With an ever-growing array of music education and community programs, your SCSO is passionately committed to engaging audiences of every age, background, and level of musical experience. From interactive school presentations and in-class workshops to large-scale youth concerts, instrument demonstrations, and composer meet-and-greets, we bring the magic of live orchestral music directly to students across Central Florida.
Our family-friendly events — including Once Upon an Orchestra, hands-on musical adventures, and specially curated performances for young listeners — spark imagination and wonder, inviting children to explore sound, storytelling, and creativity up close. Through partnerships with local arts organizations, libraries, and museums, we create joyful opportunities for families to discover music together.
But we don’t stop at sharing great symphonic music — we invite YOU to step inside the experience and help make it. Whether students are conducting an ensemble for the first time, composing a short melody alongside our musicians, or performing onstage through the SCSO Mentorship Program, they gain real, transformative moments that stay with them for life.
We serve our students best when we learn and grow alongside them. By listening, responding, and supporting each young person’s unique journey, we build spaces where they feel seen, valued, and inspired to dream big — both onstage and beyond.
OUR PROGRAMS
Children’s concerts are an ideal way to introduce students in grades 1–3 to a wide variety of musical styles. They help young audiences feel at home in the concert hall, build essential musical vocabulary, and spark a lifelong interest in classical music. The SCSO’s Children’s Concerts are a core part of our mission to inspire and educate young minds through music. Each year, these performances welcome several thousand first-, second-, and third-grade students in Vero Beach into the world of orchestral music — many experiencing it live for the very first time.
Once Upon an Orchestra showcases musicians from each of the four instrument families — strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion — across four delightful concerts. Designed specifically for children ages 2–5, these kid-sized chamber performances blend live music with engaging storytelling to create a magical, first-step experience for our youngest listeners. This season, the SCSO is proud to present these enchanting programs at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.
The Mentorship Program provides opportunities for aspiring musicians to work with the SCSO’s professionals on performance technique and musicianship. Selected participants will have the opportunity to perform with the SCSO musicians on the Masterworks Series. SCSO’s impact on the cultural vitality of Central Florida, on the art form itself, is perhaps underscored by the remarkable impact on the futures of its Mentorship Program fellows. Participants have been accepted to the Julliard, Curtis Institute, USC, Eastman, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, among others.
The Side by Side concert gives selected high school music students the chance to receive coaching from — and perform alongside — the musicians of the SCSO. In partnership with local high school music teachers, these concerts foster artistic growth while offering valuable networking opportunities with professional musicians. As youth and professionals share the stage, they deepen their understanding of teamwork, discipline, and musical expression. Typically, sixty to seventy students from Brevard and Indian River counties take part in this special performance.
REVISIT PREVIOUS PROGRAMS
REMEMBERING MICHELE
Michele Wallace Campanelli was a fierce, vibrant champion of the arts whose legacy will continue to inspire for generations. For nearly two decades, her creativity and passion were woven into the fabric of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, where her stories and imagination took center stage. She wrote some of our most beloved children’s concerts — Musicians Are Superheroes, Land of the Gnomes, Music at the Watering Hole, Back to the Watering Hole, and Ella Loves Elvis — each one crafted with the pure goal of bringing joy to young listeners.
Nothing filled Michele’s heart more than making others happy. She was both a warrior and a quiet storm — powerful, steady, and endlessly generous. A true collaborator and lover of creating art with others, she lived her values in every interaction, every project, every story she brought to life.
To us, she was a superhero. And we would not be the organization we are today without her unwavering dedication, imagination, and love. Her spirit lives on in every note we play.
