanity and how to be, how to live in this world that is at times full of conflict, full of confusion. But how to move through that gracefully, confidently, and securely in your own sense of yourself while connecting to or doing your best to connect with other people.