Oconee Youth School of Performance (OYSP)

Oconee Youth School of Performance offers private voice lessons, private piano lessons, and comprehensive dance and theater training. The program includes performance companies made up of singers, dancers, and actors who are selected through auditions held each May. There are two different companies at Oconee Youth School of Performance: a musical theater company and a dance company.

• Ages: 3–18 years old

Since 1998, Oconee Youth School of Performance has provided comprehensive dance and theater training for the youth of Athens, Oconee, and surrounding areas. Terra and Shane Hannon serve as Artistic Directors. The program operates in a 20,000 square foot facility that includes a theater that opened in 2018. The performance companies at Oconee Youth School of Performance participate in regional and sometimes national competitions, as well as other OYSP shows and events. The OYSP companies have won numerous awards, including the Broadway Cup at the 2004 Access Broadway Nationals in Orlando, and OYSP has been named “Best Dance Studio” and “Best Performing Arts Studio” at the Access Broadway Regionals multiple times. The program has award-winning competition teams and offers private voice and piano lessons with caring and qualified instructors. Alumni of the program have gone on to study in musical theater and dance programs at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Texas Christian University, the University of Oklahoma, Boston Conservatory, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Alvin Ailey School. The program uses the phrase “Train like you're going to Broadway, perform like you're already there!” to describe its approach.

Last updated April 25, 2026.