UT Tyler, East Texas Youth Orchestra Partner to Expand Music and Educational Opportunities
February 24, 2026 | Hannah Buchanan
Partnership Establishes UT Tyler Cowan Center as Official Home of the ETYO
The University of Texas at Tyler has partnered with the East Texas Youth Orchestra in support of arts education and community engagement.
“This is a proud moment for UT Tyler,” said UT Tyler President Julie V. Philley, MD. “This partnership reflects our shared values, mission and belief in the transformative
power of the arts.”
The partnership makes the UT Tyler R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center the official home of the youth orchestra.
“We are so grateful that The University of Texas at Tyler has been a steady partner of the East Texas Youth Orchestra, and we are excited to be able to call the Cowan Center our home,” said Phil Ketcham, ETYO executive director. “Both ETYO and UT Tyler are deeply committed to helping the schools and students of East Texas develop to their fullest potential.”
The partnership also reinforces UT Tyler’s commitment to making the Cowan Center an even stronger cultural hub for East Texas and a vital point of connection between its students and the broader community.
“The East Texas Youth Orchestra has rehearsed on our campus each Sunday since 2015, so we are thrilled to formally solidify and celebrate a relationship that has already been so meaningful,” said Dr. Sarah Roberts, UT Tyler School of Performing Arts director. “We look forward to strengthening this partnership and continuing to serve the musical life of East Texas together.”
UT Tyler, through its School of Performing Arts, will work with ETYO to expand opportunities for artistic growth, educational collaboration and community engagement that will benefit ETYO students as well as UT Tyler students and faculty. To learn more, visit: uttyler.edu/music.
The ETYO will perform their season finale concert Saturday, May 9, at the Cowan Center.
About ETYO
Since 1955, the mission of the East Texas Youth Orchestra, Inc. (ETYO) is to provide exceptional musical experiences in arts education through a diverse set of programs, while providing performances that enrich its members and the community. For more information, visit: ETYO.org.
About UT Tyler
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.