This interactive concert empowers grades 3-5 students to participate in the performance from their seats as they sing, play recorders, and dance along with the orchestra. This program is provided through a partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.

Once signed up, teachers will gain access to teaching materials that they can incorporate into their curriculum to familiarize their students with the concert repertoire. Bussing subsidies are available for qualifying schools.

February 25, 2025 | 10:15 & 12:15 AM

Hill Auditorium (825 N University Ave, Ann Arbor)

A2SO BUSSING SUBSIDY: The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has limited funding available to subsidize the cost of bussing to the Link Up and Middle School Youth Concerts.  If you would like to apply for a busing subsidy, please provide the necessary information on your Youth Concert Ticket Reservation form before January 25, 2025. Award allocations are determined by an “Overall Need Score” that considers the following factors:

• free and reduced lunch percentage (50%)
• distance from the school to Hill Auditorium (25%)
• number of buses needed (25%)

• free and reduced lunch percentage (50%)
• distance from the school to Hill Auditorium (25%)
• number of buses needed (25%)

Bussing subsides announced with invoices on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.

Carnegie Hall no longer provides printed Student Guides. However, they continue to provide participating teachers with printed curriculum materials and ample digital resources for each piece featured in the concert. Those materials can be accessed and downloaded for classroom use. The A2SO Learning & Community staff compiles all these resources for you in a Google Drive folder, which will be shared with teachers when we confirm their ticket reservations.

Parents who are not chaperones can buy individual parent tickets for $6 between January 24, 2025 and February 14, 2025 at 5 pm. They can get the link to purchase tickets from their student’s teacher. This link will be distributed to teachers on January 24, 2025.

If the Feb. 14th deadline has passed, but it is still before Feb. 25, 2025, tickets are $10.

Day-of-concert parent tickets are $15.

Parents who reserve tickets will not sit with their student’s school, but in the designated parent seating area. If they wish to sit with their student’s school, they should contact their parent’s teacher about chaperoning.

If you are a parent who is not able to chaperone, but is available on concert day, and would like to be a part of the youth concert experience, we are always looking for volunteers to help usher! Please contact the Director of Learning & Community if this opportunity is something that interests you.

Final Payments:

• Final payments are due one week after the concert on March 4, 2025.
• Payments can be made via credit card over the phone by calling the A2SO office at (734) 994-4801 or by mailing a check to 35 Research Dr. Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.

Refunds:
Payments are non-refundable if a school chooses not to attend the concert after the March 12 alteration deadline. 50% of the payment will be refundable under the following conditions:

• The school’s district cancels school due to inclement weather or COVID-19 outbreak.
• The performance is canceled.

In the event of the cancellation of a performance, every effort will be made to reschedule the performance. Schools unable to attend the rescheduled date will be refunded 50% of the total payments. 

Ticketing:

• Ticket reservations must include the total number of seats needed by a group including any students, teachers, chaperones and aides. (This does not include parents who are not chaperones. See Tickets for Parents Section)
• Modifications to reservations must be made by the final deadline of February 14, 2025.

Our 2024 Link Up concert generated a huge number of positive review from students, teachers, chaperones, and other guests!

• Everything about the day was so well-organized and smooth!  The songs for this program were very engaging for the students because there was so much singing and playing, and there was not any “down time” between the songs that would result in students’ attention fading. The students enjoyed seeing the orchestra and also seeing all of their hard work preparing for the concert pay off!

• The kids were engaged by the singing and playing… and the repertoire held their attention and was balanced:)

• Just wanted to say I loved how you called the buses from the stage so students were not standing out in the cold. The pace and leadership from the vocalists and conductor was great!  Thank you again for a wonderful experience this year.  

• The students and parents thoroughly enjoyed Link-Up this year! It was very family-friendly and engaging!

• My kids had a blast. They were singing and humming for the whole rest of the day, and can’t wait to start recorder practice for next year. 

• It was a great experience! All of my students had a really nice time.

• They loved hearing all the music that they already knew, and loved being able to participate in the songs.

• One student said that she loved how interactive the performance was. We were selective about what we learned beforehand, and even though the students didn’t know all the possible participatory parts, they were eager to try on the spot. It really helped to have the music displayed at the back. Our students were engaged from beginning to end. They loved seeing Becky from her visit to our school earlier in the year.

• Thank you for such a rich, exciting experience for our students!

• For my students it was a one of a kind, first time experience.

• All who attended and gave feedback (teachers, parents, students) said it was an excellent opportunity!

• A2SO does a great job preparing music educators.  We are able to give our students the skills to enjoy the concert!

• My students LOVED the experience, especially O Fortuna and Johnny B. Goode. 

• This was a great experience.  We had several goals with this trip.  One was the musical experience of seeing the orchestra and the second was getting our students on a college campus as part of our College and Life Prep goals.

• I think it’s awesome and our students really enjoyed attending. You guys ROCK! 

• The students were very impressed and excited. They enjoyed participating during the concert.

• My students absolutely LOVED going to Hill and hearing the A2SO. The participation pieces really made them feel a part of the performance and they were so excited and inspired.

• I had a great experience. Students that are not traditionally engaged in the music classroom had a great time interacting with the professional symphony, electric guitar, drumline, etc

• Link up is educational and engaging!  What more can you ask for in a school field trip?

• It was cool to have all the curriculum resources and to be able to take our entire 4th grade class to Hill to see and participate with A2SO. I would love for more students to be able to have that experience.