Founded in 2006, the Cornelius Youth Orchestras is a non-profit community youth organization offering a wide portfolio of performing ensembles and educational programs that serve elementary to high school aged students in the greater Lake Norman area. The CYO seeks to elevate and educate the entire local youth music community by fulfilling its dual mission of providing music education and orchestral performing opportunities for Lake Norman region youth while simultaneously serving the community at large as a performing arts organization hosting concerts, live music, and other events.

With a growing portfolio of educational programs, we aim to provide each and every student that comes to us with an open door to begin receiving the excellent education we provide, a clear path forward to progress on their instruments, and a variety of performing opportunities and formats as an outlet for their learning. We accomplish this by bringing local youth musicians of all backgrounds together and connecting them with some of the area’s best music educators.

The Cornelius Youth Orchestras programs include weekly instruction, as well as performing opportunities throughout the season. Participation in our programs is not limited to Cornelius residents, in fact, most of our students come from the greater Charlotte area.