Scott and Barbara Bice have been loyal LA Phil subscribers for more than fifty years, but it was the arrival of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel a decade ago that inspired them to make a tremendous legacy gift to support the LA Phil's Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program.

Dudamel's signature program in Los Angeles, YOLA provides free instruments, intensive training, and academic and social support to more than 1,400 young people from under-resourced communities across Los Angeles.

"We're interested in education and in what we can do to help young people achieve their potential," Scott said in a recent interview. "YOLA is such an inspiring story of young people learning, being exposed to a whole aspect of social, emotional, creative, collegial, and collaborative experiences that you don't get often. We wanted to do our part to help them succeed."

Based on El Sistema, the revolutionary Venezuelan music education initiative in which Dudamel grew up, YOLA is as much a social development as a musical training program.

"They're really teaching them leadership," Barbara says. "They're teaching them teamwork. They're teaching them what it's like to succeed in the world."

The LA Phil is deeply grateful to Scott and Barbara Bice for making a significant investment in the young musicians of YOLA. Their legacy gift will ensure generations of young people from all across Los Angeles will have access to music and the multitude of benefits of music education.

Giving to the future of the LA Phil is simple. If you'd like to learn how you can support programs like YOLA with a legacy gift, please contact us at legacy@laphil.org or 213 972 3458.