The Oregon Symphony To Present The LINK UP Program

The Oregon Symphony will present Link Up, a program of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Link Up is a hands-on music curriculum program that is integrated into 3rd-5th-grade music classrooms, designed to explore orchestral repertoire with a younger audience.

While participating in the program, students learn a set of musical repertoire in their music class at school. They are then given the opportunity to perform this repertoire along with the Oregon Symphony by singing or playing recorder in a culminating Link Up concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Student musicians from Portland State University's School of Music and Theater serve as voice and recorder modelers and also join as special guests on a few of the pieces.

This year, the Oregon Symphony is participating in “The Orchestra Rocks” Link Up program, exploring the universal musical element of rhythm. Students will learn how composers and musicians play with elements of musical time, creating patterns of sound and silence that are expressive and exciting, and will experience how a consistent groove can unite musicians, singers, and audiences in an experience of listening and performing together. After this in-classroom exploration, the concluding interactive, participatory concert experience will occur on May 1 at 9:30 and 11:30 AM, and on May 2 at 10:30 AM. All three concerts are sold out, attended by 7,500 students and teachers, allowing the Oregon Symphony to share our love of music with a vast audience of future musicians.

About the Link Up Program

Created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, Link Up is an educational resource provided to elementary school music classrooms, completely free of charge. Students learn to sing and play an instrument in a classroom setting before performing with a professional orchestra in their local community. The ultimate goal of the program is to provide a participatory, interactive experience for a younger generation, introducing students between the ages of 7 - 11 to the symphony orchestra and inviting them to be inspired to learn an instrument and bring music into their lives, be it though participation in an orchestra, joining a band or choir, or learning to use their voice to sing as they enter middle school music programs.

Link Up currently provides four different curricula that participating schools and orchestras can choose from. "The Orchestra Sings” curriculum explores how composers create great melodies, while “The Orchestra Rocks” explores rhythm, pulse, and groove. “The Orchestra Moves” digs into movement and the connection between music and physical movement, and “The Orchestra Swings” takes a deep dive into the elements of swing and jazz. The Oregon Symphony selects the Link Up program each season from those four options, and Carnegie Hall provides a plethora of resources to participating music teachers. Resources include an individualized Link Up curriculum guide for teachers with accompanying audio and video resources, activities for students, orchestral scores and parts for most pieces, access to Carnegie Hall's online resource library, including additional lessons and interactive classroom activities, Carnegie Hall brand guidelines, fundraising templates, and public relations resources, as well as ongoing support and consultation regarding program implementation. Additionally, in partnership with the Music Education program at Portland State University, the Oregon Symphony provides Professional Development workshops for participating teachers to prepare them to teach the Link Up curriculum in their classrooms.

During the 2025-2026 season, Link Up is being implemented by more than 100 partner orchestras worldwide, serving over 300,000 students and teachers. These partnerships span the US from Florida to Alaska, and have an international reach in countries like China, Kenya, Canada, Japan, Spain, and New Zealand.

Organizations like the Oregon Symphony are invited to partner with Carnegie's Link Up program as part of a growing network of orchestras engaging younger communities around the world. The Symphony is pleased to partner with the Portland State University School (PSU) of Music and Theater on this year's Link Up program. PSU helps with Professional Development to prepare music teachers for teaching the Link Up curriculum in their classrooms. Mari Schay, Assistant Professor of Music Education at PSU, serves as the Professional Link Up Development trainer, leading sessions with participating elementary school music teachers about the curriculum to help prepare for the final concerts, which take place at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Additionally, for the 2025 concerts, the Symphony has three PSU students serving as vocal and recorder modelers on stage, helping to lead songs from the stage, as well as four percussion students performing on a piece called “Drumlines,” as a small drumline. PSU students participate in this program and appear on stage with the Oregon Symphony so that participating elementary school students have the opportunity to see younger musicians performing onstage in a professional setting. This allows them to bridge a perceived age gap and embeds a deeply rooted understanding that music is an art form accessible to all age groups.    

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