For students 12th grade and younger, attending an IVSO concert is completely free!

We do this to make it easy for you to join us. If you need a ride, you can bring a parent (who will pay for their own ticket for $22), but if you’re old enough to bring yourself, you can leave the chaperone at home. A trip to the symphony is a chill hangout for friends who just want to not think about Algebra II for an hour…and pro tip: orchestra tickets make a 10/10 date for high school sweethearts.

Clothes.

Like, you probably don’t want to come in a swimsuit, but other than that, you can wear pretty much whatever you feel like—it depends on the experience you want! If you want to dress up for a fancy girls night out, please do! In fact: tag us in your fit check! But if you need to unwind and just want to be comfortable, casual wear is totally fine.

You very well might! Orchestral music, both original and classical, is used in films and video games all the time. We publish program announcements ahead of the concerts so you can look up the pieces and see if they sound familiar. If you want a good place to start, our Pops Concert in September and The Nutcracker in December are two safe bets for familiar tunes.

Some pieces of music have multiple movements—usually about 3-4 shorter pieces with little pauses between them that make up a larger whole. Traditionally, you should hold applause between movements and wait to clap until after the final movement when the piece is DONE done. The program is helpful to look at to know when to clap, as it pretty much outlines it for you. But here’s the thing: if you love what you heard so much you can’t help yourself, we won’t judge you. Thank you for sharing your appreciation with us.

Also clapping-related: If you come in late and hear music from the lobby, wait to enter the auditorium until you hear applause. This just helps you avoid becoming an accidental soloist.

Finally, while we love music with our dinner as much as the next orchestra, we suggest eating either before or after the concert—not during. Candy wrappers and chip bags are loud and disrupt the experience of everyone around you. A mint or cough drop if needed to prevent mouth dryness is okay, but should be opened before the music starts or during applause.

There are two ways to be a part of IVSO as a student: as a player and as a participant in our community service hours program, both volunteer.

Click here to learn more about the community service hours program we partner with the Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra to host.

We do accept advanced high-school musicians as section players based on teacher recommendation! Talk to your band director and/or private teacher and work with them to set readiness goals. When you both are confident that the experience would be a good one, your teacher can reach out to IVSO General Manager Aelsa Woods at manager@ivso.org and inquire about personnel and placement for upcoming concerts.

A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a neat composition that might be helpful, because it goes through each section of the orchestra and introduces the instruments through music! The New Jersey Orchestra has a really cool video about it here.

You can also ask your school’s music teacher for resources. Careful Google searches and ChatGPT prompts could bring up some interesting information as well—ask your parent or guardian to help you research! You can also email info@ivso.org if you have a specific question you can’t find an answer to online.