The Bayonne Youth Band and Orchestra is a musical ensemble made up of 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from across Bayonne. Students interested in joining must already have a band or orchestral instrument and have some basic musical performance skills on that instrument. This ensemble is not for beginners, we meet once a week for rehearsals or lessons to work on our concert performance repertoire. Students are expected to be able to practice daily and prepare their parts.
We have two separate ensembles – the Bayonne Youth Band consists of wind instruments and percussion, and the Bayonne Youth Orchestra consists of string instruments and sometimes also use percussion. Our two ensembles may also sometimes join forces to create a full symphonic orchestra, but we usually perform as two separate ensembles.
Our ensembles meet once per week—on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening—and perform several times throughout the school year, hosting at least two concerts and sometimes performing at other civic events.