The inaugural class of the Lake Tahoe Music Festival’s Orchestra Academy has been selected and 36 of the nation’s top music students are Lake Tahoe-bound for the 10-day intensive residency program.

Candidates were selected after a three-month audition process where more than 50 students submitted YouTube audition videos. Participating students play a diverse range of instruments, from viola and cello to flute, oboe, bassoon and timpani, and come from hometowns as far away as Spain, Ukraine and Brazil as well as from across the United States and even Lake Tahoe.

Geared toward bridging the gap between college music studies and a career in music, the academy includes rehearsals and master classes, solo instruction and practical sessions for career planning all led by professional musicians from major U.S. orchestras. The Orchestra Academy also performs at the festival’s July 22 Best of Broadway and July 29 Simply Sinatra concerts along with intimate Strictly Classical concerts July 21 and 28.

Instructors for the 2010 session are Ariana Ghez, principal oboe for Los Angeles Philharmonic and Jerry Grossman, principal cello for New York’s Metropolitan Opera. The festival’s Artistic Director Timm Rolek serves the same role with the Academy.

For more information about the Lake Tahoe Music Festival and the Orchestra Academy, log on to www.TahoeMusic.org or call (530) 583.3101.