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As we begin another year at Cape Symphony Conservatory, we are reminded that what happens here reaches far beyond learning to play an instrument, singing a song, or mastering a new skill. Music education helps young people find their voice, build confidence, develop discipline, and—perhaps most importantly—find a place where they belong.

The Cape Symphony Orchestra presents Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in Concert at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center Saturday, October 17, 2026 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM.

Meet a beautiful voice on the Cape Symphony faculty! Kristin Howard is a classically trained Soprano who teaches voice to young people and adults. She focuses on developing students’ confidence in their unique abilities, while strengthening the basics of healthy vocal production and musicianship.

The Cape Symphony Orchestra presents The Planets at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center on September 26, 2026 at 4:00 PM and September 27, 2026 at 3:00 PM.
Ticketholders are invited to a discussion of the concert program led by scholar and retired Cape Symphony bass trombonist George Scharr one hour before each performance.

In December 1985, The New York Times published an article with a provocative title: “Why Today’s Orchestras Are Adrift.”

What is striking is not simply what the article said. It is how familiar it sounds more than 40 years later.

As a young child, Lydia Parkington attended a Boston Ballet Nutcracker performance and was smitten with the sound of the cello. “It changed me!” she says. “I just loved the timbre, the range, and the melancholy.” She studied at Cape Symphony Conservatory and Nauset High School, earned music degrees from UMass Amherst and Syracuse University, and has created a joyful career in cello performance and teaching.