Please contact our staff assistant for a listing of private lesson instructors in violin, viola, cello and bass.
HCYO encourages all its participating musicians to enroll in private lessons on their orchestral instrument. A private lesson scholarship fund has been established by Hill Country Youth Orchestras to help families achieve this goal. It is supported by the generosity of the donors, supporters and sponsors of the HCYO. The private lesson scholarships are partial scholarships and are intended to offset the expense of private instruction. The scholarship fund is a limited amount of the HCYO budget and is distributed according to its yearly donations. Partial private lesson scholarships are awarded according to the following criteria:
- Partial private lesson scholarships are only for students registered in one of the levels of the Hill Country Youth Orchestras (Twinkle Class, Allegretto Orchestra, Concertante Orchestra, and the HCYO Sinfonia.
- Excellent attendance at all rehearsals and concerts is required of musicians participating in HCYO. Children enrolled in private lessons should be showing consistent practice at home and progress in their ensembles.
- Private lesson scholarship awards are paid by HCYO directly to the private lesson instructor as per the requirements of the IRS and the HCYO By-Laws.
- To receive payment of private lesson scholarships, the instructor should fill out the monthly "Teacher Statement Form" available on the web-site under "Other Forms" and mail or email the form to the HCYO staff assistant. Scholarships are only paid for lessons which the student attends and are not paid for missed lessons for any reason.
- Lesson scholarships will be reviewed every semester. Scholarship recipients are required to have excellent attendance at HCYO rehearsals and concerts. Private lesson attendance and home practice should be consistent and the student should show technical and musical progress on their instrument.
- Partial Scholarship Awards - scholarship amounts are awarded at the following rates:
Sinfonia (HCYO's most advanced orchestra) - lesson scholarship of $20 per lesson for a one hour lesson, one lesson per week.
Concertante Orchestra - lesson scholarship of $10 per lesson for a half-hour lesson, one lesson per week.
Allegretto Orchestra - lesson scholarship of $10 per lesson for a half-hour lesson, one lesson per week.
Twinkle Class - lesson scholarship of $10 per lesson for a half-hour lesson, one lesson per week.
Please note that these rates are established on a yearly basis and may be subject to change based on the annual donations to the HCYO Private Lesson Scholarship Fund. Families of exceptionally dedicated young musicians in need of additional financial assistance for private lessons may apply for additional scholarship funds by filling out the "Scholarship Assistance Form" and providing a copy of the first two pages of their tax return as per the IRS requirements for non-profit organizations. Applications for additional scholarship assistance are reviewed each semester and upon HCYO Board approval, applicants will be notified of additional scholarship awards.
