The Goal

The Highland Hills Festival of Sacred Music (HHFSM) aspires to provide an excellent venue for both performance and learning, while also benefiting the surrounding community in tangible ways.

Highland Hills Baptist Church is hosting this festival as an opportunity for young musicians to receive training from world-class musicians who are committed followers of Jesus Christ, while bringing these musicians together to serve others around them with their talents. We also invite everyone in our community to experience the rich heritage of fine music written by some of the greatest composers of Western music. For our church family, this is yet another opportunity to demonstrate our love for people and fulfill the purposes for which God has called us to faith in Christ Jesus.

Highland Hills Baptist Church will not profit financially from the Festival, but we are certain that everyone involved will reap a rich reward from this endeavor.

The Approach

We have invited a select group of area colleges and universities to send us some of their finest undergraduate brass musicians. These student musicians will attend masterclasses presented by, and rehearse with, a world-class brass musician, and perform in a gala concert that benefits a local charity. We want each student participating, regardless of his/her personal faith, to experience and enjoy this great music, serve the community, and receive quality musical instruction. This approach provides a unique format and environment for learning and growth, unlike anything many of these students will experience in a traditional music program.

We have also invited local choral musicians to join the Highland Hills Festival Chorus and perform alongside these student musicians. This provides ensemble training and broadens the repertoire for the musicians to perform. It also represents more fully the musical vocabulary of the Church throughout history.

Next, we identified local charities that could benefit from this endeavor in a more tangible way. Often, those with developmental disabilities are overlooked by our society, and the HHFSM cares about these unique individuals and their needs. David's House Ministries also cares about these special people, and has established housing and training for them right here in our community. As the beneficiary of our Gala Concert free-will offering, David's House Ministries will receive financial help for some significant projects designed to expand their services and programs.

Finally, we offer public masterclasses at an affordable cost, and provide our musicians opportunity to share all the music they've prepared with the local community at a special concert, free of charge. The Gala Concert is our gift to the community and a blessing to us as well.