Walnut Hill School for the Arts Comes to Boston

All Five Arts Departments to Present Productions, Concerts, and Exhibitions at Boston Venues in the 2025–26 Season

Walnut Hill School for the Arts, one of the premier arts high schools in the United States, will produce Walnut Hill in Boston: five major events in the upcoming 2025–26 season at iconic Boston-area venues, bringing the world class talent usually seen on campus in Natick to audiences at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, the Boston Center for the Arts, Citizens Opera House, and other locations in the larger metropolitan area. This will mark the first time in the institution's fifty-three-year history as an arts school—Walnut Hill was first established as a girls’ school in 1893—that each arts major will be featured independently in prominent Boston locales.

“What we want most is to give our students the opportunity to showcase their talents in Boston’s vibrant cultural scene,” says Walnut Hill Head of School Eric Barber. “Establishing signature events to prominent venues in the city will provide these young artists with the visibility few their age are able to get, and a whole new audience will find out just how incredible the art-making is at Walnut Hill. Incubating Walnut Hill in Boston has been in the works for years and we couldn’t be more thrilled to show off what makes us exceptional right in the heart of Boston.”

Walnut Hill’s departmental structure comprises five arts majors: Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Art, and Writing, Film & Media Arts. In addition to major-specific arts classes, all students follow a regular schedule of college preparatory academic courses to complement their arts studies. From major theatrical productions to student recitals and exhibitions, Walnut Hill produces dozens of events every year and regularly attracts audiences from around the Boston metropolitan area to its three main venues: the Keiter Center for the Performing Arts, Delbridge Family Center for the Arts, and Boswell Recital Hall.

The following events will be produced off-campus in the 2025–26 season at the venues noted:

Walnut Hill Music Presents: Gloria Chien and Parker Quartet ft. Student and Alumni Musicians
Thursday, October 30, 2025, 7:30 PM
New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall
Boston, MA
Tickets Here

In addition to performances by current Walnut Hill students and recent alumni, internationally renowned pianist and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center mainstay Gloria Chien (WH Class of ’95) and the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet (in residence at Walnut Hill and Harvard University) will perform as part of the department showcase.

Walnut Hill Theater Presents: The Cottage
Friday, February 13, 2026, 7:30 PM
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
Boston, MA

Join us at the Calderwood Pavilion for our Winter Play, Sandy Rustin's The Cottage.

Visual Art Exhibition: The Art of Becoming
April 24 – May 1, 2026 (Opening Reception Wednesday, April 29 at 7:00 PM)
Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC) Art Space
Boston, MA

At Walnut Hill School for the Arts, every young visual artist embarks on a journey of discovery—honing their skills, shaping their voice, and learning to translate vision into form. The Art of Becoming celebrates this process: the early steps of mastery that reveal not only talent and discipline but also identity and imagination.

Within the Visual Art Department, students engage in college-level study across a wide range of mediums, from painting, drawing, sculpture, and ceramics to printmaking, apparel design,  digital media, and more. They are inspired and supported by mentorship that fosters both rigor and individuality. These formative experiences are transformative—guiding young artists in the works they create today and in the creative paths they will carry into the future.

This exhibition offers a glimpse of that unfolding: art in motion, vision in practice, and the profound beauty of becoming.

Boston Ballet Presents Next Generation
Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 7:00 PM
Citizens Opera House
Boston, MA
Tickets Here

Next Generation is the annual, exciting one-night only performance that empowers talented young dancers to reach for the stars. Featuring Boston Ballet II and Boston Ballet’s Donna Egan Graduate Program artists and students of Boston Ballet School’s Professional Division at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, this is a performance of exceptional dance, showcasing rising talent in the dance world. (Repeat performances of Professional Division works will take place May 29 & 30 at Walnut Hill in Natick.)

Writing, Film & Media Arts Presents Script to Screen
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, 7:30 PM
Coolidge Corner Theatre
Brookline, MA

Walnut Hill’s Writing, Film & Media Arts students present a series of short films in the department’s annual Script to Screen showcase. In a matter of a few weeks, students make their ideas come to life—from scriptwriting, to casting, to filming, and then to editing. A talkback will follow the screening. (Another presentation of Script to Screen will take place May 28 at Walnut Hill in Natick.)