Groton Hill – New Season in a New Center

For decades, visitors and local residents alike flocked to the Indian Hill Music Center in Littleton, a nonprofit center for music education and performance, to enjoy the professional concert series featuring the Orchestra of Indian Hill, chamber music, and jazz.

Now, a new door has opened, literally, for music lovers in the 79 towns the center has served through its concerts and educational programs.

The stunning new Groton Hill Music Center opens this fall in a 126,000-square-foot music venue with a 1,000-seat concert hall, a 300-seat performance hall, and multi-scaled rehearsal and teaching spaces. Located less than an hour from Boston, the new center, designed by Cambridge-based Epstein Joslin Architects, offers world-class acoustics that Groton Hill anticipates will draw top performers to town. Set on 110 rolling acres, the Center encompasses music studios and rehearsal spaces in addition to two main performance venues.

“The whole idea,” Center CEO Lisa Fiorentino told the press this year, “is to make this a gathering space centered around music.” To that end, the building includes a spacious lobby where people can gather to chat while waiting for their music students.

A Long Local History

The Groton Hill Music Center was founded in 1985 as a community resource for all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. “For over 35 years, we’ve been a leader in music education and performance. Now, we’re proud to open our new facility and usher in a new era of artistic diversity in New England,” its website announces.

Just as Indian Hill Music was itself a one-of-a-kind institution – a community non-profit integrating music education, performance opportunities, and music philanthropy – Groton Hill Music Center is a unique place that will invigorate the cultural landscape, encourage connections among all members of the community, and create new economic opportunities in Central Massachusetts and beyond.”

The new Music Center at 36 King St. in Groton is designed to integrate its performance and education venues into the natural beauty of its rural setting. All of the facility’s public lobbies and performance spaces open onto green spaces that were once a part of the region’s famous apple orchards. The surrounding stage walls of the 300-seat Meadow Hall are made of glass so audiences can feel like they are enjoying a performance in a meadow. The rear of the main Concert Hall will open onto a lawn with a 1,300-seat capacity.

October 21 is the official Opening Night at Meadow Hall, featuring Maestro Bruce Hangen and the Vista Philharmonic chamber players with an enticing program for chamber orchestra, including Aaron Copland’s all-time favorite, Appalachian Spring, and featuring young harpist Li-Shan Tan in the music of Ravel.

And that’s just the beginning of a music-filled season. There will be Bluegrass, jazz, Celtic music and sounds from around the world in October, November and December. The scheduled concerts are listed in the Calendar section.

See what the excitement is all about! Visit grotonhill.org for tickets and to learn more about this new cultural center in the region.