The mission of the Santa Monica Youth Orchestra is to cultivate a musical community that reflects the socio-economic and cultural diversity of Santa Monica’s Pico Neighborhood, modeling practices of cross-cultural understanding, cooperation, and peer mentorship that participants in the ensemble can incorporate into other arenas of their lives: personal, scholastic, and professional. SMYO believes in the potential of orchestral music to bring communities together by bridging differences through collective participation. In aiming to realize this potential, SMYO strives to eliminate as many barriers to entry into music as possible. Not only is SMYO tuition-free and open to any young musician who can commit to weekly rehearsals (there are no auditions), the ensemble also fosters an ethos of mentorship rather than competition, encouraging more advanced musicians to guide their less advanced peers.