The orchestra was founded in 1999 by Tatiana Ganenko, a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, an accomplished violinist, and an inspirational teacher.

Our mission is to enrich children's lives through the wonderful world of music. With the customized arrangements of music pieces, we give our musicians at various skill levels an opportunity to play together in a supportive and fun environment.

Our musicians are encouraged to their highest potential in music they love. We play a variety of pieces throughout the school year, and each musician is given an opportunity to perform solo pieces of their choice in recitals. For many of our students, the orchestra serves as a platform for a future career in San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, New York Juliard School of Music, and other prestigious institutions.

We play a variety of classical music, popular music, and jazz.

"Once again, yesterday's performance was beautiful. I closed my eyes to just listen and forgot it was children playing. "
December, 2016

"We will never forget Carnegie and are grateful that Zoe is a part of this talented group of musicians. How many kids can say they played Carnegie? At age 12? We appreciate all the hard work you both do and look forward to 2017, trumpets and all."
December, 2016

"Thank you for the brilliant work on the performance. Everyone shone. It was truly magical."
Azeb Gessesse, May 2012

"Thank you, Sunset Youth Orchestra! Thank you Tatiana! That was a great performance today!"
Ves Budimir, May 2012

"Tatiana, Saturday's performance was the best performance to date. Not just hat it was superb! Please extend my congratulations to all the other teachers as well."
Feroza Unvala, May 2012

"The concert was AMAZING!"
Vicki Lai, May 2012

"We want to thank you very much for helping Roman with his solo practice. We were moved by his performance in the concert. All the musicians played so beautifully throughout the whole concert. We were mesmerized!"
Marie-Elise Lyman, 2012

"We enjoyed our first year with SYO very much and look forward to being a part of your great orchestra group again in the next season. Bryan and I are proud of Austin and Andrew for their participation. Thank you for accepting us."
Megumi Poli, May 2012