The El Paso Symphony Orchestra turned the Abraham Chavez Theatre into a full‑blown classroom this week, presenting its 85th annual Young People’s Concerts, billed this year as “The Orchestra Swings,” from Tuesday through Thursday. Roughly 11,000 fifth‑grade students from across the Borderland packed in for free, interactive performances, filling the theatre for 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. sessions and joining the orchestra from their seats by singing and playing simple parts on recorders and violins. Teachers and organizers said the program is free to all fifth‑grade classes in El Paso‑area public, private, and home schools.
According to the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, this three‑day run marks the 13th consecutive year the group has partnered with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute on the Link Up curriculum. The Young People’s Concerts themselves date back to 1941 and, over the decades, have exposed roughly 636,000 students to live orchestral music. EPSO’s event page lists daily session times at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and credits local backers, including the Panetta Villareal Foundation, Agua, Duck Duck Goose, and Crystal Montessori, for helping keep the concerts free. The orchestra says classroom materials and guided activities are designed so students can perform with the ensemble from their seats, turning school‑day lessons into a full‑stage experience.
Local coverage by KFOX14/CBS4 reported that organizers expected about 11,000 fifth‑graders over the three‑day stretch and featured comments from EPSYO general manager Nathan Black and EPSO executive director Ruth Ellen Jacobson. Black told the station that “recruiting them young is a big part of us,” while Jacobson said, “Music can change your life,” and described how excited students are as they walk into the Chavez Theatre. The KFOX story framed the concerts as both a classroom extension and a long‑running community tradition.
How Link Up Gets Kids Playing
Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute supplies the Link Up curriculum, including teacher guides, interactive sheet music, and classroom activities, so third‑ through fifth‑grade students can learn repertoire ahead of a culminating concert, according to Carnegie Hall. The national program lists more than 100 partner orchestras and served over 300,000 students and teachers in the 2025–26 season, positioning local Link Up concerts like El Paso’s as one piece of a broader push to restore and expand access to music education.
Why The Concerts Matter Locally
EPSO says the Young People’s Concerts often give students their first taste of a live symphony and offer classroom teachers a concrete way to apply musical concepts covered in school. Organizers and local educators told KFOX they hope the interactive setup nudges kids toward school bands and orchestras, especially in neighborhoods where in‑class music time can be limited. For many fifth‑graders, a field trip to the Chavez Theatre is both an arts introduction and a civic outing, a rare chance to see how a large ensemble functions and to help make the sound of a full orchestra…