What we do

We teach a string orchestra program at elementary schools in the Seattle Eastside area.  Our program consists of two ensembles - a beginner string orchestra that welcomes students with no prior experience, and an intermediate ensembles that fosters advancing students.  Each ensemble meets once per week, and classes take place before or after school.  Orchestra rehearsals run from fall to spring, and the program concludes with a concert.

We are typically hosted by the school PTA, in the same way other before and after school classes are offered (chess, legos, art, etc).  In this format, schools are able to give their students the opportunity to learn a string instrument at a comparable cost and convenience to other enrichment activities.  Families provide instruments and materials, and we provide their students with a unique class taught by instructors who are both experienced teachers and accomplished performers.

Fifth Symphony Music was founded by Courtney Yeates, a Redmond music teacher, musician and mom.  In 2024, the district where Courtney’s kids attend school announced that it would stop running its elementary school orchestra and band program.  This meant that students would not have the opportunity to learn an instrument at school or play in a school orchestra until sixth grade.  While private lessons were still an option (for families who could afford them), Courtney saw that for the majority of young string players, no alternative opportunity existed in the community to play in an orchestra – which is where kids discover that making music with others is magical, and is the reason many kids continue to study music.  She also understood that the future of music in the region was in jeopardy; a decline in access at the elementary school level would soon ripple out to our middle school and high school programs, and then to the broader community as knowledge and appreciation of music faded from our cultural fabric.  It was clear that swift and broad action was needed, and from this necessity Fifth Symphony Music was born. 

We are working to give elementary school students in the Seattle eastside area the opportunity to play in an orchestra.  In our inaugural 25-26 school year we gave over a hundred elementary school students the experience of playing in an orchestra, and we hope that number grows in future years.

In order to provide the best instruction possible, we seek out and invest in experienced, highly trained musicians.  By doing this, we are not only offering great quality classes, but are also creating job opportunities for classical musicians.  We believe that this approach helps to keep music in our community on multiple levels, in many ways. 

Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma was known to quote the Senegalese poet Baba Dioum, whose words sum up the importance of our mission: "In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught."  We believe that music is vital, and if we want it to endure in future generations, we must teach it to kids today.

In the 25-26 School year we are running string orchestra programs at the following schools:

Ben Franklin Elementary School (Kirkland, WA)

Horace Mann Elementary School (Redmond, WA)

Norman Rockwell Elementary School (Redmond, WA)