Forte Fridays

Musicians from the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (FSO) are available for sectionals,
lessons, masterclasses, or other forms of special instruction on the following Fridays:

December 8, 2023
March 8, 2024* (brass only)
April 19, 2024
May 10, 2024

Schools that book an instructor for the Forte Fridays program will also receive a special
invitation to an FSO dress rehearsal so students can see the musicians in action and experience
a professional orchestra rehearsal. Instructors are available for band and orchestra and in all instrument groups.

Fee: $200/instructor
Age Group: High School

Visits can be booked through Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council’s Artists in School (AIS) Program. The Arts Council’s Artists In Schools Programs offer opportunities for Cumberland County students to learn from Teaching Artists through residencies, assembly performances, workshops, and virtual/online engagements. Learn more by visiting the button below.

AIS Program

For questions & booking information please email info@fayettevillesymphony.org, or call 910-433-4690.

Featured Musician

Jesse Smith – Principal Cello

Jesse Smith is a chamber and orchestral cellist who currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina. As an avid performer, Smith is the principal cellist of the Fayetteville Symphony and the New Carolina Sinfonia and is frequently invited to play for performances by the Long Bay Symphony, Carolina Ballet, The Carolina Master Choral, and the Carolina Philharmonic. He also enjoys the opportunity to play chamber music throughout the South Eastern Coast and is a founding member of the Magnolia String Quartet.

Smith graduated with his bachelor’s degree in music performance from East Carolina University where he studied with Emanuel Gruber. As a student and later as an alumni, he was regularly invited to play alongside internationally-renowned musicians in Ara Gregorian’s “Next Generation” concerts as a part of the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. After graduation from ECU, Smith continued his study in performance by attending Stony Brook University. During his time on Long Island he was in the studio of Colin Carr, where he received his Master of Music Performance degree.

To Educate. To Entertain. To Inspire.

The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1956 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is a professional, regional orchestra whose mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire the citizens of the Fayetteville, North Carolina region as the leading musical resource. Praised for its artistic excellence, the Symphony leads in the cultural and educational landscape for Fayetteville and the southeastern North Carolina region.

The Fayetteville Symphony typically performs 8 concerts during any given season performing both at Methodist University and Fayetteville State University. Partnerships with other agencies include collaborative performances with Cape Fear Regional Theatre, chamber concerts at St. John’s Episcopal Church, as well as the city’s annual Independence concert with fireworks. The Symphony brings music to the schools and the community by performing educational concerts, as well as having its own Fayetteville Symphony Youth Orchestra, after school strings and summer music camps.

This organization is supported in part by a space grant from the BB&T Term Endowment of Cumberland Community Foundation, Inc.