There are ways that growth is visible and audible when a young musician is learning an instrument. There are also other layers of growth beyond what we can see and hear at YAMA performances. Students, staff, alumni, and parents share their reflections on what growth looks, feels, and sounds like at YAMA.

Why music? Why YAMA?

We interviewed pairs of long-time YAMA students and their parents to gain family insights into the questions!

That is a lot of ink! That is the feeling I would get whenever we were given a new piece of music. Saturated with ink, the page was filled with so many notes, time signatures, crescendos, and it had very few white spots. I always felt like, how am I going to get through this?

At YAMA, we work to create a community that practices mutual investment in one another. Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman call this shine theory. Shine theory encourages the idea that “I don’t shine if you don’t shine,” and “your wins are my wins.” This is the foundation upon which YAMA relationships are built.

In our business, we’re big fans of words.

But most writers — if they’re being honest — would probably trade the ability to type words on a computer keyboard for the talent to play notes on a piano keyboard in a heartbeat.

Because music touches people in ways that words can’t. It expresses the pitch and rhythm of our very souls and conveys feelings for which there are no words.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has awarded youth orchestra Yakima Music en Acción a $15,000 grant through its Partners in Learning initiative.

A look at our past, present, and future! Join us in celebrating some reflections of growth and connection from our first 10 years en acción.

The process of becoming a whole musician is a constant exploration of one’s mental agility, physical dexterity and — something much less often discussed — social emotional intelligence. The process of becoming a marketable musician is not a task performed in isolation.