Summer Symphony: Fifteen and an Almost
In the summer of 2016, a small group of newly graduated middle school friends decided to throw one last concert before separating into different high schools. With just fifteen members and the "almost a timpani" drum set, it was an intimate congregation of student musicians to just have fun. However, Summer Symphony didn't end there.
We are now celebrating the seventh anniversary of Summer Symphony as a completely student run nonprofit organization. We have expanded to a full music intensive, featuring guest artists, workshops, and performances in professional venues. With over 100 students participating in the 2019 intensive alone and a history of thousands of dollars in donations for the future of music education, Summer Symphony has become a true force in the community, connecting musicians across skill levels and age differences and providing accessible music education.
The Intensive
Throughout the two-week intensive, musicians work on full symphony orchestra repertoire with 100+ other students, directed and organized by a student conductors. Students will be given the opportunity to work with other musicians of the same instrument who play at higher skill levels, as well as work with professional musicians from local symphonies—including those such as the San Diego Symphony and La Jolla Symphony— in masterclasses and sectionals. The final concert presents a colorful array of music performed by smaller subgroups as well, such as the jazz band, brass choir, or Concerto Competition winner (judged and picked by a national board of professional musicians) who performs with the chamber orchestra.
All money raised from donations or ticket sales are directed back to local music programs the furthering of accessible music education.
A Message from the Founder/Director/Nonprofit President
"I wanted my belief in music education to take a firm hold in a place like Carmel Valley and communities beyond where so many talented students reside but do not have a cost-free, accessible alternative to big name youth symphonies. Modern-day students are often pressured and driven to reach a certain number of community service hours for external incentives like college applications and find themselves realizing they have truly made an impact and helped others after-the-matter. The Summer Symphony is different; I founded this program out of the organic desire to bring music to my friends and others, and I believe this is why it has grown into the incredible family it is and keeps on growing. It is my mission to help other students achieve this self-driven desire to give back to their communities.
Many of our musicians are returning students, and I could not be more proud and enthusiastic about this wonderful atmosphere myself and fellow student leaders have built— it is truly the most rewarding thing I have ever led and participated in. Students can not only improve and study classical literature, but thrive and laugh with a family of like-minded friends. Patricia, Gabby, and myself (all now college students who have seen this program from its beginnings) are witnesses to how impressed college admissions directors, society leaders, and parents are when they hear this program exists, and is run completely by students.
Summer Symphony was created in a place of joy. A place where the only motivations we had were to come together as friends to share our passion for music, and that is the central message I want to pass on as this program continues in our San Diego community. Our students will go on to become the future's best doctors, engineers, philosophers, professors, and much more, but they will always look back to music as one of their best friends from their youth. The Summer Symphony is a break from all of the academic competition in our neighborhood and the upsetting events in our nation's headlines; it is a haven for music nerds to reunite, grow, and enjoy the music for the family it creates.
Esther Jung
Summer Symphony Founder, Director, Nonprofit President
In the summer of 2016, a small group of newly graduated middle school friends decided to throw one last concert before separating into different high schools. With just fifteen members and the "almost a timpani" drum set, it was an intimate congregation of student musicians to just have fun. However, Summer Symphony didn't end there.
We are now celebrating the seventh anniversary of Summer Symphony as a completely student run nonprofit organization. We have expanded to a full music intensive, featuring guest artists, workshops, and performances in professional venues. With over 100 students participating in the 2019 intensive alone and a history of thousands of dollars in donations for the future of music education, Summer Symphony has become a true force in the community, connecting musicians across skill levels and age differences and providing accessible music education.
The Intensive
Throughout the two-week intensive, musicians work on full symphony orchestra repertoire with 100+ other students, directed and organized by a student conductors. Students will be given the opportunity to work with other musicians of the same instrument who play at higher skill levels, as well as work with professional musicians from local symphonies—including those such as the San Diego Symphony and La Jolla Symphony— in masterclasses and sectionals. The final concert presents a colorful array of music performed by smaller subgroups as well, such as the jazz band, brass choir, or Concerto Competition winner (judged and picked by a national board of professional musicians) who performs with the chamber orchestra.
All money raised from donations or ticket sales are directed back to local music programs the furthering of accessible music education.
A Message from the Founder/Director/Nonprofit President
"I wanted my belief in music education to take a firm hold in a place like Carmel Valley and communities beyond where so many talented students reside but do not have a cost-free, accessible alternative to big name youth symphonies. Modern-day students are often pressured and driven to reach a certain number of community service hours for external incentives like college applications and find themselves realizing they have truly made an impact and helped others after-the-matter. The Summer Symphony is different; I founded this program out of the organic desire to bring music to my friends and others, and I believe this is why it has grown into the incredible family it is and keeps on growing. It is my mission to help other students achieve this self-driven desire to give back to their communities.
Many of our musicians are returning students, and I could not be more proud and enthusiastic about this wonderful atmosphere myself and fellow student leaders have built— it is truly the most rewarding thing I have ever led and participated in. Students can not only improve and study classical literature, but thrive and laugh with a family of like-minded friends. Patricia, Gabby, and myself (all now college students who have seen this program from its beginnings) are witnesses to how impressed college admissions directors, society leaders, and parents are when they hear this program exists, and is run completely by students.
Summer Symphony was created in a place of joy. A place where the only motivations we had were to come together as friends to share our passion for music, and that is the central message I want to pass on as this program continues in our San Diego community. Our students will go on to become the future's best doctors, engineers, philosophers, professors, and much more, but they will always look back to music as one of their best friends from their youth. The Summer Symphony is a break from all of the academic competition in our neighborhood and the upsetting events in our nation's headlines; it is a haven for music nerds to reunite, grow, and enjoy the music for the family it creates.
Esther Jung
Summer Symphony Founder, Director, Nonprofit President