Simply Symphonic

Free music curriculum for your 5th grade classroom — ending with your students at the Pantages, singing and playing along with an 80-piece orchestra.

REGISTER YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM
REGISTER YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM
REGISTER YOUR HOMESCHOOL OR PRIVATE SCHOOL

THE PROGRAM

Your Students don’t watch the orchestra. They join it.

Simply Symphonic is Symphony Tacoma's flagship education program, built on Link Up — the award-winning curriculum from Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute.

Starting in January, your class learns to sing and play a set of pieces using free digital lesson plans, recordings, and interactive sheet music. In March, you bring those skills to the Pantages Theater and perform them with the Symphony Tacoma orchestra — right from your seats.

For many students, it's their first time inside the Pantages, and the first time they've heard a full symphony orchestra play live.

HOW IT WORKS

Four Easy Steps

1 - Reserve your spot

Submit the online registration form for your school or homeschool group. Spots are limited by theater capacity, so earlier is better.

2 - Get your digital materials

You will receive access to the full Link Up curriculum online, teacher guides, student materials, streaming recordings, interactive sheet music, and video. Nothing to ship, nothing to store.

3 - Learn the music together

Students sing, play soprano recorder or read and notate music, and try composing and improvising. Lessons are modular, use what fits the time you have.

4 - Join us at the Pantages

Your class joins other schools at the Pantages Theater and performs alongside the full Symphony Tacoma orchestra, singing and playing from their seats.

“The strength of this program is that students are active participants in making music. Few other art forms let you take part collectively — that's the special magic of an orchestra.”

Sarah Ioannides

WHAT TEACHERS RECEIVE

Everything is digital and free

Link Up materials are now delivered entirely online — accessible from any classroom device, at any point in the unit.

  • Teacher guide with sequenced, standards-aligned lesson plans

  • Student materials you can view on screen or print

  • Streaming recordings of every piece, at full and practice tempo

  • Interactive sheet music students can sing and play along with

  • Concert visuals and video that preview what the day will look like

  • Direct support from the Symphony Tacoma education team

PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

A program students share worldwide

Carnegie Hall's Link Up partners with more than 100 orchestras across the United States and around the globe, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Kenya, New Zealand, and the Dominican Republic. Students worldwide learn the same repertoire your class will.

Built by music educators

Developed by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute and refined across two decades of classroom use.

Designed for any classroom

Written for generalist teachers as well as music specialists, with flexible pacing for whatever time you can give it.

Free to participating schools

Curriculum, materials, and concert admission are underwritten by our sponsors and donors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? No problem!
We’re happy to talk through whether the program is a fit for your students.
Please email Dr. Li-Ling Liao at Education@SymphonyTacoma.org.

REGISTER YOUR HOMESCHOOL OR PRIVATE SCHOOL

  • No. The curriculum is written so that any classroom teacher can lead it. Recordings model every piece, and the teacher guide walks through each lesson step by step.

  • The lessons are modular. Some teachers use a short block once a week from January through March; others fold the material into existing music or arts time. Use what fits your schedule — students only need to know the concert pieces.

  • Simply Symphonic is free to participating schools, including curriculum materials and concert admission.

    Symphony Tacoma does not cover transportation.

  • Students can participate by singing alone. Classes that want to play use soprano recorders.

  • Simply Symphonic is for 5th grade students.

  • Performances take place at the Pantages Theater in downtown Tacoma on March 15, 16, & 18, 2027.