At Pacific Music Institute and our parent organization, Hawai‘i Youth Symphony, we believe every keiki in Hawai‘i should have access to music education. This is why we are grateful for our Orchestral Learning Alliance (OLA) Teaching Fellows, who are helping us to transform this belief into reality. These exceptional collegiate-level students, in their intensive training at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, are breaking down barriers and ensuring that world-class music education is accessible to more of our community.
Richard Scerbo, Director of National Orchestral Institute + Festival, shares about the value and uniqueness of this partnership: “I’m not really aware of any two other organizations doing the type of work that NOI and HYS are doing. We’re bringing together two leaders in the world of music education, one focusing on college students and one focusing on elementary, middle, and high school students. Even though we are thousands of miles away, we’re working together to create a bold and bright future for musicians in this country.”
Keep reading to see how our OLA Teaching Fellows contribute to our vision.
Breaking Down Geographic Barriers
In a state where geography can often limit access to specialized education, OLA Teaching Fellows are bringing music where it is needed. During PMI 2025, these dedicated musicians are traveling beyond O‘ahu, where our summer music intensive is held, bringing their passion for music to communities that have historically been underserved and conducting outreach on the island of Kaua‘i.
This island-hopping approach to music education represents a fundamental shift in how we think about access. While we love when students can come to us, and do our best to support these keiki in doing so, we can also meet them where they are, ensuring that access to music can exist for our entire state.
Opening Doors Through B# = C Success Workshops
Perhaps nowhere is the “music as a right” philosophy more evident than in our B# = C Success workshops, where OLA Teaching Fellows play a crucial role in sharing their experiences working toward musical careers and higher education opportunities.
These workshops, in partnership with Hawai‘i Community Foundation, are offered completely free to students and families (being enrolled in HYS, or even being a musician is not a requirement!), and transform what could be insider knowledge into public information. Workshop attendees can learn about conservatory applications, audition preparation, and financial aid—information that might otherwise be difficult to access.
“I think it [is] really helpful just to see people who are just at the next level or the next stage in life…to see that as a model, I think that can be extremely helpful.” -Ben D’Haiti, former OLA Teaching Fellow
When a Teaching Fellow discusses their own journey, they’re not just sharing a story—they’re providing a roadmap that any motivated student can follow. They demystify the path to musical careers, making clear that with proper guidance and support, these opportunities are within reach for any dedicated student.
The workshops also address the financial barriers that too often prevent passionate students from pursuing their dreams. By providing comprehensive FAFSA guidance and scholarship information, alongside the inspiration of seeing young professionals who’ve successfully navigated these systems, we’re ensuring that economic circumstances don’t determine musical futures.
Creating Sustainable Change
What makes the OLA Teaching Fellows program particularly powerful is its model of sustainability. By providing training to collegiate musicians who understand both the technical demands of music and the equity challenges facing arts education, we’re developing a pipeline of music educators who are committed to making music accessible.
Many of these fellows are themselves products of programs that took chances on them, that saw potential where others might have seen obstacles. Now they’re paying that investment forward, ensuring that the next generation has even greater access to musical opportunities.
Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra and Royal Hawaiian Band musician, Gabe Cruz, played alongside a group of OLA Teaching Fellows earlier this year during Hawai‘i Youth Symphony’s neighbor island tour. He highlights the immense value students gain from learning with teachers who share similar experiences and perspectives: “You have your students of the [Hawai‘i] Youth Symphony, you have professionals like Maestro Stepec and myself. Then the bridge in between is these students that are going to the best schools and sitting in and you know they’re not that much older than the HYS students.” -Gabe Cruz, HSO + Royal Hawaiian Band
OLA Teaching Fellows are at an excellent point in their journeys to make them particularly effective advocates for our mission. They remember what it felt like to wonder if music was really for them, to question whether they belonged in musical spaces; this lived experience informs their teaching and drives their commitment to opening doors for others. Past OLA Teaching Fellow and Maui-born HYS alumna Kisa Uradomo mirrors this sentiment: “As now a college student, I hope to eventually come back here as often as I can and spread the importance of music education.”
We recently documented the powerful experience of our OLA Teaching Fellows as they joined the Hawai’i Youth Symphony’s neighbor island tour to Maui in January, 2025. We invite you to watch it at your leisure!
Building an Inclusive Musical Hawaiʻi
Through their community outreach, their work with PMI students, and their participation in career development programming, OLA Teaching Fellows are actively building a more inclusive musical landscape in Hawaiʻi. They’re creating a future where musical excellence isn’t rationed by lack of access, but cultivated wherever it’s found.
This vision extends beyond individual student success to community transformation. When young people across Hawaiʻi have access to world-class music education, entire communities benefit from the discipline, creativity, and cultural engagement that music fosters. “This is all about what HYS [and PMI] stand for. It’s a way for us to foster growth through music,” says Maestro Joseph Stepec, HYS Director of Orchestral Activities & PMI Artistic Director.
At Pacific Music Institute, we’re proud to contribute to this partnership and strengthen the cultural fabric of our island home through music.