The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra’s Tune Up Philly is an El Sistema inspired music program at the People for People Charter School on North Broad Street. 90% of the students at People for People qualify for free and reduced breakfast and lunch and 35% are enrolled in special education. El Sistema is the highly successful program from Venezuela that has impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty. Tune Up Philly is one of the first El Sistema inspired programs in the region and to be run in the School District of Philadelphia. We are a 501(c)3.
Philadelphia Youth Orchestra believes that music can serve as a vehicle for social change and so do we!
Ten highly skilled professional musicians have been teaching these children in an intensive two-hour per day, after-school program. These students began classical music instruction in October 2011 and performed their first concert in December. Only one student had ever played an instrument previously.
For more information on this program, please visit www.pyos.org.
