Company Profile
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras
Company Overview
WHO WE ARE
CYSO’s mission is to inspire and cultivate personal excellence through music. As one of the country’s leading youth orchestras, we offer a continuum of programs that serve young musicians 6-18 years old through on-site ensembles, neighborhood programming, and concerts serving Chicago Public Schools students and the entire Chicagoland community. Each season, we serve 600 young musicians in weekly rehearsals and multiple performances at a variety of area venues, including Symphony Center, and an additional 8,500 students and families through community programming. Bi-annually, CYSO students perform in a multi-city, international tour.
In 2026, CYSO will be celebrating its landmark 80th anniversary. Since its inception in 1946, it has grown from a single orchestra to 14 large ensembles (including symphonic, jazz, and steel pan orchestras), over a dozen chamber ensembles, composition seminars, and a major commissioning project. Its programming also includes the CYSO@CPS program, as well as Ambassador and Education concerts across the city of Chicago. We are entering a pivotal moment as we develop a new strategic plan that will define the next great era of CYSO’s historic legacy. Our team is small but mighty and filled with dedicated professionals who are passionate about the arts and raising the next generation of creative professionals.
WE BELIEVE
• We believe unimpeded access to great music is a right for all young musicians and audiences. It is our responsibility to create pathways to reach systemically marginalized communities and to engage in the ongoing learning needed to create and maintain a space of belonging for all. We care deeply for our CYSO community of students and families, past, present, and future.
• We believe that a high functioning work culture requires not only dedication, commitment, and efficiency, but also rest, healthy relationships, and open communication.
o Workloads can vary throughout the season, and we encourage intense periods to be balanced with “comp” time off.
o We encourage our team to observe normal work hours to maintain healthy boundaries between work and personal time, but we also understand that people have varying work rhythms according to their individual preferences and roles.
o We are a small staff, and our work is highly collaborative. Our work thrives when there is clear communication, mutually understood and observed timelines, and sincere efforts to hear all viewpoints, even if opposing. We allow the space for harm to be acknowledged and for healing to flourish in moments of misunderstandings.
• We encourage our team to actively pursue their career ambitions by finding opportunities for professional development and continually cultivating their pursuit of best practices in their respective fields.
• We celebrate a diverse team of cultures, personalities, and thought. We neither believe in nor hold expectations of assimilating into a prescribed culture. We actively seek to learn from one another and embrace the changes that come from truly listening to all perspectives.
Company History
Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras’ mission is to inspire and cultivate personal excellence through music. After more than 75 years of music-making, CYSO continues to shape generations of young leaders and musicians. Founded as a single orchestra, CYSO has now grown to more than 14 ensembles. Students collaborate and create in a learning environment like no other, developing fundamental skills including leadership, self-confidence, teamwork, and resilience. We are committed to educating, encouraging, and empowering each young musician so that they may pursue personal excellence both on and off the stage.
CYSO works with young musicians ages 6-18 in on-site and school-based ensembles, and offers community programming reaching audiences of all ages across the Chicago region. Our ensembles include symphony orchestras, string orchestras, steelpan, jazz band, chamber music, and music composition programs. We invest in our community through CYSO@CPS school-based ensembles and free concerts that reach more than 10,000 young people annually.
CYSO promotes and provides ensemble-focused programming because we believe in the power of community. A young musician’s time at CYSO is a pathway of opportunity and growth,?but they do not walk it alone. By bringing together young people from across the region, CYSO students build bonds with those who come from different backgrounds and share a passion for music. They develop the skills necessary to thrive as an ensemble. Whether or not a student continues music studies after their time in CYSO, young people leave with increased self-confidence, a strong sense of discipline, and a deep appreciation for music and the arts.?
Benefits
CYSO is a hybrid work environment with a great team of professionals who are dedicated to serving our community of young artists. CYSO's retirement plan is a 403(b) with a match after the first year of employment.
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