Boston Singers Resource - Indian Hill Music

Boston Singers' Resource News Bulletin, January 2008

Boston is unusually blessed with a number of excellent venues for music lovers—and not all of them are in Boston. Nestled on a quiet stretch of Routes 2A & 110 in Littleton, Massachusetts, 26 miles outside the city, is Indian Hill—a renowned regional center for music education and performance.

Indian Hill Music traces its history to 1985, when the already established Indian Hill Symphony partnered with the music education program of Groton Center for the Arts, a local arts organization. Over this 22-year span, it has grown into one of the major cultural institutions of the region.

On the performance side, the professional Orchestra of Indian Hill, under the baton of Bruce Hangen, is in its 33rd season and draws 6,000 concert-goers annually. Four classical concerts and two pops concert series are held at Littleton High School. Plus, New England’s finest chamber musicians perform at the Groton art gallery of Paul Matisse, and Indian Hill’s own performance space, Camilla Blackman Hall, is home to an eclectic concert series of jazz, chamber, and musical theater.

Education that scores with all ages

The education arm of Indian Hill is equally robust. Accredited by the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts in 1991, Indian Hill Music offers instruction in a full complement of instruments, plus theory, composition, early childhood music, and voice. Both private and group lessons are available.

The facility itself has also grown, with the completion of a five-year, $3.5 million capital campaign in 2001. The culmination of the campaign was the construction of Camilla Blackman Hall, a 200-seat recital facility and multipurpose performance space that hosts concerts, student recitals, ensembles, and special events. The school’s 22 state-of-the-art studios, each with a minimum of one piano, include small studios, large studios for ensembles and early childhood classes, special studios for jazz and harp, and a separate, soundproof studio for percussion and brass. Other features of the school include a fully computerized theory and composition room and space dedicated to a future sound studio.

Although many of Indian Hill Music’s 1,400 students are of professional caliber, the school prides itself on its mission of using music to benefit the community at large. As Indian Hill’s Voice Department Chair Susan Bonito puts it, “It’s important that anyone can study here. We give each student the highest level of artistic training we can, no matter what their skill level or interest. We have people in their 60s who’ve always wanted to sing and young students. We cater to the individual needs of each student.”

A Voice Department in synch with individual needs and interests

A variety of programs for youth and adults is evident in the Voice Department. “The department is growing by leaps and bounds, especially in the last three years,” Bonito reveals. Today, it serves roughly 110 students. Students are assigned to faculty through Indian Hill’s administrative office, which has refined a process that evaluates their goals and musical interests in order to find the best match. All Indian Hill faculty undergo a rigorous interview and teaching audition session prior to being hired. Each teacher is also required to create an individual mission statement defining his or her own musical philosophy and teaching style. While all Voice teachers are able to impart a variety of styles, each has his or her own specialty, including classical, jazz, opera, musical theater, folk, rock, Renaissance, Estill, and more. “It’s a nice mix. We teach it all, basically,” Bonito says.

An estimated 75% of Voice students are high-school aged, and care is taken not to start training students too early. In fact, Indian Hill policy is not to accept first-time Voice students before age 14. Although occasional exceptions are made to that rule, “We don’t like to start the Voice students too young,” says Bonito. “We’re very careful with the developing voice.” Toward that end, the school recently hired a full-time teacher of the Alexander Technique, which Bonito characterizes as “healthy practice for a healthy musical life.” She adds that, “An interwoven thread throughout our teaching program is a sense of responsibility for making sure kids aren’t injured in their practice at home. This is how we start the process of looking at the health of our students.”

An augmented program for adults

Although the student population is weighted toward youth, an active schedule that includes evenings and weekends also provides plenty of opportunities for adults. In addition to standard lessons, a Musical Theater and Opera Department geared primarily toward adults is now being established at the school. Voice Chair for five years, Mary Crowe recently “handed it over to Susan,” in order to chair the new department and pursue her passion for theater.

The roots of the new department lie in an Acting for Singers class taught by Crowe. That class grew into a Scene Study course, after which “of course, we had to produce a whole show,” Crowe laughs. Indian Hill’s first full-scale adult musical was Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, which has become “a regular thing,” Crowe reports. In 2006, Indian Hill Music premiered its first commissioned work, Bug Opera by Geoffrey Hudson and Alisa Pearson—a fully staged opera for families, which has since been performed in Rhode Island and western Massachusetts. Indian Hill’s most recent musical theater production was Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, which Crowe describes as “our most ambitious show so far.” Sondheim’s A Little Night Music is scheduled for Spring 2008.

Another new initiative for adults is the local chapter of the Threshold Choir, which was just established at Indian Hill this Fall and which is being led by Bonito. Founded by Kate Munger in March 2000, Threshold Choirs are ensembles that seek to use singing to bring solace to at-risk infants and people on the threshold of dying. Rounds, chants, lullabies, hymns, spirituals, and choral music are selected according to the specific needs of the patient and his or her family.

According to Bonito, three singers at a time visit neo-natal units, hospices, and hospitals, upon request. The repertoire is memorized and sung very softly, either in unison or in simple harmony, and very close to the patient—“no farther away than a baby in your arms,” as she puts it. The result is a “very intimate experience that is as emotional for the singers as for the person sung to,” she says.

Education through innovation

These new adult Voice programs are just two examples of the innovations that have been the hallmark of Indian Hill Music. Among those who thrive in this atmosphere is Crowe, who raves, “I love it that Indian Hill is so supportive of innovative programs. It’s a very creative environment.”

Last year's summer schedule epitomizes that spirit. Stagnant attendance prompted a successful overhaul of the entire summer program in 2007. Two-week “summerdaymusic” programs provided students aged eight through 18 with “Core Classes” focusing on traditional technique, plus elective classes that allowed them to sing, compose, improvise, try a new instrument, and otherwise expand their musical experience. A collaboration of Indian Hill Music and Village Theatre Project resulted in the six-week “summerdaymusicaltheater” program for the same age group, which culminated in a production of Anthony Drewe and George Stiles’ Just So, a musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. “The collaboration with Village Theatre Project really worked out,” declares Bonito. “It brought the production values way up and provided a top-notch production for the kids.”

For adults, the seven-week “summernightmusic” program encompassed a Chamber Music Festival and a Vocal Chamber Festival. Private lessons were also available for all ages throughout the summer.

The bulk of the year is divided into two semesters: the Fall semester, which runs from September through January, and the Spring semester, which runs from February through June. One of the school’s more recent innovations was the introduction of “soirees”—that is, an informal complement to the traditional recital that occurs at the end of each semester. Soirees, on the other hand, are held in a cabaret setting on Friday evenings, four to six times over the course of the school year. In this informal environment, where audience members sit at café tables and enjoy “munchies,” singers can “get their performance feet wet,” as Bonito puts it, adding that, “The more they do it, the better they get at it.”

The Voice faculty meets at the beginning of each year to select a theme for each soiree, which “helps to narrow the scope,” as Bonito puts it. Past themes have included Starry Night, Italian Night, and Halloween. “We try to pick interesting themes that have a lot of repertoire,” she says. She adds that students are not limited by style. The pieces they select can be art songs, opera, jazz, musical theater, or pop music. “We have a nice variety,” she says.

To encourage as many students as possible to participate, the more reluctant ones are often paired in a duet to help them feel less alone. According to Bonito, students who sing in the soirees are apt to progress faster, since, with more short-term goals, they’re more invested in their voices and tend to practice more. Soirees are open to the public.

An innovation that is not limited to the Voice Department is the Open Studio concept: a week in which “the studio doors are opened to bring all of the students together and let the teachers meet with each other and maybe create a collaborative relationship,” as Indian Hill Music’s Director of Education, Michael Havay, describes it. Students may share a lesson, sit in on someone else’s lesson, or perhaps try something they’ve been interested in, such as a Voice student experimenting with the flute. Faculty also benefit from this plan, when, for example, a flute teacher brings a student into a Voice studio for tips on breath and phrasing. The relationships that result often last beyond Open Studio week, Havay reports.

A school where the community is key

In order to make the Open Studio idea a success, it was necessary for Indian Hill Music administration to develop a sense of community among the faculty. “I’ve worked at other music schools, and I’ve never seen any place where the sense of community is so alive and evident,” says Crowe. “That’s hard to create when so much of the faculty is part-time, coming and going.”

To Havay, although most of Indian Hill’s faculty also teaches elsewhere, “I want them to feel that this is their home.” Unlike some schools, where teachers focus on their own individual studios, Indian Hill’s faculty meets regularly and enjoys getting together. “I’m proud of the devotion of our faculty, because, without them, there’d be no school,” Havay says.

Just as developing a community within Indian Hill Music is a goal for the school, outreach into the greater community is also high on its agenda. For example, a popular recurring event is the “Bach’s Lunch,” which occurs at midday of the third Thursday of the month, eleven months a year, in Camilla Blackman Hall. Coffee, tea, and cookies are served at this free event that features a variety of performers, and audience members are invited to bring a lunch. “It’s part of an effort to reach out to the community and appeal to the community,” Crowe explains. “We feel it’s part of Indian Hill’s mandate.”

Additionally, Indian Hill offers an Outreach Program, which partners with schools in surrounding communities to provide educational musical experiences to children who would not otherwise have them. Economically disadvantaged families and elders are also given the opportunity to attend concerts. And musicians are encouraged to perform at elder housing organizations, nursing homes, hospitals, and other community organizations.

The school is also stepping up its scholarship program, which awards upwards of $35,000 in need-based scholarships to students each year. “Our goal is to give the gift of music to those who are interested,” says Havay. “We’re increasing our scholarships, because we want to become more philanthropic. It’s a great joy to know you’ve really made a difference.” Bonito expands on that idea, stating, “We want people to know that there is a way to get a musical education if you want one.”

For more information about Indian Hill and to view their performance schedule, please visit their website:
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/

For a faculty listing, please visit:
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/l_FAC_0_Faculty.html

For class listings, please visit:
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/1_0_0_AboutTheMS.html

For ticket purchases, please visit:
http://www.indianhillmusic.org/5_BuyTickets.html

ABOUT THE WRITER
Pamela Schweppe: A 20+-year member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Pamela Schweppe is also a creative marketing copywriter and consultant living in the Boston area. For more information, please visit her website at www.pamelaschweppe.com or email her at pam@pamelaschweppe.com