This guest post from Progressions Director Julie Rinard recaps the field trip Progressions students recently took to see an open dress rehearsal by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Thanks to the support of Haynes & Boone, LLP, Santa Clara Vanguard and San Jose Jazz, Progressions students and family members took a field trip to watch the dress rehearsal of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra last Saturday. Progressions brass instructor and former member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Andrew Hill (trombone) organized the trip, which was an eye-opening experience for our students and family members. Students were inspired by Davies Symphony Hall, the stage and the high quality of the orchestra. On the trip back, one flute student who had previously aspired to be a soccer player and inventor modified her career aspirations: “After going on this field trip," she said, "I have decided I also want to be a musician.” Students especially enjoyed the percussion pieces at the beginning of the program (the first movement of Nebojša Jovan Živković’s Trio per Uno and Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas). One Progressions trombone student even had a chance to interact with the trombone coach (Assistant Principal Trombonist of the San Francisco Symphony, Nick Platoff) and asked if he could follow along with the score. The camaraderie among the students and family members on the bus ride home was palpable. Members of the Progressions team said everyone seemed unified by the shared experience of doing something new and inspirational together for the very first time. This excursion to see the San Francisco Youth Symphony Orchestra was the third SJZ-organized field trip this spring for Progressions students.  On March 3-4, Santee students traveled to San Francisco to participate in a San Francisco Maritime National Parks Association trip entitled “Age of Sail.” Through this trip, the clocks of time were turned back to 1906 and students were immersed in an 18-hour journey through the past on a real ship. The program encourages students to develop self-confidence and self-reliance, which in turn fosters a sense of responsibility for themselves, their shipmates, and their community. More recently, Progressions students participated in SJZ’s International Jazz Day celebrations in Downtown San Jose on April 30. The Progressions team is grateful to our donors and supporters who make this kind of experience possible for our, inquisitive students. Find out more about the SJZ Progressions program on our Progressions page. The program is also collecting instruments in advance of the upcoming school year in the fall. If you have an instrument you'd like to donate, email instruments@sanjosejazz.org or visit our instrument donation page.