Our Mission

The Children's Orchestra Society, founded in 1962 by Dr. H.T. Ma, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to "teaching the language of music" to children and teens. Our mission is to cultivate and nurture children and teach them teamwork and life skills through music-learning and performing in orchestral and chamber music settings. Members of COS receive excellent training in classical music and opportunities to perform in concerts with their peers as well as with well-established musicians.

A child's innate capability to learn and develop musical talent of the highest level, when nurtured in a cooperative environment:

A Child Centered Approach

This is the core belief of Director Dr. Yeou-Cheng Ma and Music Director Michael Dadap, who have led the Children's Orchestra Society since 1984. In an interview with Causes, Dr. Ma explains, "We have expanded on the 'tailor-made' parts my father used to write so that each child could take part in the group experience, despite differing levels of competence."

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Watch the video above to learn about how we've grown in 50 years.

How We Measure Success

Success for COS means instilling each young musician with the invaluable experience and individual benefits of music making.

To reach this goal the faculty works hard to:

Foster a supportive learning environment
Create opportunities to perform
Provide role models and a bridge to the professional world through master classes and performance collaborations with eminent musicians
Enrich and involve the community through performances for civic and cultural groups

Testimonial

“COS was my very first orchestral experience, clearly one that has touched my life in immeasurable ways. I know that I would not be doing what I am doing now were it not for those incredible years of fun music-making.”

Ari Solotoff

Chief of Staff & Director of Plannning, Philadelphia Orchestra