Summer is flying by and school starts back next month! Along with school comes... Orchestra rehearsals!

The Alabama Youth Symphony will begin rehearsals on Sunday, August 24th. These rehearsals will be at Samford University's School of Music.


The Birmingham String Orchestra and the Birmingham Prelude Strings will start rehearsals on Monday, August 25th at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham.


If you have auditioned and been accepted to a MOP youth orchestra, we'll be emailing you additional rehearsal info soon. If you haven't auditioned but would like to - let us know by clicking here! We are looking forward to a great year of music and hope to see you at a concert!

Audition forms are now available for the 2014-15 Youth Orchestras. 

Auditions will be held May 19-24, 2014. To register for an audition - complete the appropriate form and return to the MOP office. For more information about the 3 youth orchestras, visit our Orchestras page.

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected]. 

The 2014 Showcase Recital will be Sunday, March 2nd at the Boutwell Auditorium. This is our biggest event of the year! 

This concert will feature MOP student ages 8-18. The program begins with students from our String Academy classes around the city. These first and second year string students have been working hard to learn tunes such as "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Aunt Rhody". 

Next up is the Birmingham String Orchestra (BSO) conducted by Paul Merryman. This is a beginner youth orchestra featuring students in grades 3-7. Then the Birmingham Prelude Strings (BPS) take the stage. This group, led by Dr. Rita Salzberg, is an intermediate youth orchestra for advancing students in grades 5-8. Finally the Alabama Youth Symphony (AYS) will perform under the director of Dr. Jon Remley. This is a full youth orchestra for advanced students in grades 7-12. In addition, one student from BPS and one from AYS were selected by competitive audition to perform solos at the Showcase Recital accompanied by the Alabama Youth Symphony.

This recital features students of all ages and levels of expertise. If you have ever had a question about "what MOP does" - here is your chance to find out in person and support young musicians from across central Alabama.

We hope you will join us for this free event. Get more details and RSVP on Facebook here.

2014 Showcase Recital
Sunday, March 2nd - 3:00 p.m.
Boutwell Auditorium, 1930 8th Avenue North, 35203.
Participating student musicians will have rehearsal on Saturday, March 1st. Details will be send directly to those students.

A recent piece in The New York Times caught my eye. The opinion story was titled "Is Music the Key to Success?"

My immediate internal answer was "yes!" but that may be due to personal bias... Read the story here and let me know if you agree by filling out the survey below.

If your child is interested in learning to play a string instrument in a MOP class this year, it's not too late to register - visit the Register Now page and download the appropriate registration forms. 

You can mail forms directly to the MOP office or deliver to string class instructor. Contact the MOP Education Office with questions at (205) 231-9504 or email us.

After-school string classes will begin September 23rd. You can find the class schedule HERE.

MOP has been named a finalist in the 2013 Best of Birmingham listing from Birmingham magazine! Thanks to your votes, MOP made it to the top of the heap in the 'Best Kids' Music Lessons' category!

You can find the complete listing of Birmingham's Best HERE. Thanks to everyone who voted for MOP!

The 2014 Alabama All-State Orchestra auditions are set and the audition excerpts are available! 

The audition excerpts are online HERE and ready for download. If you have questions about the orchestras or the audition excerpts - contact your private teacher or a MOP staff member.

Register for your All-State Orchestra audition by September 29th, 2013. Click HERE for information about auditions in your district.

The 2014 Alabama All-State Orchestra Festival will be February 13-16, 2014.

It's an exciting time of the year at MOP! Our 2013-14 orchestras will begin rehearsing at the end of the month. 

The Alabama Youth Symphony's first rehearsal will be Sunday, August 25th. We'll start with a student/parent information meeting at 2:30 p.m. This will all take place at Samford University in the Brock music building.

The Birmingham String Orchestra begins rehearsing on Monday, August 26th. This rehearsal, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham, begins at 5:30 p.m. Following the BSO rehearsal - there is an information meeting for BSO AND BPS parents beginning at 6:45 p.m. After the meeting concludes around 7:15 p.m., the Birmingham Prelude Strings will rehearse until 8:30 p.m.

We are looking forward to a wonderful year of music!

MOP is very excited to announce that a formal partnership agreement has been signed by the Music Opportunity Program and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  Both organizations will be looking forward to mutually beneficial activities which will bring our organizations closer together, particularly with regard to our common goals.  Keep watching for details throughout the year.

The Music Opportunity Program Summer Concert will be held on Friday, June 28th at Phillips Academy, 2316 7th Avenue North, 35203.

The concert will begin at 6:00 p.m. and feature chamber groups as well as the new members of the Birmingham String Orchestra. The event is free and open to the public so invite your friends and family!