The Golden Gate Philharmonic (GGP) is a non-profit San Francisco–based youth orchestra dedicated to fostering musical talent and providing educational opportunities for children K-12. We fulfill our mission by:
- Nurturing individual potential by developing musical talent and instrumental skills in an organized and engaging way.
- Encouraging student musicians to attain the highest standards of musical excellence in the orchestral and chamber music repertoire by providing a stimulating performance-oriented program with ongoing music theory education.
- Developing a sense of community and community service among our young musicians, and,
- Creating opportunity, through outreach to Bay Area young people, to help them develop skills that will enhance their future endeavors, including their academic aspirations.
We began in 1984 as an after-school enrichment program at San Francisco’s Aptos Middle School, with goals of fostering orchestra talent in its inner-city community. Our format has been nationally recognized and has helped us attain a solid record of achievement in both musical excellence and outreach.
With an emphasis on an integrated program of chamber music, theory and sectional coaching by fine young professionals, the orchestra presently numbers over 100 students from 40 Bay Area schools with ages spanning grades K through college. By participating at GGP, students can then enrich the school groups that nurtured them with new skills and enthusiasm.
We aim to make the orchestra an essential part of our community, reflecting in its composition the exciting mixture of races, ethnic and socio-economic groups found in our community.
The common goal of performing challenging music enables youngsters to overcome background differences and to open exciting new horizons to all. Through this experience they learn respect for one another and discover individual strengths hitherto unknown. Many lives have been changed through the power of music!
Donations for tax credit are gratefully accepted. Support the GGP.
