Auburn Wren inspires YAMA students through trust, connection, and improvisation. She creates safe spaces where participants shed self-doubt, explore playful prompts, and experiment with instruments. By guiding students from comfort into growth, Auburn turns music-making into a practice of courage, collaboration, and leadership—where every act of creation becomes a lesson in life.

Young learners have an unlimited potential that can only be unlocked through new experiences. It is my responsibility as their teacher to help design an environment where students can feel safe and secure to experiment, make mistakes, and be creative. In order to build the ideal environment, I owe it to my students to show up as a dependable and approachable teacher.

With one semester working together under our belts, each of our YAMA ensembles are excited about what the spring will hold. We’ve revisited our goals from October and have a few new milestones that we will target. 

Two weeks ago, our students took the spotlight during Fall Muestra Week, showing off all the amazing progress they’ve made—and having a ton of fun doing it!

On November 22, Philharmonia and Combo students attended the Yakima Symphony Orchestra’s From the Danube to the Moldau concert, seated just a few rows from the stage, close enough to watch soloist Yerin Kim perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 at the piano. They enjoyed a rich program that included Strauss Jr.’s Beautiful Blue Danube, Duke Ellington’s The River, and Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau. 

YAMA has kicked off for the year! With a few weeks under our belt, here’s an update of what we’re working on. 

Preludio is diving into the essentials — learning how to keep tempo, count rhythms, and play together as a group.

Chamber is focusing on the foundational skills that will make great music-making possible.

The Combo Ensemble is dipping into what might be newer concepts for students — working in a minor key and 3/4 time.

Philharmonia is wasting no time diving into more demanding repertoire.

We’re excited to kick off another incredible year at YAMA! Our 2025–2026 season officially began on October 6 with “Welcome to YAMA” week!

At the start of summer, our Philharmornia students enjoyed a special camping trip where we visited Maryhill Museum and Goldendale Observatory!