Educating, inspiring, and fostering a lifelong love of music for students in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Our mission is to develop and educate our musicians to excel by providing an opportunity to learn and to express their musical abilities in an atmosphere of professionalism, creativity and enjoyment, thereby fostering a lifelong love of music. To encourage our students to appreciate and apply music's enormous force for the enrichment of society and intercultural understanding. To cultivate a supportive learning environment by actively promoting a climate of respect for personal differences, by offering a range of activities to support the needs of the student musicians who come to us from many different music backgrounds. To provide an environment in which all know that they are full and valued members of the orchestra. To value ethical behavior in all aspects of personal and musical life by establishing an ensemble that values integrity in all relationships.