Kinhaven Will Launch the Only Music-Focused Semester School in the U.S.

 Kinhaven Music School, the nationally renowned summer music school, has announced that it will launch a Semester Program for high school students in August 2025, expanding its program offerings to over half the year. Kinhaven is partnering with Vermont’s Burr and Burton Academy to offer this innovative session, becoming the only music-focused semester school in the nation. Through partnerships with several youth music organizations, financial aid opportunities will be made available to promising musicians from underserved populations.

“I am thrilled to announce Kinhaven’s collaboration with Burr and Burton to launch our groundbreaking Semester Program for high school students,” said Kinhaven’s Co-Executive Director Anthony Mazzocchi. “Our vision is to be a national model of music-centered education that inspires the growth of the whole person. This expansion of Kinhaven’s programming is a crucial step toward realizing this vision, while contributing to the cultural ecosystem of Southern Vermont and beyond. We can’t wait to launch this innovative school experience.”

The Semester Program will accommodate 16 students for the four-month fall semester. Students will spend mornings pursuing academic coursework at Burr and Burton, which has a proven track record of serving international boarding students. Burr and Burton offers 180 classes each semester across disciplines and at different levels of rigor, credits from which will transfer back to students’ home schools to ensure continuity in education. Afternoons and evenings will be devoted to music lessons, coachings, masterclasses, and activities at Kinhaven’s beautiful 31-acre campus in Weston, Vermont. On weekends, students and faculty will perform around Southern Vermont, often alongside guest artists.

“This partnership brings together two important community institutions,” stated Burr and Burton Academy Headmaster Mark H. Tashjian. “Kinhaven will bring a talented group of students into our community, and Burr and Burton will ensure that these students receive a world-class education. We are excited to see this vision come to fruition.”

Applications for the inaugural Fall 2025 semester open April 1, 2024. Students will be accepted on a rolling basis through March 2025. The application process will consist of a short statement, an audition video, a school transcript, and a final round interview.

As it does for its summer sessions, Kinhaven will leverage partnerships with educational organizations across the country to identify promising students who are underrepresented in the classical music field. A recent partnership with Equity Arc assists these musicians with the application process and offers financial aid opportunities, including for the Semester Program.

Since its founding in 1952, students have come to Kinhaven to experience its world-class music instruction in a collaborative, non-competitive environment. With a philosophy that it is better to create together than individually, Kinhaven students undergo artistic and personal transformation during their time at the school and become lifelong ambassadors for the arts. Kate Sheeran, Executive Director of the Kaufman Music Center in New York City and Kinhaven alumna (horn ’96-’98), said of her experience, “Kinhaven combines the best of intensive music-making with the perfect environment in which students can learn, grow, and connect. I know this from my own experience as a student there, and also from watching decades of young people go to Kinhaven and grow as musicians, yes, but also as people. Among my closest relationships—both personal and professional—were those forged at Kinhaven. This new opportunity will help to ensure that even more students can have this transformative education in a beautiful setting, and in a new and even more immersive way—lucky students!”

As Kinhaven Music School approaches its 75th anniversary, the new Semester Program will position the institution to continue and broaden its critical work.