The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras (FSYO) is a music education program in Central Florida, consisting of six primary ensembles with nearly 300 student musicians. FSYO is the oldest operating youth symphony in the state of Florida and is believed to be the 3rd oldest in the southeastern United States. It was originally affiliated with the now-defunct Florida Symphony Orchestra. Both new and returning student members are required to audition annually. Acceptance and orchestra placement is a competitive, merit-based process in which auditionees must meet requirements for consideration. The organization is under the musical direction of Dr. James O. Welsch. Early History In the early 1950s, Alphonse Carlo, who was both a Rollins College associate professor of music and the concertmaster of the newly-formed Florida Symphony Orchestra, recognized a need for a youth orchestra in Central Florida and worked for years to get one started. Although FSYO officially celebrates its founding as the fall of 1957, evidence supports that the youth orchestra was started 4 years earlier. In September 1953, Mr. Carlo convinced the Orange County School Board to partner with the professional Florida Symphony Orchestra to provide string lessons and a youth orchestra for the area students. The program included a “school” which offered free lessons on Saturday mornings for 1st and 2nd year string players as well as a youth orchestra for “those students who were sufficiently advanced.” The first classes/rehearsals were held at Howard Junior High School on November 7, 1953. The supporting co-sponsors changed a couple of times over the first 5 years of the fledgling program. The Orlando Sentinel stepped in as a financial partner in 1955 and was later replaced by Rollins College through its School for the Creative Arts in 1958. The strings school component appears to have been dropped sometime during the 1959-60 season, leaving just the youth orchestra which eventually was renamed to the "Symphonic Orchestra." In 1962, the program gained considerable structure and support under the full wing of the professional Florida Symphony Orchestra and its music director, Henry Mazer. In 1980, FSYO became independent by incorporating as a non-profit and received its 501(c)(3) charitable tax status in 1982. Despite its legal and financial independence in 1980, FSYO remained closely associated with the Florida Symphony Orchestra (FSO) until the professional orchestra ceased operations in 1993. Decades of Support from FSO & Rollins College In 1962, the program gained considerable structure and