Joyce Boren of Pleasant Grove began taking violin lessons two years ago and plays with a city orchestra, but she felt she needed another opportunity to increase her musical skills.

Soon she will join a new orchestra in Provo, founded to teach stringed instruments to adults over age 40 regardless of their musical experience -- or lack of it.

"It's a priority because I love music," Boren said.

Rehearsals will begin in January for the New Horizons Orchestra, a group designed specifically to teach adults the four orchestral string instruments: violin, viola, cello and bass. An organizational meeting for the group was conducted Monday, offering an opportunity for people to try out the four instruments and find one to their liking. A similar meeting will be held Jan. 8.

"We're going to teach them everything right from the beginning," said Gordon Childs, a former University of Wyoming professor and director of the American Fork Symphony who will help direct the New Horizons Orchestra. "It's going to be for the sheer joy of learning. ... They'll get the opportunity to have the thrill of performing."

The orchestra is being operated through cooperation between the Brigham Young University School of Music and the Eldred Senior Center in Provo. Support is also coming from BYU's Watkins Endowment for Music and the Family and Summerhays Music Center.

Although open to those over 40 years old, the orchestra is aimed at senior citizens.

"There are any number of programs that have been developed over the years to teach kids to play a stringed instrument," Childs said. Childs has often heard adults say they wished they had learned to play or played for a while and didn't continue.

"So we're going to offer a chance for them to learn," Childs said.

Cost to participate is $95 per semester; players must provide their own instrument and music stand and will be asked to purchase an instructional book, Childs said.

Andrew Dabczynski, a BYU professor of music education, will serve as director and primary instructor for the orchestra, assisted by Childs and Burke Sorenson, a BYU graduate student in orchestral conducting. BYU music undergraduates also will be part of the program, teaching and observing as part of their university studies.

Through the New Horizons program, New Horizons bands and orchestras have spread across the country. In 1997, Dabczynski founded the first New Horizons Orchestra in Rochester, N.Y.; at least 20 other string orchestras have been formed since then. In addition, about 450 New Horizons bands exist in the United States, Australia and Canada.

The Provo group is Utah's first New Horizons Orchestra.

Dabczynski said he has had many performance opportunities, including playing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. "I have never felt such joy and enthusiasm for musical performance as I have with these New Horizons groups," he said. "It is a kick in the pants."

A research study will evaluate the orchestra's effect on participants' life attitudes and enthusiasm for learning, Dabczynski said. "I think we're going to be able to get some interesting data on musical learning" as well as physical improvement, he said.

The New Horizons Orchestra's second organizational meeting will be Jan. 8 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Oak Hills LDS chapel, 1650 N. 900 East in Provo.

Adults over age 40 will have an opportunity to try out a violin, viola, cello and bass and will receive a mini music lesson and more information about the orchestra.

Rehearsals for the orchestra will begin Jan. 14 and continue on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. through May 6 at the Oak Hills LDS chapel.

For more information, call Andrew Dabczynski at 422-2317 or the Eldred Senior Center at 852-6620.

Christi C. Babbitt can be reached at 344-2552 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it