Our Mission

The Haitian Orchestra Institute (HOI) is an advanced musical training platform that enables over 100 of Haiti’s most talented and dedicated musicians/teachers to receive intensive orchestral and instrumental training from Musicians of the Utah Symphony (MOTUS). The HOI acts as a conduit between the highest music training traditions available in the United States and Europe and the most accomplished classically trained musicians in Haiti. Through direct teaching and pedagogical training, the HOI generates an extraordinary ripple effect that has already had a pronounced impact on the study of classical music in Haiti.

Begun in 2017, the program is entirely free to all of the Haitian participants, including travel, room and board. The HOI occurs in a given city within Haiti for one week each year, offering aspiring musicians an opportunity never before available within their country.

Each HOI culminates in a free public concert of what has been described as Haiti’s National Orchestra. Participating members of the orchestra come from all areas of Haiti after successfully auditioning for the program. Our partner organization, Building Leaders Using Music Education in Haiti (BLUME Haiti), identifies the most qualified auditionees from their network of over 40 music institutions.

By volunteering their talent and training, the Musicians of the Utah Symphony are offering a tremendous resource in this all volunteer effort. All of HOI’s collaborating partners believe that involvement in the arts makes life better, and that music has as much place in a rural village as in a thriving cultural center.