The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the experiences of six, first-generation Latinx students in the university symphony orchestra regarding their preparation for the audition, level of academic kinship with music mentors, and sense of community membership (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). First-generation Latinx college students are faced with particularly unique experiences regarding the audition process and performing in the university symphony orchestra. Our knowledge within this realm of research is based on very limited scholarship. Preliminary work in this field focused primarily on first-generation college (FGC) students pursuing doctoral degrees in music education (Vasil & McCall, 2018); Latinx students in secondary music programs (Escalante, 2019); access and retention of marginalized undergraduate students in music education programs (Fitzpatrick et al., 2014), which found participants to be inhibited by the university audition due to a lack of private lessons and limited access to music resources and curriculum; and recruiting and retaining Black and Latinx students in string orchestra programs (Davis, 2021). This study used a collective of case studies and participant reflexive journaling to explore the experiences of first-generation Latinx university orchestra students. Participants were found to have multi-layered cultural identities which enabled a strong work ethic in their university music studies. All participants were faced with social and economic hardships and many of them had to work at a young age. Findings revealed a lack of attainable music resources such as private music lessons or summer music academies. Participants described the significance of cultivating an academic kinship with mentors, which abetted in their orchestra audition and in navigating the institution. The presence of an academic kinship underscored the importance of such relationships for first-generation Latinx university students in music. Further, given a lack of comprehensive experience in performing with symphony orchestras, participants noted that networking with peers in the orchestra helped to develop a sense of community membership (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Additionally, a strong presence of other Latinx musicians within the university orchestra contributed to their membership status. The findings of this inquiry afforded implications for programmatic and cultural change in education, as well as implications for future research, with a focus on improving Latinx representation in the symphony orchestra. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]