Iowa City West High School has been ranked the number one high school in the state of Iowa for four consecutive years, and the West High Orchestra Program is widely recognized as one of the premier high school string programs in the state. The westside orchestra program serves nearly 500 strings students in grades 5–12, including approximately 140 students at the high school level. Students participate in a wide range of ensembles, including three curricular orchestras, Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, and pit orchestra for the school’s spring musicals.

Located in Iowa City—home to the University of Iowa and the Preucil School of Music—the program thrives within a community deeply rooted in and nationally respected for its tradition of excellence in string music education. 

At the state level, West High Orchestras have consistently led in All-State Orchestra selections, earned consecutive Superior ratings at the Valley Orchestra Clinic in Des Moines, and were selected as the featured ensemble for the 2025 Iowa String Teachers Association Conference. Nationally, the program has performed at the Capital Orchestra Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2023) and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2025. West High Symphony Strings earned straight Superior ratings, Best-in-Class honors, and the Festival Gold Award for Best Overall Orchestra at the Festival Disney National Competition (2020), and received straight Superior ratings at the American String Teachers Association National Orchestra Festivals (2018, 2008).

Under the direction of Jonathan Welch, the orchestra program maintains ongoing collaborative performances with the University of Northern Iowa Orchestras and appears regularly at the historic Paramount Theatre alongside Orchestra Iowa, the region’s professional orchestra. Our students perform with ensembles such as the Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles and the Preucil School Orchestras while consistently earning selection and top honors in the Iowa Junior Honors Orchestra, Kennedy Honors Orchestra, Metropolitan Honors Orchestra, and the Iowa String Teachers Association regional and state honors orchestras.