Massachusetts Modern Music Retreat

Our Mission

As rising young musical artists ourselves, the founders of the Massachusetts Modern Music Retreat saw a pressing need for financial accessibility in classical music summer programming. Every member of our administration team has attended some of the world’s finest summer programs, but at serious financial cost. As a group, we sought to create a similar space for pre-professional musicians to collaborate without this barrier. Summer music programs are as critical to music students as high-powered internships are for other fields. For musicians, much of our early career networking and development occurs in the summer, where we can focus on high-level music making without the day-to-day distractions of a typical school semester. A resounding answer to why many students cannot attend these institutions is the cost. Members of our team have seen tuitions as high as $10,000 for these programs, with the lowest end rarely being less than $2,000. This does not include travel, audition fees, application fees, housing, and food. Often, even the most passionate and brightest musicians of our age are unable to attend despite their skills and efforts.Our program focuses on the works of living composers. Last season, we worked with 5 different Young Artist composers in residence to bring 15+ world premieres to our audiences.Last year, we reached our goal to make all concerts free to attend while providing housing, food, and travel for all Young Artists.