Music Programs
ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS
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.
REQUIRED COURSES
Chamber Music
Ear Training
Form & Analysis
Fundamentals of Music
January Project
Large Ensemble*
Music History
Music Literacy
Music Theory I, II
Performance & Ideas Lab
Private Lessons*
Solfège
*Note: Private Lessons and Large Ensemble take place at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
We are thrilled to announce our String Quartet Intensive program for Summer 2024. Click here to learn more!
Student Work
January Project 2022: Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson
Prokofieff Quintet in G Minor, Op. 39—Tema con Variazioni
Orchestral Instruments Faculty
PIANO
VOICE
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.
We are excited to offer a Summer Voice Intensive in June 2024. Click below to learn more!
Required Courses
Diction for Singers
Ear Training
Form & Analysis
January Project
Music History
Music Theory I, II
Performance & Ideas Lab
Piano Lessons
Private Lessons
Private Coachings (with piano)
Solfège
Voice Masterclass
Voice Repertoire & Translation
Voice Skills
Youth Chorale*
*Note: Youth Chorale takes place at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Student Work
Voice Faculty
COMPOSITION
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.
Required Courses
Composition Seminar
Ear Training
Form & Analysis
January Project
Large Ensemble*
Music History
Music Theory I, II
Performance & Ideas Lab
Private Composition Lessons
Solfège
Tonal Composition
*Note: Large Ensemble takes place at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Student Work
New Music by Walnut Hill Composers
Composition Faculty
JAZZ
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.
REQUIRED COURSES
Ear Training
Form & Analysis
January Project
Jazz Arranging
Jazz Combo
Jazz Composition
Jazz Ensembles
Jazz History
Jazz Styles
Jazz Theory
Music Theory I, II
Performance & Ideas Lab
Private Lessons*
Solfège
*Note: Private Lessons, Jazz Theory, Jazz Styles, Jazz History, and Jazz Combo take place at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.