Soundscape educational outreach program was initiated by Market Square Concerts in the 2008-2009 concert season to ensure that children in our community enjoy access to the same level of excellence in performing arts as their peers in large metropolitan areas. Thousands of students from Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School, St. Stephens Episcopal School, Harrisburg Academy, Nativity School, Silver Academy, Hershey, Harrisburg, Carlisle, Cedar Cliff, Red Land, Gettysburg, Cumberland Valley High Schools as well as many homeschoolers have attended Soundscape presentations by world-class musicians. Soundscape also brings programs with live music and storytelling for families with young children to venues ranging from Fredricksen Library and Midtown Scholar Bookstore to churches in Harrisburg, Hershey, and Mechanicsburg.

Market Square Concerts regularly collaborates with the Harrisburg Symphony, Whitaker Center, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and Messiah University on Soundscape presentations. Grammy Award winners, guitarist Jason Vieaux, Third Coast Percussion, Parker and Harlem Quartets, as well
as British pianist and polymath Sir Stephen Hough, Hungarian violin virtuoso Kristóf Baráti and tenor Limmie Pulliam are among many artists who performed special programs and gave masterclasses in recent years. In the upcoming season, we look forward to a masterclass by a Canadian violin virtuoso Kerson Leong, as well as educational presentations by the innovative early music ensemble The Sebastians from NYC and Balourdet Quartet, winner of the Cleveland Award and Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Career Grant.

By providing access to world class live performances and educational presentations Market Square Concerts fosters greater sense of community in a divided society and connects young people to award-winning performers who offer them valuable insight and mentorship which is essential for aspiring artists without easy access to major cultural centers. Several former high school students who enjoyed opportunities provided by Market Square Concert's Soundscape Educational Outreach Program have gone on to professional careers in performing arts, including dance, composition, performing and teaching.

In the last several years, Market Square Concerts expanded Soundscape to include a joint outreach music program in partnership with UPMC Pinnacle and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center which brought performances for patients and staff to the Ortenzio Cancer Center, as well as a series of curated musical presentations to the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. As part of Soundscape mission to provide access to great live performances for all children in our community, Market Square Concerts offers free tickets to all K-12 school-age students with $10 tickets available to one accompanying adult.Tickets are  also offered to college students for $5.

Market Square Concerts is eligible to receive corporate support through the (EITC) Educational Improvement Tax Credit
program.  MSC is grateful to Pennian Bank (EITC), Mid Penn Bank (EITC) and McInroy Sheffer People Trust for the generous support of Soundscape.  Market Square Concerts’ Soundscape Program is also one of the recipients of the Whitaker Center Lois Lehrman Grass Performing Arts Fund: Youth Performing Arts Program Partnership Grant; as well as the “Arts for All, a charitable fund of the Greater Harrisburg Community Foundation, a regional foundation of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC).