The SBYO is geared toward advanced middle & high school aged string players and high school wind, brass, and percussion players. It has members from Vassar to Mount Pleasant, from Unionville to Frankenmuth, and everywhere in between! Rehearsals are on Sundays from 2-5 pm at the Temple Theatre in Saginaw.

Membership in the SBYO is decided through an audition process and is open to all enthusiastic and hard-working young musicians throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region. SBYO follows the orchestral practice of auditioning for chairs that are open.

SBYO reserves the right to hold seating hearings at the beginning of each session in order to seat students appropriately within the section. The prescribed scale(s) and selected excerpt(s) are distributed at least one week prior to the hearing. When seating hearings are scheduled, all students are required to play privately for a 2-to-3-member committee; non-adherence to this policy may be terms for dismissal.

Audition for concertmaster (violin) is held in the fall of each season. Selected excerpts are distributed via email on the Monday prior to the audition. Students may be asked to play a short solo of their choosing. This blind audition is heard by the conductor(s) and available string specialists.