Education and Community Programs

Music education and community-building has been a cornerstone of the GSP’s mission since 1955. The GSP has introduced more than 100,000 Jersey Shore schoolchildren to symphonic music since its founding and inspired many to explore professional careers as instrumentalists, vocalists, and to use their creativity in areas of corporate America.

For the last few years, the Garden State Philharmonic was proud to partner with the Kiwanis Club of Greater Toms River,  Music & Arts, and the Ocean County Library to bring the “Meet the Music” Program to families in Ocean Count. This series of five educational events introduced families and small children to the instrument families of the orchestra. Each event featured a small presentation and performance by our professional musicians as well as our Youth Orchestra musicians and an instrument petting zoo, where children and their families were able to touch, hear, and PLAY the instruments being presented.

The three-tiered GSP Youth Orchestras Program, founded in the 19971’s continues to offer extensive orchestral training to music students throughout the region, ages 8-21. The GSP Youth Orchestra program rehearses on Tuesday evenings throughout the school year, October to June. It is a tuition based program, but generous scholarships are available to students both for Merit and for Need, through our generous supporters and grants.

Over the years, the Garden State Philharmonic’s Music for Young People has shared the power of music with more than 3,500 public and private school students through hands-on classroom demonstrations led by the Conductor and guest professional artists; live chamber ensemble assemblies, and free to the public Young People’s Concerts uniting the professional artists and participating students in performance.  Through classroom visits and musical assemblies, young people learn about orchestral music, instruments, the science of sound, musical excerpts from the concert, concert behavior, and the growing list of ways they can get involved in music.  Fees for the program are subsidized by government, corporate and private foundation grants. Costs to school partners are determined based on program adaptation and the duration of the program.

In addition to programs for younger people, the GSP maintains an equal commitment to the more than 1 million residents over the age of 60 along the Jersey Shore and throughout the state of New Jersey. Through customized humanities programs, like “Music Speaks,” the GSP uses classical and classically-inspired music to continue education for audiences of all ages.