Education & Youth Programming

Our Learning Resource Library houses all the educational resources created and provided by the Symphony Goes to School… and Beyond! program. All arrangements, teaching videos, lesson plans, activity sheets, and musical activities are now organised and viewable for educators, parents, and learners to easily access. To view our complete library of online resources, click here!

Musicians of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and our conductors are available for school and classroom visits to introduce your students to the world of classical music and the orchestra. These in-person visits are the perfect opportunity to offer students a closer look and get inspired by classical music. To inquire about a visit to your classroom/school, please click here!

The Fine Arts Fridays (FAF) Educational Series is an initiative of NL Department of Education that engages community arts organizations to bring curriculum-based arts and cultural learning experiences and/or products to the provincial K-12 public school demographic. FAF is intended to engage learners, both students and teachers, with digital products and/or in interactive live streamed sessions, as facilitated by professional artists, that explore the province’s arts and culture. The program is supported under the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cultural Connections: A Provincial K-12 Arts and Cultural Strategy. Recordings of past sessions can be accessed by signing into the Department of Education’s Professional Learning sit. Fine Arts Friday’s recordings are managed and housed by the Department of Education. Any inquiries regarding recordings can be directed to marydinn@gov.nl.ca.

Engage Musically and Personally with the NSO and Guest Artist: Isabella D’Éloize Perron Target Audience – 4-12 (24/25)
Experience Symphonic Music for Youth with the NSO! Target Audience – K-12 NOTE: This session will be live-streamed and presented to an in-person school audience. (24/25)
Explore the Music of Favourite Cartoons and Movies with the NSO! – Tune Toons!! Target Audience – K-12 (24/25)
Experience Harmony in Ulliasuk: The Story of Martha Joshua (an Inuit woman from Labrador) with the NSO! (24/25)
The NSO and Newman Sound Men’s Choir… Sharing Songs and Singing Together! (24/25)
Come Along to NSO’s Hallowe’en Spooktacular Joined by Well-Known Witches of Disney and Broadway! (24/25)
Come to the Circus with the NSO with St. John’s International CircusFest (23/24)
Snap! Snap! – Wednesday Addams & Friends with the NSO with Best Kind Productions (23/24)
Engage Artistically, Musically and Personally with Mark Fewer (23/24)
Celebrate Women in Music with the NSO – Les Femmes (23/24)
Experience and Make Joyful Music with the NSO – Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – Ode to Joy (23/24)
Experience Sci-Fi Music – The Final Frontier (23/24)
Soar Through the Planets with the NSO, Calos Youth Orchestra and Chorus! (22/23)
NSO Hallowe’en Spooktacular: Who Ya Gonna Call with Best Kind Productions! (22/23)
Engage Personally and Musically with NSO and guest artist pianist 10-year-old Ryan Huang! (22/23)
Pass the Baton….a journey in symphonic conducting! (22/23)
Explore the Appalachians – Experience Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the NSO and Kittiwake Dance Theatre! (22/23)
Sing with the NSO – Join the NSO and three local school choirs to sing some of your favourites songs including Sound of Music Medley and Maroon 5’s Memories! (22/23)
NSO Hallowe’en Spooktacular: Henry Hiccup and the Forbidden Orchestra with Best Kind Productions! (21/22)
Paint Music with the NSO and Visual Artists Keli-Ann Pye-Beshara and Nelson White! (21/22)
Take A Musical Journey with NSO’s Atlantic String Quartet! (21/22)
Behind the Scenes with the NSO! (21/22)

The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra collaborates with over 500 students in musical harmony to play and sing chosen selections and student arrangements based on the repertoire played by the NSO in the current season. To view our collection of arrangements from past Play-in/Sing-in events, visit our online Learning Resource Library or click this link to view the Google Drive folder.

or Grade 2 Classes:

The Johnson Geo Centre and The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Goes to School… and Beyond! program are thrilled to offer Musical WaterNauts, a program that will cover the science of the water cycle while making meaningful connections between our water environment and music.

To register please contact the Johnson Geo Centre by calling 709-864-8370 or email gcprograms@mun.ca

For Grade 6 Classes:

The Johnson Geo Centre and The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Goes to School… and Beyond! program are thrilled to offer Musical Astronaut Trek. This class will cover the science of space all while making meaningful connections between the space environment and its solar system and music.

To register please contact the Johnson Geo Centre by calling 709-864-8370 or email gcprograms@mun.ca

The NSO and The Rooms offer both in person and virtual interactive education modules which are included as part of the Learning Programs at The Rooms and the Open Minds Program. These programs are available for classroom teachers, music teachers, and community groups.

Students can join musicians of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra either in person or virtually at The Rooms to explore the world of music. Teachers can choose both or one of the following FREE programs:

Musical Heritage with NSO

Students are introduced to the exhibit Here, We Made a Home before joining a toe-tapping, hand-clapping virtual road trip of the province to learn about how location and culture influence artistic expression. This program can be adapted for Grades K-9.

Musical Connections with Nature

Students learn about how peoples of the province have connected to nature for 9,000 years in the Connections gallery. NSO musicians teach students about soundscapes and how nature inspires musical sounds and compositions. This program can be adapted for grades K-6.

Please contact Visitor Services at 709-757-8090 for inquiries and to book a program.

The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra is committed to planning and executing school tours as part of its Symphony Goes to School… and Beyond Program!

In May of 2022, the NSO touring ensemble successfully travelled to Labrador to present Harmony in Ulliasuk: The Story of Martha Joshua (an Inuit woman from Labrador) who, at age seven survived the Spanish Flu pandemic 100 years ago. The presentation and workshop experiences involved a combination of in-person and virtual visits to schools in both Labrador and on the Island. Following the Covid -19 pandemic, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra was able to reconnect in-person with our communities, our music, and our cultures. Our sense of “home” was renewed and expanded through the varied performances, experiential, and interactive components of this most successful tour.

Plans are underway to plan for a school tour in 2026. Stay Tuned!!

Matinee performances are provided by the NSO and intended for school, youth, and family audiences. The NSO may perform works from upcoming concerts or guest artists performing with the NSO may be invited to provide instrument demonstrations, performances, and interviews. The events are hosted in-person during the matinee performance and/or live-streamed. For more information on registration, dates, and past livestream recordings, email Jennifer Brennan at jb@nsomusic.ca.

The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra provides performance and masterclass opportunities to rising young artists in the community, including music students studying at Memorial University of Newfoundland and other advanced young musicians. Masterclasses are open to the public and presented by a featured NSO guest artist.

Schools, community groups, and individual musicians have the opportunity to perform in a pre-concert show prior to Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra concerts. To inquire, contact Jennifer Brennan at jb@nsomusic.ca.

Each year, The Symphony Goes to School… and Beyond! program reaches out to a local school to select one or two students with an interest in music to become the NSO Youth Ambassador for the concert season.

NSO Youth Ambassadors attend all four Masterworks concerts, documenting their experience in photos and videos to be posted on the NSO social media as a vlog or photo carousel.

While attending NSO concerts, the Youth Ambassador will have the opportunity to meet the conductor and guest artists while engaging other young people in the orchestral concert experience. During intermission, the Youth Ambassador hosts a gathering on the ACC upper concourse to discuss the concert with other youth in attendance.

This concert series is hosted by the NSO with a specialized atmosphere catering to differently-abled individuals and those with neurodiversity’s. Accommodations and features include; fidget toys, sensory-friendly lighting, flexible seating and space, supportive staff, and freedom to move and leave their seats during a performance. A Place for You to be You!!