Black Hills Symphony Orchestra Society Inc

SYMPHONY SAFARI: Black Hills Symphony Orchestra presents a Symphony Safari concert for all fourth grade students in the Rapid City Area Schools. This free concert introduces students to the sights and sounds of the orchestra while teaching them acceptable behavior in a traditional concert setting. This concert is also meant to give students an insight into the types of instruments that they may choose to play in the next year of school. During one portion, students are selected to join the conductor onstage and conduct the orchestra. The high school students, who play in the orchestra, are available to talk to the younger students and inspire them to make music a part of their lives. 1,750 students attended the Symphony Safari from the Rapid City Area Schools and surrounding area schools. Of that 1,750, almost 600 children are low-income, minority, or both. The orchestra donates their time to put this performance on. We also fund the busing for all the Rapid City Area School children, which is the majority of the children. The schools no longer pay for busing to the concert, and we believe that if we do not pay to have the children bused to the performance, they will not come.

MUSIC MEMORY PROGRAM: Music Memory is a Name that Tune style contest for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders with its own music education cirriculum. Students memorize and learn to recognize famous pieces of classical music, after hearing just a few bars of music. They learn some music theory and devolop an appreciation for classical music, which lasts a lifetime. They prepare all year for the city-wide contest. BH Symphony provides a full live symphony orchestra to play the music for the final competition.

YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION: The Young Artist Competition offers a high level performance opportunity for serious high school-aged musicians. The winner of this concerto competition performs with the Black Hills Symphony during our March concert. We were able to hold the Young Artist Competition with significant COVID-19 protocols.