Brass Band options for rising 9th grader

[Anonymous]

DS is a talented musician ( brass band). He plays in the symphonic band and takes private lessons, but needs more challenge. His high school next year doesn’t have a particularly strong band program. He is not interested in marching band. He is by no means a virtuoso or an intense player, but definitely enjoys, pushing himself and needs more opportunities to perform. We live in Tysons. I have heard of AYPO but I am not super familiar with it. What other options should I consider?

[Anonymous]

Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

[Anonymous]

TCSYO and MCYO are two other orchestras that he can access. All have orchestras that include brass. My child is in AYP, and the repertoire is challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

He’ll most likely do just that - quit band at school to develop as a musician elsewhere. He also played the piano but really likes the group aspect of brass band.

[Anonymous]

Marching band is so fun, especially if you’re in a good one. There were all kind of teens when I was in it and made good friends. Some perform, some don’t but it’s worth a try.

[Anonymous]

MCYO is very competative and hard to get into in HS, but worth trying. PVYO is also in Montgomery County and less competative but good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

He’ll most likely do just that - quit band at school to develop as a musician elsewhere. He also played the piano but really likes the group aspect of brass band.

Just be aware most of the outside competitive bands require school band participation. They deliberately do not want to siphon off the better players from school programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

He’ll most likely do just that - quit band at school to develop as a musician elsewhere. He also played the piano but really likes the group aspect of brass band.

Just be aware most of the outside competitive bands require school band participation. They deliberately do not want to siphon off the better players from school programs.

Yes, this is typically true for regional and all state bands, which are really fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

He’ll most likely do just that - quit band at school to develop as a musician elsewhere. He also played the piano but really likes the group aspect of brass band.

Just be aware most of the outside competitive bands require school band participation. They deliberately do not want to siphon off the better players from school programs.

Yes, this is typically true for regional and all state bands, which are really fun.

In fact AYPO just sent a message out about this, see below for some context:

Dear Families,

This time of year many of you are working out your school schedule for 2026-2027 and even planning ahead beyond that. We wanted to send you a reminder about our school music participation policy while you're going through that process.

Like most youth orchestras, we expect all our members to participate in their school music program. School orchestra and band provide a valuable day-to-day experience that's different from what we offer as a once-a-week program. Too, as you can imagine, we're asking school music teachers to support AYPO and encourage their students to participate, so we want to be able to assure them their students will continue to participate in school even if they also play at AYPO.

We've spoken with teachers at some of the schools about schedule conflicts that arise, especially at schools with very complex schedules. What they tell us is that if families plan ahead, in almost every case it should be possible to participate in band/orchestra and get the specialized classes they want. Often the key is clarifying that priority with guidance counselors (who may not start off on the same page as you and your school music teacher).

We want all AYPO students to be able to benefit both from what our program offers as well as the experience they'll receive in their school program. If we can help in any way, please feel free to reach out to us and your student's school music teacher.

Sincerely,
The AYPO Artistic and Administrative Staff


We want all AYPO students to be able to benefit both from what our program offers as well as the experience they'll receive in their school program. If we can help in any way, please feel free to reach out to us and your student's school music teacher.



Sincerely,



The AYPO Artistic and Administrative Staff

[Anonymous]

My son does AYP - it is great. The auditions for next year will be in the spring.

if your kid wants to start this year, you could see if there are still openings for DCYOP. Video auditions were technically due a couple days ago but they might still take an audition if they need your kid's instrument. https://www.dcyop.org/registration/

DCYOP meets in Takoma Park on Saturdays so while it is farther from Tysons, it is on Sat mornings so traffic is not bad. and it is near silver spring so lots of options to hang out for a few hours during rehearsal. Their advanced orchestra is going to South Africa this summer!!

Notably DCYOP has no requirement that kids participate in their school band/orchestra.

[Anonymous]

I agree with keeping him in school band (or the very least, trying it for a year), regardless of what else he pursues. Most high schools require marching band for kids enrolled in the higher level symphonic band.

[Anonymous]

My trombone player did a youth orchestra one year when they couldn’t fit school band into their class schedule. The orchestra was fine with it when we explained, mostly because they also kept up private lessons.

But ultimately, they ended up preferring jazz trombone to orchestra or band, because the parts were more interesting. Orchestra tended to be like 50 measures of rest, then a dozen or two of accompaniment. Jazz actually let them have some lead parts, even solos.

[Anonymous]

Learn another instrument. It builds musicianship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marching band is so fun, especially if you’re in a good one. There were all kind of teens when I was in it and made good friends. Some perform, some don’t but it’s worth a try.

OP here, that’s what I’ve been telling him ,but he has deemed it uncool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just have him join his high school band and he will develop other interests as well

Leaving band as a low commitment thing since he doesn’t want to pursue it to higher levels gives him the free time to develop elsewhere

He’ll most likely do just that - quit band at school to develop as a musician elsewhere. He also played the piano but really likes the group aspect of brass band.

Just be aware most of the outside competitive bands require school band participation. They deliberately do not want to siphon off the better players from school programs.

Thanks for this info. We didn’t know that.