The mission of the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra™ (YMCO) is to use high quality, intensive musical training, academic support, and personal guidance to improve the lives of talented, low-income students, ages 9-18, from throughout the Bay Area. By advancing their academic, musical, and personal accomplishments throughout their middle-school and high-school years, YMCO enhances students’ competitive appeal and success at four-year universities and conservatories. All of YMCO’s services are provided at no cost. Founded in 1968 as a summer outreach program, Young Musicians Choral Orchestra has transformed the lives of over 3,000 Bay Area Youth. Under the leadership of Executive Director Daisy Newman, who took the helm in 2003, the program erupted from a modest youth music program into a national model, providing a rigorous and robust combination of musical training, academic reinforcement, and personal development for low-income, underprivileged children. YMCO garnered a national reputation as a beacon of excellence in transforming the lives of underprivileged youth who might otherwise have found themselves excluded from the opportunities afforded to their more privileged peers. The past ten years witnessed increased breadth and depth in the program including new pinnacles of success.