PACO Debut Ensemble (formerly "Training Orchestra") consists of young musicians already experienced in ensemble playing who are improving their technique and musicianship. Debut members attend the Chamber Music Workshop in August, where they are given intensive ensemble training which carries over into the season. Three annual concerts feature music for chamber orchestra as well as string quartet and other small ensembles. Debut Ensemble concerts feature outstanding local soloists and also provide solo opportunities for members of all PACO ensembles. Community service is an important component of the PACO experience; Debut Ensemble performs at Stanford Hospital’s Bing Series and other local community series.

"Benjamin Simon... has burnished the orchestra with a new precision and elegance." --San Mateo County Times

Benjamin Simon, a native of San Francisco, has performed around the world as a violist with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Music from Marlboro, and the Naumberg Award-winning New World String Quartet. He has served as principal violist with the Buffalo Philharmonic as well as the Los Angeles and New Century Chamber Orchestras. Mr. Simon studied with Raphael Hillyer at Yale College and was a graduate student of Lillian Fuchs at the Juilliard School. He has studied and performed chamber music with members of the Budapest, Guarneri, Amadeus, and Juilliard Quartets. Mr. Simon has recorded for MCA Classics, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, Centaur, CRI, and Laurel Records, and was awarded Grand Prix du Disque in 1991 with the New World String Quartet. He has taught at Harvard University and joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1992 as a member of the Stanford String Quartet.
He is currently on the chamber music faculty at UC Berkeley, the Music Director of the professional San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and Music Director of the Bay Area premier training orchestra, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra.