When and Where is the Summer String Festival?
The Summer String Festival takes place on the two weeks at the end of July and beginning of August, ending on the first Friday of August.
The Beginning and Young Strings session runs for for two weeks from 9:00 or 9:30 am to 11:30 am, and the Intermediate and Advanced session runs for the second week only from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm. There will be a guest artist concert on the first Thursday in August and the final concert for all students will be the first Friday in August.
Specific dates for this year are as follows:
How do I know which session to choose?
The Summer String Festival Beginner and Young strings program is an intensive two-week summer music program for grades 6 and younger with little or no playing experience. Beginning Strings: students with no string instrument experience. Young Strings: students with very little or no experience playing in a group.
The Intermediate and Advanced strings program is a one-week intensive program for grades 6 and older with one or more years of ensemble experience and note reading skills.
If you still have questions regarding which group your student should be in, please contact HCSA or the Festival Director.
What do I wear for the final concert?
T-Shirts: HCSA t-shirts are part of the uniform for the final concert. Beginning in 2025, HCSA has moved to a single t-shirt design to be used for future years, rather than a yearly t-shirt design. (Because some previous yearly t-shirts have used a light blue design in the past, please note the back design and that there is no year on this design.)
If you participated in the 2025 Summer String Festival, we suggest you re-use your t-shirt if it still fits well and is in good condition. Good condition implies that there are no holes, stains, the ink designs are still intact and the t-shirt is not too faded. We suggest that you check your t-shirt before submitting the application and let us know if you will need a new one this year. (HCSA t-shirts are still supplied as part of the application fee, but in an effort to cut costs we appreciate you using t-shirts from the previous year if possible.)
Uniform for the Final Concert: Dress for the final concert is the HCSA standard t-shirt, along with black or dark blue bottoms (skirt, pants, etc.) Dark colored shoes should be worn. No flip flops or tennis shoes, please.
Standard t-shirt back design pictured below (note there is no year with this design)
The Summer String Festival takes place on the two weeks at the end of July and beginning of August, ending on the first Friday of August.
The Beginning and Young Strings session runs for for two weeks from 9:00 or 9:30 am to 11:30 am, and the Intermediate and Advanced session runs for the second week only from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm. There will be a guest artist concert on the first Thursday in August and the final concert for all students will be the first Friday in August.
Specific dates for this year are as follows:
- This year, the Summer String Festival will be July 27 - August 7, 2026 at Davis Middle School (30 N. West Street, Hillsdale, MI)
- The Beginning and Young Strings program will be July 27- August 7 from 9:00 or 9:30 am to 11:30 am
- The Intermediate and Advanced program will be August 3 through 7 from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm
- The guest artist concert will be Thursday, August 6 at 7:00 pm
- The final concert for all students will be Friday, August 7 at 7:00 pm
How do I know which session to choose?
The Summer String Festival Beginner and Young strings program is an intensive two-week summer music program for grades 6 and younger with little or no playing experience. Beginning Strings: students with no string instrument experience. Young Strings: students with very little or no experience playing in a group.
The Intermediate and Advanced strings program is a one-week intensive program for grades 6 and older with one or more years of ensemble experience and note reading skills.
If you still have questions regarding which group your student should be in, please contact HCSA or the Festival Director.
What do I wear for the final concert?
T-Shirts: HCSA t-shirts are part of the uniform for the final concert. Beginning in 2025, HCSA has moved to a single t-shirt design to be used for future years, rather than a yearly t-shirt design. (Because some previous yearly t-shirts have used a light blue design in the past, please note the back design and that there is no year on this design.)
If you participated in the 2025 Summer String Festival, we suggest you re-use your t-shirt if it still fits well and is in good condition. Good condition implies that there are no holes, stains, the ink designs are still intact and the t-shirt is not too faded. We suggest that you check your t-shirt before submitting the application and let us know if you will need a new one this year. (HCSA t-shirts are still supplied as part of the application fee, but in an effort to cut costs we appreciate you using t-shirts from the previous year if possible.)
Uniform for the Final Concert: Dress for the final concert is the HCSA standard t-shirt, along with black or dark blue bottoms (skirt, pants, etc.) Dark colored shoes should be worn. No flip flops or tennis shoes, please.
Standard t-shirt back design pictured below (note there is no year with this design)
How do I get an instrument for my beginning student?
Beginners will be supplied a rental instrument for the Summer String Festival, unless you have an appropriately sized instrument to use already. Students will be contacted about 1 month prior to the strings festival to get sized for an instrument.
Because two weeks is a very short amount of time to learn how to play a string instrument, students will also be required to have 1-2 basic lessons with a festival instructor prior to the string festival to teach students how to hold and use the instrument prior to the string festival. These introductory lessons will be scheduled around the time the student is sized for an instrument.
After the string festival final concert, beginner students who are renting an instrument will return their instruments by leaving them at the concert site in a designated spot. (Any music students would like to save or any personal belongings in the cases should be taken out at that time.)
If you’d like to continue with lessons following the string festival, HCSA has some rental instruments that you may rent for continuing in private lessons, or HCSA can assist you with finding an instrument to purchase or rent elsewhere.
What do I do if I’d like private lessons after the String Festival?
Beginner students who would like to continue in private lessons following the string festival will be given information about available teachers in the area or within a month of the summer string festival. Other students who participate in the string festival and are not taking private lessons but would like to may also reach out to HCSA for teacher information.
How do I submit the recording of my student for the application?
After recording the videos, you may submit them in whatever way works best for you! When emailing videos, Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB (or megabytes), while other email systems may only allow attachments up to 10 MB. Some systems (like Gmail or Apple) will allow you to upload to an area that allows for a larger file size, like Google Drive or iCloud. In that case, a link will be sent for us to view/download. You may also record to someplace like YouTube and send us a link if you wish. (An Unlisted link on YouTube will only allow people to discover the file with the link, if you want to use that for privacy purposes.) If you do this, please leave the video up until the start of the string festival.
Please email ALL videos (or links) to [email protected]. You may also email us with any questions.
For more tips about creating the video, choosing music, and uploading the videos, check out this guide.
Beginners will be supplied a rental instrument for the Summer String Festival, unless you have an appropriately sized instrument to use already. Students will be contacted about 1 month prior to the strings festival to get sized for an instrument.
Because two weeks is a very short amount of time to learn how to play a string instrument, students will also be required to have 1-2 basic lessons with a festival instructor prior to the string festival to teach students how to hold and use the instrument prior to the string festival. These introductory lessons will be scheduled around the time the student is sized for an instrument.
After the string festival final concert, beginner students who are renting an instrument will return their instruments by leaving them at the concert site in a designated spot. (Any music students would like to save or any personal belongings in the cases should be taken out at that time.)
If you’d like to continue with lessons following the string festival, HCSA has some rental instruments that you may rent for continuing in private lessons, or HCSA can assist you with finding an instrument to purchase or rent elsewhere.
What do I do if I’d like private lessons after the String Festival?
Beginner students who would like to continue in private lessons following the string festival will be given information about available teachers in the area or within a month of the summer string festival. Other students who participate in the string festival and are not taking private lessons but would like to may also reach out to HCSA for teacher information.
How do I submit the recording of my student for the application?
After recording the videos, you may submit them in whatever way works best for you! When emailing videos, Gmail allows attachments up to 25 MB (or megabytes), while other email systems may only allow attachments up to 10 MB. Some systems (like Gmail or Apple) will allow you to upload to an area that allows for a larger file size, like Google Drive or iCloud. In that case, a link will be sent for us to view/download. You may also record to someplace like YouTube and send us a link if you wish. (An Unlisted link on YouTube will only allow people to discover the file with the link, if you want to use that for privacy purposes.) If you do this, please leave the video up until the start of the string festival.
Please email ALL videos (or links) to [email protected]. You may also email us with any questions.
For more tips about creating the video, choosing music, and uploading the videos, check out this guide.