They have opened the doorway of achievement for so many young people.
"I was a bit embarrassed when I found out," Pierard said.
"Because there are so many amazing people out there doing things for the community."
Aparicio echoed that, saying he was "a bit shy" about such things given there were "a lot of people who would deserve this".
But he said they were honoured, and if it helped raise the profile of PPV then that was a reward in itself.
They have never sought recognition, and Pierard becomes emotional when talking about seeing the changes in many young lives, and the positive change of life they had achieved.
Pierard and Aparicio, who met through opera (she is an internationally acclaimed singer and he is an internationally recognised musical director) in 2002, settled in Napier to raise their family.
Daughter Eva Maria is 10 and son Javier is 6.
She said it was clear many young people were not getting something she had grown up with — opportunities.
And the value of having obligations.
"They are really at the heart of life," she said.
Among them is being able to treat other people with understanding and compassion.
Through her own Napier upbringing in a large family she became aware of the responsibilities in life, and through her own rise in the music world recognised that as a valuable means of life evolvement.
So PPV was sparked up, to give young people access to music and performance. The philosophy embraced research which shows music has a positive impact on wellbeing, and forges the skills required to reach a goal.
It could also be fun.
For many young people, the PPV experience has helped build their confidence and given them a sense of purpose and meaning as they grow into adulthood.
The couple had also seen how involvement in music had also helped many teenagers develop skills in other areas. Many of their students have gone on to university to study other subjects.
The selection process is focused on needs, and not immediate musical skill.
"At the audition they get to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with Jose — and from there they develop."
The youngsters develop trust, respect, resilience, confidence and, importantly, leadership.
They rehearse for up to eight hours a week and their hard work leads to their inclusion, alongside international artists, in a fully-staged opera performed during the Art Deco Festival.
Next February, the Festival Opera, which Pierard is creative director of, is putting on Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata.
"In a couple of weeks it will be really full on," Aparicio said of the build-up.
Their devotion to staging the annual event, and the whole PPV programme, is intense and the time put in extensive.
"It is our lives — it's like a marriage," Pierard said with a smile, adding that the challenges were always there and the time put in was likely to grow even further as the programme was set to expand next year to take in primary school children as well.
"There are great opportunities here because music has a real impact on our wellbeing."
When it came back to taking in the news of their Hawke's Bay Today Person(s) of the Year award, Pierard said they were honoured.
"This is not something we do for recognition but to get this is wonderful — thank you."
Kathryn Young, who nominated the couple for the award, was delighted to hear the news.
"I am thrilled with Anna and Jose's well-deserved recognition of the profound contribution they are making to Hawke's Bay's musical landscape," she said.
"They have changed the lives of so many of our talented youth through Project Prima Volta and raised the calibre of our local classical musical scene and created world class opera in the Bay through Festival Opera."
Young said the couple's "consuming dedication, high standards, care and compassion" was enriching everyone in the community.
Judges this year were former Napier mayor Barbara Arnott, Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule, Hawke's Bay Today editor Craig Cooper and deputy editor Mark Story.
