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Annual Report FY19 Dear HYS Supporters: HYS is pleased to share with you the successes and triumphs of our 54th season, which ended on June 30, 2019. It was a monumental year, and we owe a great deal of gratitude to you for your belief in our ability to succeed. Please allow us to update you on our progress towards meeting the major priorities noted in our new Strategic Vision, driven by our aspiration to “make music a right, not a privilege.”
Why should making music be a right? While youth participate in music for many different reasons, their participation will result in similar outcomes: high attendance, high academics, high achievement, high self-awareness. Children who make music embody commitment, discipline, teamwork and persistence… all proven to be vital to success in school and to joy in life.
Priority 1: Embrace Adaptability & Change
HYS believes that we need to create music programs that adapt to the changing needs of our youth. In addition to the nearly 500 students we served through our core Symphony, Academy String, and Music in the Clubhouse programs, this year, we unveiled two new programs for youth to develop artistically and socio-emotionally.
The Solo & String Quartet (SSQ) Program, designed and directed by Hawaii Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Ignace “Iggy” Jang, enrolled 40 students ages 10-18 and trained them in the art of string chamber music. In addition to rehearsals, masterclasses, private lessons, and workshops, SSQ students performed for the Kahala Nui and Arcadia retirement communities and side-by-side along prominent faculty from prestigious Mainland colleges like the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music. The SSQ program is the first of its kind in Hawaii and is inspired by popular Mainland summer programs like Aspen, Tanglewood, Interlochen, and Kneisel Hall.
The Jazz Combo Program, designed and directed by local jazz musician and LA recording artist Dean Taba, enrolled 12 students (a mix of guitarists, drummers, bassists, pianists, saxophonists, trumpeters, and trombonists), ages 13-18, from ten public and independent schools. Expanding beyond classical music, students in The Combo study improvisation, recording techniques, jazz and popular repertoire, and music entrepreneurship skills. Renowned local performers Shari Lyn
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and Johnny Valentine performed with The Combo to give students a real-life experience working with industry pros.
Priority 2: Begin to understand and fulfill the needs of every island Building onto our neighbor island student travel reimbursement program, HYS has begun to investigate what and how neighbor island communities can be supported.
Molokai We provided professional string teachers for 3 workshops, and provided free private lessons for 24 students. We also brought our sta leadership to suss out future teaching opportunities, and while doing so, performed an outreach concert for the entire student body at Kaunakakai Elementary! Late in the season, we identified new donors to help us bring Molokai string students to attend our Pacific Music Institute. Nine students and their parents traveled to Oahu, free of charge, and spent five days studying with PMI faculty.
Kauai, Maui, Hawaii Islands Music director John Devlin held HYS’ first Neighbor Island auditions on Kauai and Maui this May, hearing potential students live and building important touch-points between HYS and neighbor island communities. The auditions yielded new participants for our Symphony Program and Pacific Music Institute programs. Additionally, we also had 2 youth from Hawaii Island attend PMI this summer.
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Priority 3: Engage Powerful Partners That Advance Music In Our Communities
Our core partnerships are with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii, Hawaii Public Radio, and the HI Department of Education. These partners have missions, aspirations, and values which intertwine with our own, making it easy from conceptual and practical standpoints to work together.
HSO: In addition to the (now) annual Side-by-Side, we also cross-promote events, hire HSO musicians as our faculty, and will hire HSO musicians to augment the Festival Orchestra of our expanded Pacific Music Institute.
BGCH: We celebrated 10 years of partnership this year, having served over 2,000 youth through our joint Music in the Clubhouse/Academy String programs at the Spalding Clubhouse in McCully/ Mo‘ili‘ili. This spring, we started to work at the Nanakuli Clubhouse, and intend to launch a beginning violin class there in the Fall.
HPR: The station graciously broadcasts our winter and spring concerts on 89.3 (and online), providing a means of disseminating our students’ music far beyond the concert hall. Several program hosts interview our faculty, staff, and students throughout the year, as well as emcee our concerts. Finally, their Generation Listen initiative has helped introduce HYS to the Millennial population, many of whom are not yet parents, but have a genuine interest in classical music and its benefits for young people.
DOE: The State validates and supports the importance of exposure to classical music by assisting us in the promotion and blessing of our popular “Listen and Learn” concerts, performed by and for youth, reaching over 10,000 school children and their classroom teachers each year. In FY19, we performed 5 Oahu concerts and 2 Maui concerts, reaching children from every Honolulu council district and children across Maui.
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Priority 4: Aspire to become a global force in the youth orchestra community Through our aspiration to “make music a right, not a privilege,” and our desire to provide Hawaii students with the strongest possible educational options, we are also building best practices and taking a stance that is admired by our peer organizations nationwide.
Hawaii students are generally at a disadvantage to Mainland counterparts, because our unique geographical circumstances hinder the ability for renowned artists and college recruiters to visit annually. HYS hopes to build the demand for PMI so that it can eventually become revenue-positive and help to fund our local outreach programs in underserved communities. Looking towards 2019-20, we are launching a strategic partnership with the National Orchestral Institute+Festival, a collegiate summer program based at the University of Maryland (College Park), whose star-powered faculty can help open doors for HYS students applying to colleges, competing for scholarships, seeking internships, and more.
Other Accomplishments in FY19 Musically Excellent Collaborations HYS continued its track record of providing students with unique, high-art experiences, by forging collaborations with renowned local musicians, composers, and entertainers. A phenomenal project titled “In the Key of Sea” brought together Hawaiian singer Raiatea Helm, HYS alumnus/UH composition professor Dr. MichaelThomas Foumai, and music director John Devlin. Youth Symphony I premiered Foumai’s arrangements of oceanthemed songs, as well as an orchestral suite Raise Hawaiki, which chronicled the voyage of the Polynesian ship Hokule’a. HSO & the Oahu Choral Society premiered a companion work to HYS’ Raise Hawaiki, creating a mutually interesting artistic collaboration.
Record-Setting Financial Aid Awarded to HYS students HYS nearly doubled the amount of financial aid, scholarships, travel assistance (for neighbor island students), and instrument rental subsidies awarded to students from the prior year. Over $70,580 was approved for awards in FY19 (compared to $37,092 in FY18). The increase is attributed to the opening of the Financial Aid Program to Pacific Music Institute and Jazz Combo students. Our Board of Directors are committed to keeping participation fees/tuition low so that students of any background may participate. Overall, 19% of HYS students received some type of Financial Aid award.
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Student Leadership Development Forty HYS students banded together earlier this season out of a desire to participate in community service, increase social engagement, and bring additional resources to their HYS experience. hanks to the Student Board, chamber ensembles have volunteered public performances at the Hawaii State Art Museum, Hawaii State Capitol, for the Honolulu Jaycees, and Boys & Girls Club Nanakuli.
New Logo & Brand Strategy Unveiled In an orchestra, all notes, instruments and musicians are unified by the conductor’s vision and leadership. The heart of our new logo is an eye-catching, stylized version of the classic conducting pattern. Set to the brilliant colors of a Hawaiian rainbow, the logo channels the warmth of our Aloha Spirit, the youth and vitality of our brand, and the joy that music brings to children’s lives. Becker Communications won a Koa Anvil Award on behalf of HYS, for a successful brand campaign.
Changes and Opportunities—Looking Ahead to FY20 In the last days of FY19, Music Director John Devlin announced that he would be leaving Hawaii to return to the Mainland to conduct professional orchestras. HYS quickly moved to secure his successor, Joseph Stepec, also a finalist from HYS’ 2017-18 Music Director Search. Mr. Stepec, who served as Youth Symphony I’s interim conductor in 2017-18, was appointed to a new position, Director of Orchestral Activities . HYS also promoted conductor and alumnus Chad Uyehara to the position Director of the Academy String Program, and Aris Doike to Director of Operations. We are grateful to these individuals for their passionate outlook on developing the next generation of young musicians, and their commitment to Hawaii.
As our programs grow, it has become necessary to increase our staff capacity. HYS has hired new part-time and full-time administrative, operations, and program staff to support these new initiatives. We have also been developing professional development opportunities to invest in these talented humans, engage them through leadership activities, and provide pathways for their development.
We also have increased our Board of Directors with four new, outstanding individuals: Liza Wo Davis, Collin Hoo, Mary Ellen Williams, and ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro. We are thrilled to bring these talented leaders to HYS, and like our staff, excitedly await what’s to come next.
There has never been a better, more opportune time for music education to thrive in our community. And when you see and hear our orchestras, it is quite apparent how much music means to our young people. We thank you for your loyal support and confidence in HYS to develop youth to their fullest potential, through orchestral music! Aloha & Mahalo!