Youth String Orchestra

Composer Bud Woodruff continues to present compositions that students will love to perform and will learn from playing. The title, Dorian's Barn has a unique double meaning in that it is dedicated to...

Highlander's Pride showcases what Carl Strommen ability to write tuneful melodies and well-scored compositions. This march-like piece draws from Scottish influences and is perfect for developing group...

Kathryn Griesinger's Ballad of Burning Sky is a rollicking ballad which tells a tale from the untamed frontier of the historic Wild West. In this easy first-position piece, students can create their o...

Annie's Gone Home, composed in the style of a spiritual, was written as a tribute to composer Bud Woodruff's mother. The tune is built on phrases of easily understandable material, but the poignant na...

Incursion is a collaboration between composer Sean O'Loughlin and the students of the Westport, Connecticut Public Schools. Inspired by the students' desire for a dark and scary sounding piece, O'Loug...

Festive and fun, composer David Hind's Festive Carousel is a wonderful addition to any concert program. Work on articulations and delicate entrances with this energetic new work for string orchestra.

Just as the title describes, this piece walks the highwire from pointed driving rhythms to sonorous lyrical lines. It is signature Alan Lee Silva at his best, with flowing, melodic lines and lush harm...

Instrumentation: Violin I, Violin II, Violin III (Viola TC), Viola, Cello, Bass, Piano This new composition from composer David Hinds evokes the spirit of the Old West, when early pioneers traveled ac...

Instrumentation: Violin I, Violin II, Violin III (Viola TC), Viola, Cello, Bass, Chimes, Piano This modal piece has a dark, other worldly sound that students love to play. It's as if it is from the pa...

The imagery of a lush, green meadow helps set the stage for Verdant Meadows. This simple, yet harmonically adventurous composition alternates between legato melodies and staccato harmonies. Following...

Joseph Compello's Great Plains Saga for the beginning string orchestra students depicts wide open spaces, rugged terrain, and covered wagons heading West through the American plains. Students will lov...

A lively and exhilarating new piece for beginning string groups, Effervescence lives up to its title but is so much more. It also contains lush harmonies, sweeping melodic gestures reminiscent of the...

String teachers are always trying to encourage their students to play with more bow. Composer Joseph Compello gives very beginning students the chance to do just that in his piece, Arco-ology. There i...

Your beginning string orchestra is bound to sparkle with this delightful new composition from composer George Sweet. The piece uses very simple rhythmic figure that will make that very first concert f...

Hear the first drops of pizzicato rain dance in the dry desert! This imaginative piece for young orchestras uses only the first six notes of the D Major scale, making it both accessible and exciting f...

Hear the first drops of pizzicato rain dance in the dry desert! This imaginative piece for young orchestras uses only the first six notes of the D Major scale, making it both accessible and exciting f...

Titled after words from the poem "The Snow-Storm" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, this mysterious 3/4 melody in B minor uses unexpected harmonies, shivering tremolo, and swelling crescendos to depict the blow...

Titled after words from the poem "The Snow-Storm" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, this mysterious 3/4 melody in B minor uses unexpected harmonies, shivering tremolo, and swelling crescendos to depict the blow...

Put on your decoder ring and grab your note dictionary to find the hidden words in this fun piece for young strings! This mostly pizzicato melody hides several words spelled out using musical notes. F...

Put on your decoder ring and grab your note dictionary to find the hidden words in this fun piece for young strings! This mostly pizzicato melody hides several words spelled out using musical notes. F...

Treasure Hunt was written for beginning orchestra students with a focus on practicing steps, skips, and call-and-response musical elements between the upper and lower string sections. With something n...

Treasure Hunt was written for beginning orchestra students with a focus on practicing steps, skips, and call-and-response musical elements between the upper and lower string sections. With something n...

As the title suggests, there is a trumpet-like motive which is tossed among instrument sections. The source of this tune from the Shaker history can be performed as a holiday piece or any time of year...