Meeting Educational Objectives Through Music

OUR MISSION

Berkshire Hills Music Academy is the only private post-secondary residential school in the country for young adults with learning, cognitive or developmental disabilities and a special talent for music. Our mission is to educate, train, and develop the talent of young adults with special learning needs in a community that shares a passion for music so they can achieve personal growth and make a positive contribution to society.

The Academy strives to provide a flexible, innovative, well-rounded curriculum which is music-focused and accountable for meeting specific, individualized, educational objectives. We endeavor to maximize each student's potential by building on strengths and re-mediating weaknesses in a nurturing and supportive environment. The school's unique strength-based, music-infused curriculum is designed to promote gains in self-efficacy and job readiness as well as to cultivate abilities in the performing arts.

OUR LOCATION

Our campus is located in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on a 40-acre property that offers a rare combination of beauty and convenience, with a panoramic vista of mountains yet near shopping and transportation. Facilities include performance space, computer lab, classrooms, practice rooms, recording studio, dining room, student kitchen, dorm rooms, fitness center, laundry, healthcare center, and student lounge. Mount Holyoke College is a short walk away, while a bus links the college towns of South Hadley, Amherst, and Northampton. Bradley International Airport in Connecticut is 40 minutes away by car.

OUR PAST AND PRESENT

The concept for a music academy for special learners originated in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1994 with a one-week music camp for adolescents and young adults with Williams Syndrome. The model of the popular Williams Syndrome Music and Arts Camp was taken a step further in the summers of 1998 and 1999 when the University of Connecticut created Music & Minds. This research-based pilot program explored effective teaching practices in relation to musical abilities, interests and learning styles of students with Williams Syndrome in a college-like academic, residential, and social environment. These successful initiatives provided a vision and template for a residential school for special needs adults with a range of disabilities who share a love and talent for music. In 1999, Berkshire Hills Music Academy was founded and incorporated. The Founders Dinner with Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart and his wife Lucia raised over $1 million for the purchase of the beautiful Skinner Estate from Mount Holyoke College. In 2001, the Academy opened its doors to an inaugural class of 14 students from nine states and two Canadian provinces.

By 2003, the Academy had added two new programs to its initial two-year certificate program, a summer program for prospective students and other special learners, and an intensive vocational and independent life skills program for Academy graduates called Music In Careers. In 2004, the Academy piloted the Performance Troupe to showcase the talents of its students to audiences throughout the region.

OUR FUTURE

Since opening its doors, Berkshire Hills Music Academy students and graduates have performed for more than 30,000 people. Our goal is to continue to expand our offerings for our students and members of the local community, using music to enhance skills, broaden perspectives and improve lives. In the near future, we plan to build a new multi-use Performing Arts Center on the grounds of the estate. The Center will provide additional rehearsal and performance space, expanding the educational, musical, social and vocational opportunities for our students and members of the local community. Our vision is to explore new and innovative ways to use music-infused curriculum so that the Academy continues to be a driving force for change in culture and society.

For a list of Berkshire Hills Music Academy staff, Board of Trustees, Professional Advisory and Research Boards, and Founders, click here.

The Berkshire Hills Music Academy admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs. The Berkshire Hills Music Academy is an equal opportunity employer.

Berkshire Hills Music Academy
48 Woodbridge Street
South Hadley, MA 01075
413-540-9720