Coaching & Honor Orchestras

In-School Coaching Work with AP Principals

We come to you! Experienced Arapahoe Philharmonic members come to your school during the school day to work with small groups of student musicians on musicianship, intonation, bowing technique and style, while the band or orchestra director continues to work with the full student ensemble. Teachers are always grateful for this extra assistance during their class time!

Our Music Director, Devin Patrick Hughes, is also available to come to your school to conduct student ensembles, working on style and musicianship, as well as help prepare for upcoming festivals or concerts. He can also mentor band and orchestra directors on their conducting.

“Thank you so much to all of you who helped make this day happen. Liberty kids were very excited and appreciative of the sectionals and hope to have more time in the future. I am very grateful for your time and talent, and so were my kids!” – Teacher at Liberty Middle School

Funding is generally available for schools in Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Interested schools should contact the Arapahoe Philharmonic office (303-781-1892 or APEducationCommittee@gmail.com) for information on scheduling and available funding or pricing.

Online alternatives to in-school coaching programs are available starting this fall.

Honor Orchestras

As part of our youth outreach, the Arapahoe Philharmonic directs sectionals for the honor orchestras of the Continental League, Cherry Creek School District (middle schools) and Aurora Public Schools. These sectionals help to engage and mentor middle and high school students from Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. AP players coach the students and provide advanced technical and musical support. This allows for a more individualized educational process.

The impact of these sectionals reaches far beyond the one concert. Students involved share new techniques with their school orchestras and build a better orchestra within their own schools. They remember the Arapahoe Philharmonic, bring their friends to our concerts, and are ultimately the foundation for future players and audience members.

“This email does not have enough space to send my thanks to you and all the amazing Arapahoe Philharmonic musicians who came on Friday to help the Middle School students in sectionals for the Honor Orchestra event, but I will try to articulate my sincerest thanks!

I was so impressed with the detail and the examples each coach provided for their sections. I was walking around to as many as I could and caught brief moments of each coach teaching, which all just made me smile. I love that there were always 2 people in each section to lead and help. The students gained so much from this as did the MS teachers who were raving about it as well!

Please pass along my thanks to each of those amazing coaches for their time and talent. It certainly impacted them all and helped the concert go incredibly well on Saturday!” – Cherry Creek School District Middle School Teacher