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Dear GGP Community:

Welcome to the 2023 – 2024 season!

Registration for the coming season is now open.

We are very pleased to continue our residence at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA).

We will continue to hold our regular rehearsal sessions on Monday afternoons, after school from 4:30 – 6:30.

Here is the immediate upcoming schedule with important dates:

Monday, August 28, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. – Family Orientation (particularly for new families and/or families that are not familiar with the SOTA campus).

Monday, September 4 – Labor Day Holiday, NO GGP

Monday, September 11, 4:30 – 6:30 – Placement Audition Session 1

Monday, September 18, 4:30 – 6:30 – Placement Audition Session 2

Monday, September 25, 4:30 – 6:30 – First full rehearsal session (and possibly some additional auditions)

Monday, October 2, 4:30 – 6:30 – Second full rehearsal session

Saturday, October 7 thru Sunday, October 8 (Indigenous Peoples’ Weekend) – Cazadero Music Retreat

Monday, October 9, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, NO GGP

2023-2024 Concert Dates

All concerts and dress rehearsals will continue to be held at Lakeside Presbyterian Church, 201 Eucalyptus Drive, SF, 94132

Concert No. 1 – Monday, December 11 @ 7 p.m. (Dress rehearsal – 4:30 – 6 p.m.)

Concert No. 2 – Monday, March 18 @ 7 p.m. (Dress rehearsal – 4:30 – 6 p.m.)

Season Concert Finale – Monday, May 20 @ 7 p.m. (Dress rehearsal – 4:30 – 6 p.m.)

Geoffrey Gallegos

Artistic & Executive Director

Brenda Nelson

Board Chair

Registration is required for all new and returning students.

Registration: Click here

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Enriching Lives Through the Power of Music

Golden Gate Philharmonic (GGP) is a San Francisco-based youth orchestra that uses the transformative power of music education to enrich the lives of K-12 Bay Area students.

Founded in 1995, our award-winning, performance-driven music education program makes learning an instrument fun and rewarding. Learning to play in ensembles—Music Teams—provides students with a supportive, intimate atmosphere that fosters collaboration, camaraderie and collective accomplishment. Students are trained by and rehearse under professional faculty and perform throughout the year in full orchestral concerts, chamber recitals and community events. Our unique program is designed to make students…

Better in Music and Better in Life

Better in Music – Our orchestras and chamber ensembles are the very definition of teamwork. Students develop higher-level skills, learning both from instructors and peers, motivating them to prepare and practice more, which directly translates to being…
Better in Life – Students hone invaluable communication and interpersonal skills learning responsibility and mutual respect, and the understanding that what is created by everyone together is magic and larger than the sum of its parts.

GGP has helped develop the essential life skills of leadership, commitment and perseverance in over 2,000 students—preparing them to successfully navigate the road to higher education and to excel in leadership roles in their respective communities and chosen fields.

Academic Recognition

Top tier academic institutions, and IVY league schools look highly upon classically trained, and/or musically gifted students. They bring not just a wealth of talent to the school but are seen as well-rounded, and balanced individuals. Orchestral music is also known to be a genre that intellectuals appreciate, not just for its complexity but for its beauty.

Robust Music Education Program

We train Bay Area youth ages 5-18 from their first notes played as beginners in the Cadet Orchestra through conservatory-ready young adults in the Camerata Orchestra, with numerous performance opportunities each season, building skills, experience and recognition.

Building Skills, Experience and Recognition

Four String Orchestra levels and program with sectional rehearsals and music theory classes encourage students to attain the highest standard of musical excellence, and to develop essential life skills of collaboration and teamwork, highly prized by top learning institutions.
Concerts throughout the year provide unparalleled training through our stimulating, performance-oriented curriculum building confidence and empathy.
Fall Music Retreat is a two-day musical adventure in the Redwoods at Cazadero Music Camp, where students, families and faculty build community and friendships while making music!
Volunteer Opportunities provide our students with the chance to play it forward by bringing joy performing at retirement homes and community events.
The Joan Murray Award for Outstanding Student Achievement in Music and Leadership: This prestigious honor is given to one or more students each year who embody our founder’s values in pursuit of musical excellence and community engagement in action and deed.

Our Founder

Joan Murray, Founder, Executive Director Emerita and 2014 Jefferson Award recipient, was a music teacher in the San Francisco public school system for four decades. Upon her retirement in 1995 she created this outstanding music education program when she saw the significant and steady cuts in funding for music education in our schools. She is steadfast in her commitment to lifting youth to their full potential through her instrument of change-music!

All-Inclusive, Most Accessible Music Program in San Francisco

GGP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit (EIN-11-3740581). All students are welcome. GGP is proud never to have turned a student away for inability to pay. We offer scholarships based on need, typically, about 20% of enrollment. All students are strongly encouraged to study privately and are required to participate in their schools’ orchestral programs if available. For students unable to afford lessons, we offer group instruction within the program.