The old St. Mark's church in downtown Adams is now home to the new Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies.

"I've lived in Adams all my life, and I've passed this building thousands of times on my way home, always admired it from the outside," said school president Don Summer. "And when the building became available, this would make an absolutely beautiful music school."

The academy runs after school programs for kids ages 12 to 18 from the entire county. Executive director richard boulger says while they focus on jazz, it's not the only thing they do.

"We really want to focus in on music as a whole, giving kids a foundation of the principles of improvisation and musical composition."

The acoustics of the church are perfect for performances.

President Don Summer says they can't wait to welcome students into the building sometime soon.

"There's a couple of practice rooms there, there's one in the back. We hope some day we can have small concerts here when COVID is over."

For now, all their classes will have to be held online. Boulger says the remote learning won't be too much of an issue, and it allows the academy to reach a wider range of students.

"I have been teaching online myself for well over ten years, and have had much success ... This is the world that we live in. We have access now, and we can reach students around the world, through our technology, which is just fantastic."

Registration for the online classes begins October 1st, and then the classes start in mid-October. For more information, you can go to berkshiresacademyams.org.