About Louisville Youth Orchestra
For 68 years, the Louisville Youth Orchestra has been one of Kentucky’s most influential arts non-profits, offering orchestral experiences to students whose schools often lack full ensembles. With six conductors, a team of 15–16 staff, and programs that now serve nearly 500 young musicians, LYO plays a pivotal role in arts education—from advanced symphonic orchestras to early-age outreach programs like Presto Strings and Vivace Strings, which introduce third graders to the world of music.
When Matthew Vanover became Executive Director, he brought deep experience as a pianist, organist, and long-time music educator. He also brought something else: a strong belief that operations shouldn’t hold a music organization back.
The Challenge: Manual Systems Built for the 1980s
Before Matthew’s arrival, LYO operated entirely through spreadsheets and Word documents—systems he described as: “A mess… best practices in 1980.”
Applications downloaded from the website had to be manually tracked, copied, and pasted. Family relationships weren’t traceable. Communication required digging into multiple spreadsheets. And invoicing was time-consuming, error-prone, and tedious.
The organization was growing—but the systems weren’t.
“The IT infrastructure was incredibly broken… We knew we had to throw everything out and start fresh.”
Why DreamClass? Familiarity, Flexibility & a Perfect Fit for Music Schools
Matthew had used DreamClass previously at Immanuel School of Music. When he joined LYO, there was no debate or comparison shopping:
“DreamClass had worked for us before. It was adaptable, affordable, and not built only for public schools—we needed something flexible enough for a music school.”
Key reasons DreamClass was chosen:
- Adaptability for non-traditional school structures
- Music-school friendly workflows
- A comfortable price point, unlike “absurdly expensive” competitors
- Responsiveness to feature requests, making Matthew feel part of the platform’s evolution
- Familiarity during a job transition, allowing immediate onboarding
And most importantly:
“I didn’t have time to waste learning a new system—we needed something that worked from day one.”
The Transformation: From Chaos to Automation
Instant Time Savings with Stripe Integration
DreamClass’ automated invoicing and payment tracking with Stripe changed everything: “With Stripe, I rarely think about paid invoices anymore. Only a few overdue ones need attention.”
Matthew estimates that without DreamClass, they would have needed to hire at least one additional part-time staff member just for admin tasks.
Smart Communication & Family Management
Manual spreadsheets treated siblings as unrelated records. DreamClass didn’t.
“Family relationships are huge in our world—it’s something Excel just can’t understand.”
This alone drastically improved communication accuracy and parent satisfaction.
Better Admin, Bigger Impact
With operations finally running smoothly, Matthew could redirect his time toward mission-critical work:
- Meeting donors
- Building school partnerships
- Expanding outreach programs
- Improving student experience
Results: Enrollment Doubled. Budget Doubled. Impact Expanded.
The outcomes speak for themselves.
In One Year:
- Student enrollment grew from 190 to 325
- LYO nearly doubled its student body
- Administrative workload was dramatically reduced
In Two Years:
- LYO doubled its annual budget
- Outreach programs significantly expanded
- Operational efficiency improved across the organization
“DreamClass allowed us to stop drowning in admin work and actually focus on growth.”
Daily Use & School-Wide Adoption
- Parents: 90%+ actively use the Parent Portal for payments and tasks
- Staff: One registrar uses the system daily
- Faculty: Conductors use their teacher profiles weekly to manage attendance and communication
- Matthew: Logs in daily for financial overviews and communication tasks
And his favorite description of DreamClass?
“DreamClass is my executive assistant.”
Schedule a meeting with our experts to discover how DreamClass can perfectly meet your school’s needs!
Looking Ahead: Data-Driven Retention
Matthew highlighted that DreamClass’ long-term value lies in tracking student retention—a metric critical to LYO’s sustainability.
DreamClass is now collaborating with LYO to explore custom reporting tools to monitor seasonal return rates and student engagement.
The Louisville Youth Orchestra’s story proves that the right school management system isn’t just an operational tool—it’s a growth engine.
With DreamClass, LYO replaced outdated manual processes with a modern, efficient, scalable solution that allowed them to focus on what they do best: transforming young musicians’ lives.
“DreamClass didn’t just make our work easier—it helped us grow.”
Take the next step toward success; book a call with one of our dedicated Support Team representatives today!
