Children from 10 counties, united in a passion for music, will perform a free concert Sunday at the Turnage Theatre.

For 10 years, Arts of the Pamlico has presented the Eastern Youth Orchestras as part of its HeART of the City series. In those 10 years, the orchestra has grown from a single orchestra to three and now is composed of more than 100 student musicians hailing from Bertie, Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Greene, Nash, Northampton, Onslow, Pitt and Wilson counties. The children are divided into the Senior Orchestra, conducted by John B. O’Brien, the Junior Orchestra, conducted by C. Greg Hurley, and the Preparatory Orchestra, conducted by Wendy Bissinger. O’Brien and Hurley are distinguished professors of music at East Carolina University and Bissinger is a composer, cellist and cello teacher in Greenville.

The Preparatory Orchestra starts off the concert with three pieces, followed by three more by the Junior Orchestra. The Senior Orchestra will wrap up the concert with works by Bach, Haydn and Schubert.

The scope of music ranges from the jazzy “Orange Jam” played by the Junior Orchestra, to the orchestral pieces of the Senior Orchestra, to “Wings Over Kitty Hawk” featuring the Greenville Children’s Chorus with the Preparatory Orchestra — a piece composed by Bissinger as a learning tool, according to Melanie Frost Moll, EYO’s president of 10 years.

“She writes a lesson into each piece. ‘Wings Over Kitty Hawk’ is (children) learning how to do long bows — every section has a spot where they have to play long bow,” Moll said.

The history of the Eastern Youth Orchestra stretches back to the 1970s. Its home base is the East Carolina University School of Music and the orchestra plays several concerts each year, including annual concerts at Tryon Palace in New Bern and at ECU. But the orchestra is not simply about performance — it’s just as much about teaching children how to be a part of something larger than themselves and learning how to play with others, according to Moll.

“You have to learn to be a part of a group and learning that early is a very, very valuable tool to have. Our orchestra teaches the kids how to make music with other people, concert etiquette … how to hold instruments when they’re not playing. … It’s a discipline, just like anything else,” Moll said. “To be a part of that and be so young — to be making music with other children is a wonderful experience to have.”

Proof of that is the number of EYO alumni who have gone on to become musicians in a professional capacity, including Caroline Shaw, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for her a cappella piece “Partita for 8 Voices,” and Bath native Brent Selby, a freelance cellist and faculty member of the Boston String Academy.

“We’re really proud of all our past musicians,” Molls said. “I think we’re doing a really valuable service to these kids.”

It’s a service that Moll said is not reserved to only those who can afford to play. EYO has scholarships set up to ensure any child is able to participate.

“We’re not exclusive,” Moll said. “We believe every kid should be able to play. You never know when a passion for music is going to ignite in a kid. It’s really a powerful thing.”

Sunday’s free concert starts at 3 p.m. at the Turnage Theatre in downtown Washington and will be followed by a reception. Beaufort County musicians participating in Sunday’s concert are Taylor Baxter, Katie Baxter, Mary Helen Singleton, Maddie Singleton and Will Singleton.