GROTON, Mass. - The Groton Hill Music Center is in the midst of their first summer at its new home, providing students the opportunity to learn in the types of spaces usually reserved for university and conservatory students. 

“Moving into this building has given us the ability to become a regional performance center and education center in a way that there was no way we could have done it before, but we kind of always dreamed about doing,” said Pete Robbins, director of education and performance program. 

The facility in Groton was funded in large part by an anonymous donor, in addition to other community giving. The new building is 126,000 square feet and includes two acoustically tuned performance halls, 35 studio classrooms and two multi-use spaces.

It’s a big step forward for a school that started in the homes of teachers and a church hall in 1985. Staff and faculty say the new location elevates the opportunities that the school can provide and the quality of instruction.

“Our last program for last summer when I came in, there were only about five programs running throughout the summer,” said Laura Altenor, community engagement and summer programs manager and voice faculty member. “This summer, we have over 17 programs running and we’re able to have multilayer programs so they’re happening at the same time during the same weeks... Groton Hill couldn’t do that before, so it allows kids to have programs that suit their levels.”

The extra space is especially helpful for Groton Hill’s nonprofit music school, which provides scholarships to those who cannot afford their programs, including private lessons, classes, ensembles and summer and school vacation programs. The programs can cost hundreds of dollars, and Altenor said this level of scholarship is rarely offered by community music schools.

“We feel like it’s for everyone, and we don’t want it to just be accessible to those who can afford it,” Robbins said.

With the new facility, the school is also able to host more master classes with professional musicians. Internationally known pianist and teacher Victor Rosenbaum hosted a master class earlier this month in one of the new performance halls. 

“The master class today with professor Rosenbaum, I felt like that it is so easy to express what I see in my brain,” said 18-year-old piano student Meizhu Wu, a recent graduate of Concord-Carlisle High School, who also goes by Aurora. “Previously when I was playing the music I think about, ‘OK I need to get this note correctly, I need to play in tempo.’ There are so many clouds around what I would like to express, and it feels like something is stuck between my brain and letting it through my arm and out with my fingers. However, once taking class with professor Rosenbaum, it feels like the expression is no longer blockaded by all the worries. It feels like I can finally play what I would like to play.”

Christina Dietrich, a concert pianist and educator at Groton Hill since 1987, said opportunities such as master classes are experiences that can stay with students for their entire lives. 

“It’s really very, very special to be able to share music with all of them, to help them grow, to hopefully enrich their souls so they become the best that they can be for themselves now and for their future,” Dietrich said. “Because these years now, high school, college, those are those important formative years that these experiences will go with them for the rest of their lives.”