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About Us

Founded in 1936 in Berkeley, California by female conductor Jessica Marcelli, Young People’s Symphony Orchestra (YPSO) is the oldest youth orchestra in California, and the oldest independent youth orchestra in the nation. For over 85 years and counting, YPSO has developed the musical talents and skills of students in the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, many YPSO alumni are internationally distinguished musicians and prominent community members.

Today, Music Director/Conductor David Ramadanoff leads a team of master teachers who provide specialized sectional coaching each week, addressing technical and musical issues unique to their instruments.

YPSO has performed in locations including Carnegie Hall; the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA; San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House; Davies Symphony Hall;Weill Hall at the Green Center, Sonoma, CA; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, Harvard University; the Sydney Opera House, Australia; the Dvorak Hall of the Rudolfinium, Prague, Czech Republic; the Slovak Radio Concert Hall, Bratislava, Slovakia; the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, Vienna, Austria; as well as in venues in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska; Scotland; the People's Republic of China; and New Zealand.

Our Mission

Our mission is to guide young musicians to achieve excellence within an orchestral setting. We provide an educational environment that fosters accomplishment, serves as a cultural resource for the community, and builds future audience by instilling a passion for music. We encourage young people to become exemplary musicians, and young musicians to become exemplary people.