YONA - Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta

The Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta – Sistema (YONA-Sistema) is a program offered by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. This program is modelled on the ground-breaking El Sistema project in Venezuela, which uses music for social change and teaches the values of unity, harmony and mutual compassion. Five days a week, for almost three hours each day, these students are provided a caring, dynamic learning environment with music at its core, at no cost to their families. This is a tremendous help in priority neighborhoods of Edmonton and the greater Edmonton area where out-of-school care and extracurricular activities may be difficult for families to afford.

 

A former club member, Carl Simonson, was instrumental in bringing this program to