Support AYS

The orchestra relies mostly on the support of individual donors and institutional giving to fund its training activities and admission free concerts.  Nearly 80% of the orchestra’s budget comes from concert-goers who enjoy attending special events, or give annually. We also benefit from the generosity of leading artists, music professionals, music business owners and alumni.

You can support the American Youth Symphony by purchasing a membership, sponsoring a young player, purchasing an ad in our program books or leaving a legacy through a planned gift.

Ways to give:

  • You can become a member or make a donation online.
  • You can call us at (310) 470 – 2332 and ask for Isabel Thiroux or Janneke Straub for assistance, or to make a credit card donation.
  • You can download this form and mail it in to make a reservation to one of our special events.
  • You can download instructions to make a gift of stock by clicking here.
  • For assistance please call Janneke Straub, Executive Director at (310) 470 – 2332 or email us.

About membership

Members never need to make a reservation at Royce Hall:

  • Present your membership card at the Members’ Welcome table
  • Receive tickets for prime seating reserved for members only
  • Attend the members-only post concert receptions with the artists

$60  Individual
$120 Advocate Receive two membership cards.
$250 Supporter Receive two membership cards.
$500 Patron Receive two membership cards, and invitations to 2 dress rehearsals.
$1,000 Benefactor Benefactors of $1,000 or more can contact us in advance for VIP reserved seating.

Sponsor a musician or sponsor a concert

$1,500 Sponsor a musician
$2,500 Sponsor a principal

Starting at the $1,500 gift level for a rank musician and $2,500 for a principal, sponsorship gifts help support the training activities and annual stipend of an orchestra member of your choice. Concert sponsorships start at $25,000.

Every gift helps. We could not be without you.

Click here to make a gift or become a member online


We are pleased to recognize the donors who generously support the American Youth Symphony. The orchestra’s training activities, free concerts, and community engagement initiatives are made possible by their loyalty and generosity. The following list includes donors who have contributed $120 or more from January 1 to December 31, 2011.

Gifts of $100,000 or More
Mr. and Mrs. Herb Gelfand
Gifts of $75,000 to $99,999
Mr. and Mrs. David Newman*
Gifts of $50,000 to $74,999
Anonymous
Gifts of $30,000 to $49,999
Mr. John Liebes
Gifts of $25,000 to 29,999
Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Dretzka
The James Irvine Foundation
Flora L. Thornton Foundation
Gifts of $15,000 to $24,999
Mr. and Mrs. Maynard Brittan
Ms. Shoshana Claman* and Mr. Bill Sheinberg
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
Gifts of $10,000 to $14,999
The Colburn Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Phiroze Dalal
Eleven Twenty Seven Foundation
The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Kohl
The Moca Foundation
The Rose Hills Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Ruby
Mr. and Mrs. William A. Rutter
Gifts of $7,000 to $9,999
Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Cutler
Ms. Geri Rotella* and Peter Rotter
Gifts of $5,000 to $6,999
Broadcast Music, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Breslauer
Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund
First Artists Management
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Frisina*
Mr. Steven A. Linder and Mr. Michael Hanel
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Hochberg
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mandell*
Recording Musicians Association Los Angeles
Ms. Marie L. Rourke
Ms. Pat Rubin and Mr. Theodore J. Slavin
Mr. and Mrs. Alan Silvestri
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Treger*
Universal Studios
Mr. and Mrs. John Williams
Ms. Marilyn Ziering
Gifts of $3,500 to $4,999
The Colburn School
Ms. Ruth Flinkman and Mr. Ben Marandy
Mr. Richard J. Rosenthal and Mrs. Katherine Spillar
Mr. and Mrs. Sid Sheinberg
Ms. Elise Sinay Spilker
Gifts of $2,500 to $3,499
Ms. Valerie Franklin
Mr. and Mrs. Georges Gross
Kevin Kiner Music, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. James Nathan
Dr. Frances Pang and Mr. Charles Gilman
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Rubin
The Cecile and Fred Bartman Foundation
Gifts of $2,000 to $2,499
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Baker
Mr. and Mrs. David N. Barry
Kraft-Engel Management
Ms. Anika Lorber
Ms. Elizabeth Pitcairn*
Dr. and Mrs. Barry Pressman
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Roach
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Whittier
Gifts of $1,500 to $1,999
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland^
Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Katz
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kester
Ms. Sheila Krasnoff
Ms. Leah Mendelsohn
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Millstein*
Northwestern University
Robert Cauer Violins
Ms. Lois Rosen
Mrs. Janet Salter
Dr. and Mrs. Stuart Siegel
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wertz
Gifts of $1,000 to $1,499
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Attiyeh
Bunnie Joan Sachs Family Foundation
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Camp
Mr. and Mrs. John Erwin
Mr. and Mrs. Joey Feldman
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fox
Mrs. Peter S. Gold
Mr. John Heric
Mr. Martin Hilton and Ms. Elizabeth Morehead
Interlochen Center for the Arts
The Juilliard School
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kaplan
Lady’s Secret Foundation
Mrs. Stephen N. Loew, Jr.
Mr. Karl Loring & Ms. Genevieve Denault
Mr. and Mrs. David Michaels
Milken Family Foundation
Ms. Y. Suzette Moriarty*
Mr. and Mrs. LaVern Schenkelberg
Mr. and Mrs. James Newton Howard
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Nourmand
Mr. and Mrs. James Rosenwald
Ms. Kirby Shanklin
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph J. Shapiro
Ms. Lenore Sussman
Mrs. Lee M. Warner
Ms. Edna Weiss
Gifts of $500 to $999
Ms. Sara Andon
Mr. Bruce Broughton
Mr. Bill Brown
Ms. Roslyn Burkes
Carnegie Melon University
Mr. Tod E. Carson
Chapman University
Mrs. Cary Collons
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Corwin
Crossroads School
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Cummins
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Dischler
Eastman School of Music
Ms. Yvette Fierstein
Mr. and Mrs. Jerome and Jean Friedman
Ms. Jennifer Goldsmith
Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Grancell
Mr. and Mrs. George Gross
Mr. and Mrs. Philip J. Gutentag
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Harris
Mr. and Mrs. James Henerson
Ms. Mariko Hsu
Idyllwild Arts Academy
Ms. Flavia J. Kavanau
Mr. and Mrs. Morris Kessler
Ms. Rosalie Kornblau
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Levy
Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Lewitt
Los Angeles Philharmonic Association
Oberlin College Conservatory
Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Ornitz
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Pink
Mr. George Polinger
Mr. Ron Rosen and Mrs. Judi Lawenda
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Rosen
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Drs. Donald Seligman & Jon Zimmermann
Mr. ShiChang Sung
Mr. and Mrs. Gene Straub*
Ms. Reiko Swartz
Ms. Isabel Thiroux* and Ms. Gina Satriano
Mr. Stephen Thiroux
Ms. Blossom Trustman
University of North Texas
Kennedy Violins
Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Weitzman
Dr. and Mrs. Mike Briggs
Gifts of $250 to $499
Mr. and Mrs. George Abe
Dr. and Mrs. Yoshio Akiyama
Mr. Robert C. Anderson*
Miss Maxi Artmann
Mr. and Mrs. George Avak
Ms. Gabriella E. Bashner
Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Bell
Ms. Cynthia Chapman & Mr. Neil Selman
Cleveland Institute of Music
Cornerstone Institute of Music
Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Creager
Ms. Chava Danielson & Mr. Eric Haas
Ms. Genevieve Denault
Mr. and Mrs. George Denny
Mr. and Mrs. William dePasquale*
Dr. Gail Grayton
Ms. Dixie B. Eger
Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Franklin
The Fuller Family Foundation
Mrs. Marion Goldenfeld
Mr. Monty Hall
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Hays
Ms. Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch
Ms. Linda Joyce Hodge
Ms. Judith Huss*
Ms. Elizabeth Hynes
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Janss
Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Karasik
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Karmazyn*
Mr. Lawrence Kaufman
Ms. Flo Robins and Mr. Dolph Kornblum
Mr. and Mrs. Allan Kotin
Mr. Joerg Kremer
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Lambert
Mr. Andrew Lan
Ms. Ruth Linnick
Ms. Rachel Lipman
Mr. and Mrs. W. Stanley Lisiewicz
Mr. and Mrs. Jordin Mendelsohn
Mr. Lawrence Mirisch
Mr. and Mrs. Wally Mueller
Drs. Anthony Nesburn and Christina Kenney
Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Penenberg
Mr. Dan Sandel
Ms. Christa Schrott
Mr. Jonathan Sheinberg
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Sleven
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Smith*
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sobel
Mrs. Julia Struck
Mr. Michael F. Thompson
Ms. Gwen Toma
Mr. and Mrs. Corwin White
Gifts of $120 to $249
Dr. Samuel P. Adams
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Adler
Mr. Riane Logan Allen
Mrs. Lynn K. Altman
Mr. Joel Altshule
Mr. and Mrs. Irving Ashkenas
Mr. Arnold Band
Mr. and Mrs. Saul D. Bass
Mr. John E. Beal
Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Bond
Dr. and Mrs. Peter Bormanis
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Bovyer*
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett Brown
Ms. Lisa Carloss
Dr. Chen
Mr. David A. Clark
Ms. Leslie Coles
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Crookes
Mr. David Cross
Dr. and Mrs. Paul Cutter
Mr. Zoud Danko
Mrs. Phyllis Dosaj
Dr. Douglas W. Douglas
Mr. Larry J Dressler
Ms. Ellen Goldsmith Edson
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Erdley
Mr. William Ferril, III
Mr. and Mrs. Al A. Finci
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Finn
Mrs. Laurie Fischer*
Mr. Wesley Hough & Mr. Marlow Fisher*
Mrs. Ayala Fishman
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Fleischman
Mr. Barry J. Forman
Mrs. Susan Fotheringham
Mr. Yoram Roman and Mrs. Marilyn Friedman
Mr. and Mrs. Simon Furer
Dr. and Mrs. E Peter Gabor
Dr. Elizabeth Galton
Ms. Carol S. Gee
Ms. Wendy G. Glenn
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Goichman
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Gonsalves
Mrs. Mae Goodson
Mr. and Mrs. David Gordon
Ms. Karen Gottlieb
Ms. Angelita Guenther
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gutkind
Dr. Richard Handwerger
Dr. and Mrs. William Hant
Ms. Elizabeth J. Hedges
Dr. Paul A. Heimberg
Ms. Jodi Heller
Mr. Howard Hiura
Dr. and Mrs. Gary Hollander
Mr. Lorence Honda*
Ms. Lucia Kagan
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Kaplan
Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Katz
Mr. Eric Kirchhoff*
Mr. and Mrs. Eric Klapper
Dr. and Mrs. Charles Kleeman
Ms. Jane Koblin
Mr. and Mrs. Myron A. Kusnitz
Mr. Jeffrey Lavner*
Mr. and Mrs. Elliott Lawrence
Mr. Alvin Levison
Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Levy
Mr. and Mrs. David Lidgi
Dr. Lewis Linet, Jr.
Stephanie Lippencott
Mr. James J. Lobdell
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Lukas
Mr. and Mrs. Martin Lutin
Mr. Robert Main
Mr. Fred Manaster
Ms. Shoshana Milstein
Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Morgan
Ms. Joan M. Harding Newman
Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Newmark
Mr. and Mrs. John O’Callaghan
Ms. Deedy Oberman
Ms. Jo A. Panitch
Mr. Edward A. Perez
Mr. Frank Peters
Ms. Gail Pettler
Mr. Robert L. Potts
Mr. and Mrs. David C. Rabin
Ms. Allison Elder and Mr. Thomas Reinsel
Mrs. Fiona Ripple*
Mrs. Sharon Romick
Mr. Robb M. Rosen
Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Rothstein
Judge Joel Rudof (Ret.)
Mr. and Mrs. David Rycus
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Ryder
Mr. and Mrs. George Savitsky
Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Schell
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Selko
Ms. Sally Shafton
Dr. Barry F. Silverman & Ms. Diane B. Mandell
Ms. Teddi Silverman
Mr. and Mrs. Kyung Sook Song
Mr. and Mrs. Michael A. Spencer
Mr. David Spiro*
Mr. and Mrs. Gene Straub*
Dr. and Mrs. Ernest G. Strauss
Mr. and Mrs. G.P. Suddeth
Mr. and Mrs. David Sussman
Mr. and Mrs. Jun Taira
Dr. Jocelyne Turnier
Ms. Laura Waisler
Mr. and Mrs. Reid Wallin*
Ms. Pamela Ward
Mr. and Mrs. Joel Wayne
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Weese
Mrs. Esther Weinberger
Mr. Glen Williams
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Winters
Ms. Silvana R. Wise
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Wolpert