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) and Utah Symphony Music Director Thierry Fischer. Begun in 2017, the program is entirely free to all of the Haitian participants, including travel, room and board. In 2019, the HOI officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
MOTUS, in partnership with Building Leaders Using Music Education in Haiti (BLUME Haiti), created the HOI to act as a conduit between the highest level music training traditions available in the United States and Europe and some of the most accomplished classically trained musicians in Haiti. Because many of the participants in the Haitian Orchestra Institute are teachers in their respective communities, their experience at the HOI creates an extraordinary ripple effect and has already had a pronounced impact on the study of classical music in Haiti.
BLUME Haiti, through the network of schools, teachers and students that the organization serves, identifies the most capable and talented musicians from across Haiti who are then invited to participate in the HOI. As a major American orchestra, the Utah Symphony is populated with highly trained professionals with exactly the skill set ideal for this project. All 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.
Our Leaders:
Thierry Fischer, conductor
Swiss Conductor Thierry Fischer has served as Music Director of the Utah Symphony since 2009, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic since January 2017. He also appears regularly as guest conductor with many leading orchestras throughout the world.
Maestro Fischer has embraced the mission of the Haitian Orchestra Institute since its inception in 2017 and has conducted concerts in Jacmel and Cap-Haïtien. He considers this educational outreach a long-term project and is fully committed to continue conducting and inspiring the talented and dedicated music students of the HOI.
In a 2018 op-ed piece in USA Today, Maestro Fischer wrote, “I am so proud of the musicians of the Utah Symphony for bringing us there (to Haiti) in the first place. We are an orchestra — just one American organization, committed to both our work in America and in developing countries like Haiti, and to the notion of sharing what sounds can bring. We hope to inspire our leaders through our actions.”
Maestro Fischer was born in Zambia to Swiss parents. He began his musical career as Principal Flute in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera, where he studied scores with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. His conducting career began while in his 30s, conducting his first concerts with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, where he was principal flute under Claudio Abbado.
John Eckstein
Yuki MacQueen
Janet Anthony
John Eckstein and Yuki MacQueen, Utah Symphony musicians, and Janet Anthony, Executive Director of BLUME Haiti, serve as co-directors of the Haitian Orchestra Institute.
Cellist John Eckstein and violinist Yuki MacQueen imagined a high level training platform for the music students of Haiti after observing and teaching outside of Port-au-Prince in 2016. Mr. Eckstein’s long-time friendship with BLUME Haiti president Janet Anthony led to the founding of this unique opportunity within Haiti.
Ms. MacQueen and Mr. Eckstein are members of the Utah Symphony and graduates of the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and the Eastman School of Music. Together with their Utah Symphony colleagues, it is their great pleasure to provide this special opportunity for talented young musicians of Haiti.
In addition to their performing careers, Ms. MacQueen and Mr. Eckstein are on the teaching faculties of Westminster College and the University of Utah respectively.
Janet Anthony’s first trip to Haiti, to teach at the Holy Trinity Music School summer music camp, was in 1996 and she has returned every year since to work with young musicians across the country. The first holder of the George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler Professorship in Music, Ms. Anthony has recently retired after 34 years as the cello professor at Lawrence University. Over the years, she brought more than seventy Lawrence University students and faculty colleagues to Haiti to teach in some of the many music programs with which she has been involved. She has also enabled the travel of a number of key Haitian music teachers and students to the United States for short-term professional development.
The Founding Organizations:
MOTUS (Musicians of the Utah Symphony)
MOTUS is comprised of the 87 Musicians of the Utah Symphony who perform as part of the Utah Symphony / Utah Opera (USUO). As a major American orchestra, the USUO is one of 15 full time orchestras operating in the United States. The Musicians of the Utah Symphony are deeply committed to performance, education, and outreach in the state of Utah and beyond. The 2020 HOI will mark the third trip to Haiti for the members of MOTUS.
BLUME Haiti (Building Leaders Using Music Education in Haiti)
Founded in 2012 by a group of American and Haitian musicians and professionals with over 50 years of combined experience in Haiti, BLUME Haiti seeks to use the extraordinary impact of music as a tool to change the life trajectory of young Haitians. In collaboration with Haitian and international partners, BLUME Haiti supports close to 40 music programs located in 8 of Haiti’s 10 departments serving about 5,000 children. The collaboration between BLUME Haiti and MOTUS to create the HOI is a consummate example of the transformative nature of music education at the highest level.
