Hawai‘i Youth Symphony

It’s easy to say that music is “a right.” It’s something else entirely to build an organization to make it so.

At Hawai‘i Youth Symphony, that proof shows up in the work: in the students we serve, the communities we travel to, the public spaces we fill with sound, and the young musicians we help find their footing long after they’ve left our programs. Here’s a look at what making music a right actually looks like in Hawaiʻi today and why you should support it.

In a blog we wrote four years ago, we cited a statistic that, out of over 200 public schools in the State of Hawai‘i, fewer than 5% offer comprehensive music programs. In truth, while we know the need is real, it’s much more blurry than we depicted. This was the impetus behind our advocacy of HB2117, later HCR 162, requesting the establishment of an arts data and mapping task force to gain insight into the true landscape of music and arts education in Hawai‘i.

Funding decisions are left to individual school administrators, which means access to music education varies enormously depending on where a child lives. In low-income communities and on neighbor islands, instrumental programs are especially hard to sustain. Class time and resources go to core subjects, and families who want their children to study music often have no nearby option at all. By solidifying our understanding of the need across the state, we can work with greater focus to make music a right.

For the past few seasons, HYS has served students from every island in the state, and we’re proud to provide access to high-quality music education to students from O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Island, Moloka‘i, and Lāna‘i alike. Access to our programs is supported by affordable program fees (100% of students benefit from subsidized tuition and pay roughly one-third the cost of programming), financial aid for program costs, and travel assistance aiding students who fly to rehearsal. We strive to ensure that cost is never the reason a child can’t participate.

Our programs span the full range of musical development throughout the school year and summer: beginning general music (Music in the Clubhouse) and strings (Academy String Program) through the advanced Symphony Program. Our general music class can cover a variety of genres and instruments, like singing and ‘ukulele to bucket drumming. We’re also proud to have a jazz ensemble (two, even!), broadening our offerings in genre, performing style, and instrument. Through this array of programming, we strive to meet students where they are and grow with them through music.

Our work focuses on providing high-quality music education, but we’re also strong believers that music belongs to everyone in Hawai‘i. There are many ways we work to bring live music to all, from keiki to kūpuna. 

One way we do this? By making our concerts free! For over a decade, our spring and winter concert series have been free and open to the public, increasing the community’s access to the talents of our students.

We’ve recently also increased efforts to bring live music to public spaces. Throughout the year, our students, faculty, and fellows also perform community concerts in libraries, schools, senior care centers, and more. And, in May 2026, we took over the Honolulu Zoo for the inaugural ROARchestra Rally: a first-of-its-kind youth day of music that transformed 42 acres of one of O‘ahu’s most beloved public spaces into a living, breathing concert hall. This event showcased more than 500 students from over 100 public, charter, home, and independent schools to nearly 3,500 attendees, including families from every island. These families were able to experience live youth orchestral music with no dress code or concert ticket, just their zoo admission. This is an incredible example of what access to live music can look like. 

Another example: our neighbor island tour. Each February, our top HYS ensembles travel directly into communities across the state, performing for schools and audiences who may not have easy access to live orchestral music. In 2027, we’re excited to return to Hawai‘i Island, performing a free community concert as well as Listen & Learn Concerts for local students!

When you support making music a right, you’re supporting all the work we’ve mentioned and more. What you’re also supporting is a team that takes this commitment seriously. HYS holds the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid, earned by fewer than 10% of nonprofits nationally. We conduct annual independent financial audits, maintain rigorous governance standards, and actively participate in the League of American Orchestras, the Hawaiʻi Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, and the Forbes Nonprofit Council. We take the time to do these things because we believe that being a good steward of your generosity is inseparable from being a good steward of our mission.

There’s something magical that happens when people make music together that can’t be replicated anywhere else. Strangers become collaborators, even friends. Geography is bridged as a student who has never met anyone from Lānaʻi finds themself sitting next to one in an orchestra. Music has always been how Hawai‘i processes the hard things, celebrates the good ones, and reminds itself of what holds us together. 

When we invest in music education, we’re teaching keiki to play instruments, yes, but more importantly, we’re giving them a lifelong way of belonging to something, and giving our community a source of healing, joy, and connection that shows up when we need it most. If this resonates with you, we invite you to support our work through a donation. 

Mahalo for joining us on this journey to Make Music A Right.