Music Programs

Our string, wind, brass, and percussion students benefit from a comprehensive music curriculum delivered on campus and through our unique partnership with the New England Conservatory in Boston. Weekdays, students focus on chamber music and music classes including theory, history, and solfège. The on-campus curriculum is enhanced by innovative performance projects and weekly masterclasses with prominent guest artists. Students also attend NEC Preparatory School on Saturdays for private lessons and orchestra. Our program, offered in an inspiring creative environment, prepares graduates to thrive in a conservatory, university, or college setting. 

Our classical Voice program features a comprehensive conservatory-prep curriculum on the Walnut Hill campus. The program focuses on individualized technical training and artistic guidance in a variety of age-appropriate classical repertoire including art song and operetta. Students receive private lessons and coaching by esteemed professional singers and pedagogues, in addition to weekly voice-specific classes including Movement, Diction and Translation.

Our many performance opportunities include recitals, concerts, and one-act opera each Spring. We also welcome prominent guest teachers from top conservatories and opera companies. Past guest teachers include Ruth Golden (Manhattan School of Music), William Burden (Metropolitan Opera, Peabody Conservatory), Rebecca Folsom (Boston Conservatory at Berklee), and Penelope Bitzas (Boston University).

Students in our voice program also participate in Youth Chorale at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, culminating in performances at NEC's Jordan Hall.

Our Composition program takes place primarily on campus at Walnut Hill and combines intensive one-on-one study with group explorations of contemporary music. Composition students also participate in Youth Chorale or Piano Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School on Saturdays.

Our Jazz program features a comprehensive curriculum delivered both on campus and at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. In addition to our Walnut Hill Jazz Ensembles, courses include Jazz Arranging and Jazz Composition designed to introduce students to music notation software and computer playback. Graduates of our Jazz program have gone on to prestigious music schools including New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and The New School as performance, contemporary improvisation, and music business majors.