Everyday Heroes: Azira G. Hill

“There were so many changes going on, and we thought the symphony should change, as well,” Hill said. “Yoel Levi was the conductor at the time . . . and it took us three years to convince the orchestra to change with the times.”

In the years since, the Talent Development Program has been a game changer. Each year, 25 students are accepted. They receive weekly private lessons from members of the ASO, funding for music camps and opportunities to perform live. Graduates have gone on to The Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. They have performed in the Oval Office for President Barack Obama. And one, Joshua Williams, has reached his dream job: performing with the ASO this season.

“It’s hard to sum up in just a few words what Azira Hill has done for us, but I think changing the course of history is probably a good start,” said Jennifer Barlament, the ASO’s executive director.

Hill, who just celebrated her 100th birthday, grew up in Cuba in a house filled with music. “My mother was a great influence,” she said. “She taught me that there was nothing impossible . . . that I could do and achieve anything I put my mind to. ‘You’re pretty,’ she’d say, ‘but you’re not just occupying space here. You are here for a purpose and you must find your purpose.’”

She migrated to the States at age 15 to attend high school. She came to Atlanta in 1955 to attend nursing school at Grady Hospital. She went to church on her first Sunday in Atlanta and met the man she would marry: Jesse Hill, who would become a prominent business man and civil rights figure and the first Black chairman of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1960, Hill became active in the community. She served on boards at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, St. Joseph’s Mercy Care, the Center for Puppetry Arts and the Southeastern Flower Show. And her lifelong love of music led her to volunteer at the ASO, where she cochaired the Atlanta Symphony Associates’ Action Committee for Audience Development in the Black Community.

Through that effort, and Hill’s persistence, the Talent Development Program was founded.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Initially members of the orchestra were reluctant to forfeit free time to mentor students. When they asked why they should have to do something no other orchestras were required to do, Hill replied, “Because this is Atlanta, and Atlanta is different. It is the right thing to do.” By the fifth year, members of the orchestra had bought into the program. One musician even collected money for his mentee to attend a summer conservatory camp. The ASO also established the Azira G. Hill Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance for students to attend national summer music programs.

One graduate, Stanford Thompson, who went on to found Play On, Philly!, says the program -- and Azira Hill -- changed his life.

“Everybody who goes through the program ends up with a deep sense of responsibility to give back, donate money, teach workshops and master classes and give advice to younger students,” he said. “I hope Mrs. Hill realizes that the hundreds of kids we touch in Philadelphia alone are the beneficiaries of her positive example, and that none of us would be where we are if it was not for her.”