Musicianship
Music at Darrow
Music here is disciplined craft. Students learn to listen before they play, to rehearse with precision, and to shape sound intentionally. Ensemble work, voice, composition, and music technology are taught with equal seriousness.
Performance is earned. Progress is built through repetition, awareness, and effort—not talent alone.
Students leave with musicianship that transfers anywhere.
The Sound Academy at Darrow School
The Sound Academy is a working studio. Students write, record, arrange, score, and produce in the same environment used by professionals. Nothing is hypothetical. The work exists in the world.
Students study how sound behaves — physically, emotionally, culturally. They learn to shape a sonic idea into something that carries weight. They work across disciplines when the work calls for movement, text, image, or space.
Off-campus workshops and performances connect students directly with artists and producers doing this work for a living. These experiences are not bonus content. They are a continuation of the craft.
Inquiry is driven by real questions
- How does music build identity and community
- What is the Hudson Valley’s artistic legacy and what does it demand now
- How do rhythm, gesture, narrative, and breath interact onstage
- What makes a composition resonate beyond the person who made it
The Sound Academy is not about talent. It is about attention, persistence, and the courage to make something real.
What Students Gain
Ability to trust their ear.
Ability to collaborate without losing themselves.
Ability to revise until the work is honest.
Ability to perform without performing.
These are musical skills. They are also life skills.
Performances
Concerts at Darrow are the documentation of work done honestly and consistently. Students who have trained for years share the stage with students who discovered music yesterday. Both matter. Both are taken seriously.
Music Program Director
Led by Alex Ellsworth
Alex teaches music as a language — something you learn to speak with precision, cadence, and intention. His classroom is curious, direct, and built for students willing to stretch past the first idea. He has worked with orchestras, toured internationally, performed across disciplines, and recorded on Emmy Award-winning projects. His experience is broad. His teaching is focused.
Students working with Alex learn to:
- Listen harder than they play
- Revise without ego
- Collaborate without disappearing
- Perform without pretense
The result is not loud musicians. It is musicians who know what they are doing and why.
If music feels like a place you could grow, reach out. We will meet you where you are and help you go farther.
Oh, and did we mention? Darrow is at the center of arts and culture.
We are located in the Berkshire foothills, providing access to great institutions like Tanglewood, MASS MoCA, The Colonial Theatre, and more. There isn't a better place to create, experiment, and cultivate your talent!
