Director: Jill Hirsh

Jill Hirsh is the new Orchestra Director at Cupertino High School as of Fall 2025.

Jill grew up in Southern California and was active as a cellist in her school and community music programs, including youth symphonies and MTAC Certificate of Merit. After high school, Jill attended San José State University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Music Performance (cello), her single subject teaching credential and her Masters of Arts in Teaching. While earning her BM, Jill participated in many different music ensembles, including: SJSU's symphony orchestra as principal cellist and as a violist, SJSU's New Music Ensemble as a cellist, violinist and violist, SJSU chamber ensembles, and SJSU's Mariachi Oro de Azul on violin. Jill was also involved with SJSU's Mu Phi Epsilon chapter, a professional music fraternity, where she was secretary and hosted benefit concerts.

While earning her BM, Jill pursued her passions of both teaching and performing as a means of supporting herself. Jill has been teaching private music lessons in the South Bay for eight years. Throughout this time, she has taught cello, violin, viola, piano, toddler group classes, elementary general music, orchestra, and mariachi. In the 2019-2020 school year, Jill was the general music teacher for kinder and first grade at Dilworth Elementary School in Cupertino. Beginning summer of 2021, Jill was hired by Cazadero Music Camp, and spent the next four summers there as cello faculty teaching cello, chamber music, orchestra sectionals, and directing the camper and staff mariachi and cello choir ensembles. From 2021-2025, Jill regularly worked as a string coach with orchestras at Homestead High School, Palo Alto High School, Saratoga High School, and Cupertino High School; she has also provided coachings for Golden State Youth Orchestra cello sectionals, San Jose Youth Symphony Prelude and Intermezzo orchestras, San José State University High School Honor Orchestra cello section, and the Los Gatos High School violins. From 2022-2024, Jill was the lead fifth grade orchestra teacher for all nine elementary schools in the Mountain View Whisman School District (MVWSD) through the Community School of Music and the Arts (CSMA).

During her last year with MVWSD, Jill began her first full time semester of the credential and MAT program. Jill had the privilege of completing her credential/MAT program by student teaching with some of the best string educators in the South Bay Area: Mr. Scott Krijnen at Castillero Middle School, and Mr. Jelani Canser at Lincoln High School. More recently, Jill was hired as co-conductor for San Jose Youth Symphony's Daytime Summer Camp. Currently, Jill regularly performs with the Cambrian Symphony Orchestra on cello, the Renegade Orchestra (a rock and roll orchestra) on both violin and cello, Conjunto Trujillo as a violinist, and doing weddings and private events both solo and with her string quartet. Some notable performances include: Cinema Paradiso with Symphony San Jose, performing with the Fresno Philharmonic in a concert that featured Mariachi Los Camperos, performances with Smokey Robinson at the Mountain Winery and Cache Creek, at the Rogue World Music Festival and the Juan de Fuca Music Festivals with the Renegade Orchestra, and recently with SJYS at the Smetana Hall in Prague, Czech Republic.

Jill has had a passion for teaching and music education from a young age, and is dedicated to making music education accessible and enjoyable for everyone. In the classroom, Jill prioritizes instrumental technique, musicality, community and collaboration, expression, creativity, and universal skills such as: time management, thinking ahead, communication, organization, flexibility, attention to detail, spatial awareness, mindfulness, and critical thinking. Jill studied the impacts of mindfulness in the music classroom for her MAT project, and is committed to teaching students how to practice and make improvement efficiently, how to show up mindfully, eliminating tension while playing, prioritizing ergonomic playing posture, and teaching students mindfulness techniques to regulate their emotions while practicing and performing in order to perform to their highest capacity.

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