In 1964, the South Florida Youth Symphony was founded by Maestro Carmen Nappo in response to the ongoing needs of the community. The orchestra was incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida as a non-profit corporation, and a Board of Trustees and officers were established to handle its administrative functions. Maestro Nappo devoted the remainder of his life to the South Florida Youth Symphony and was its principal conductor until his death in 1970. Peter Fuchs assumed the conductorship of the orchestra after Maestro Nappo's passing. In 1980 he was succeeded by Marjorie Hahn as the principal conductor. Mrs. Hahn was elevated to the post of Music Director in 1988. The staff and trustees have worked endlessly to maintain, in continuous operation, a youth orchestra program of the highest standards for thirty-nine years.

    The South Florida Youth Symphony has presented over 285 concerts. It has trained over 4,000 student musicians in the Youth Symphony, Symphonia, String Consort and Symphonic Wind Ensemble programs. Through the Young Peoples Concerts and the In-School Docent Program, the South Florida Youth Symphony has reached another 30,000 young people, often providing them with their first concert experience and their first encounter with great music. The amount of scholarship aid the South Florida Youth Symphony has awarded for private lessons and summer music camp scholarships exceeds $75,000.

    The professional experiences of the South Florida Youth Symphony's leadership includes the arts, sciences, law, and education, with additional talents in fund raising, recruiting, grant writing, business administration, public relations, graphic arts, and much more. Examples of their dedication and abilities are the successful Carnegie Hall Concert Tours which took place in April 1988 and May 1993. The South Florida Youth Symphony became the first Florida youth orchestra to perform in Carnegie Hall, then repeated the experience five years later. In July of 2001 the Youth Symphony Ensemble performed a European tour which including a side by side concert with the Vienna Marchfeld Youth Orchestra, a community concert for the city of Raabs, Austria, while touring and performing at the 30th International Youth & Music Festival in Vienna, Austria. Additionally the SFYS has traveled to Nicaragua to join with student musicians for a concert tour in 2006.

    In addition to Carnegie Hall, the orchestra has performed in:  the Dade County Auditorium, Gusman Concert Hall, Gusman Cultural Center, the Shores Performing Arts Theater, the Caleb Center,  the Cayman Islands, the Biltmore Hotel, the Bahamas Cruise Festival, Epcot Center, Stetson University, the Harrison Center for the Performing Arts in Deland, Florida, and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. On the 1998 Bahamas Cruise Festival,  the symphony went on to win the national trophy representing the best of the festival.

    Locally,  the orchestra performs four to six major concerts each season in various locales in Dade County. These concerts are often presented free of charge. When admission is charged, the price of tickets is kept extremely low (generally $5 to $12) to enable senior citizens, young persons, and the orchestra member's family to attend. The general public is also encouraged to support our youth and encourage their success by attending these concerts.

   Fifteen years ago, before the establishment of the New World Symphony and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Florida's Kinderconcerts and youth outreach programs, the South Florida Youth Symphony began presenting annual Young People's Concerts for elementary students in the public and private schools.  Under the guidance of Music Director Marjorie Hahn, an In-School Docent Program was established as well as Family Day concerts designed for younger children. The SFYS held its first summer camp program in 1994, and has expanded the camps to the current season. For more information on camp and membership please email or call..