The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra is a youth chamber orchestra based in Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

. The emphasis on chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 sets it apart from other youth orchestra

Youth orchestra

Youth orchestra may refer to:-Australia:*Adelaide Youth Orchestra*Melbourne String Ensemble*Queensland Youth Orchestras*SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra*Sydney Youth Orchestra...

s. The orchestra is made up of 5 ensembles of about 25 members each who rehearse weekly and perform throughout the year.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/arts/music/03chamber.html

History

The Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1966 by William Whitson, who served as the orchestra’s music director for 36 years. In 2002, violist

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

Benjamin Simon was appointed the role of music director.