Hershey Symphony Orchestra

The Hershey Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra of accomplished musicians, voluntarily giving of their time and talents for the purpose of creating a cultural experience both for community and personal enrichment and enjoyment. The orchestra is located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the members come from a wide area of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania (Reading to Carlisle, Lancaster to Dauphin). The eighty members are a unique group of people who range in age from teenager to senior citizen. They rehearse weekly and perform throughout the year in a season that includes four subscription concerts at the Hershey Theatre, an annual free Family Discovery Concert, and many special performances at community locations. Many people spend additional time helping with organizational and administrative duties.

Concert programs include music from all periods and styles - classical to romantic, baroque to contemporary, symphonic to Broadway - exposing both musicians and audiences to a wide variety of musical literature. Making a special effort to honor local talent, the orchestra has featured many local musicians and musical organizations as guest soloists.

Hershey Symphony Concerts and programs each year include:

The Hershey Symphony currently sponsors two annual programs for youth music education. The annual Young Person’s Concert introduces children (and their families) to the world of instruments and orchestral music. The program comprises a musical program designed for young listeners, a "petting zoo" of instruments, and one-on-one interaction between the children and orchestra members. The performance focuses on an introduction to musical concepts including rhythm, dynamics, and conducting. A major part of the concert is distribution of an activity sheet for take-home learning. This concert is provided at no cost to all that attend and is held at Founder’s Hall at the Milton Hershey School. Declining school budgets have negatively impacted arts education and have created unequal access to sequential musical instruction. This program, unique to the Central Pennsylvania area, provides an opportunity for impressionable young listeners to interact with musicians and to learn first hand the value of music in a child-centered concert.

The Orchestra’s Festival Strings Program provides an opportunity for middle-school children from Central Pennsylvania to meet and form a temporary youth string orchestra, and then to give a formal concert for the public. This program is designed for beginning musicians who are not yet sufficiently skilled to be a part of a formal area youth orchestra. This program fills a void for musicians at this level.