EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

Educational Programs - Girl PLaying Flute

Hilton Head Youth Orchestra

Under the direction of John Miller, the Hilton Head Youth Orchestra provides training, experience and music enrichment to approximately 40 talented students each year. The students audition to earn a chair in this organization. Several of these gifted students currently qualify for the HHSO’s Scholarship Lesson Program. The Youth Orchestra performs in concerts and ensembles, annually conducts a Concerto Competition, and performs side-by-side with the professional musicians in the HHSO.

Hilton Head International Piano Competition

One of the most successful events held under the Orchestra’s auspices is the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Considered to be one of the leading international piano competitions in the United States, the Competition attracts applicants from all over the world to compete in this annual March event. The goal of the HHIPC is to encourage and support excellence in the performance of classical music by showcasing the talents of young pianists on the threshold of their careers. Contestants who don’t advance to the semifinal round are brought to area schools for assembly programs where they talk about their lives and to play for the students.

Adopt-A-School Program

The Adopt-A-School program provides funding, hands-on support and musical materials for one public school for two years. Past adopted schools who have benefited from this program are J.J. Davis Elementary, Whale Branch Elementary, St. Helena Elementary and Bluffton Elementary schools. The 2008-2010 “adopted” school is Hilton Head Island High School, specifically the band program. Previously HHSO provided string instruments to establish their first-ever Strings Program.

Recorder Program

All Third and Fourth Grade Students in the Hilton Head and Bluffton Elementary Schools receive recorders as an annual gift from the Heritage Foundation on behalf of the Orchestra. HHSO Music Director Mary Woodmansee Green participates in the music classes teaching these students to read music and play the recorder during the year. This fall, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Foundation, all Beaufort County elementary schools will receive recorders for their third, fourth and fifth grade students. These recorders will be sanitized and kept by the schools for future classes.

Children's Bookmark and Library Programs

The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra provides a comprehensive list of age appropriate and entertaining books regarding classical music and composers in a convenient bookmarks which have been distributed to schools, libraries and local bookstores. The bookmarks are researched and compiled by former librarian and current Board member of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Mary Ann Putnam. She also conducts the Library Programs featuring the books.

Guest Artists and Musical Ensembles in the Schools.

The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra Guest Artists program schedules artists’ visits to the schools to perform music selections and talk to the students about the music, their instruments and their experiences as musicians.