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2026-2027 Tuition Rates Tuition rates are based on a 16-week semester. Billing for private lessons is calculated per semester. Billing for classes and ensembles are calculated per year. Higher rates may apply for some instructors. Students enrolled in weekly private lessons receive a $100 discount for each additional class/ensemble they enroll in. This discount is pro-rated depending on when the student enrolls during the school year. Private Lessons 30-minute lessons $1,296.00/semester 45-minute lessons $1,944.00/semester 60-minute lessons $2,592.00/semester 90-minute lessons $3,888.00/semester Beginner Musician Programs 60-minute Marimba Magic Musicianship $1,330.00/year 30-minute Suzuki Technique & Musicianship Class $486.00/year 45-minute Suzuki Technique & Musicianship Class $726.00/year 60-minute Suzuki Technique & Musicianship Class $966.00/year Ensembles Rivers Youth Orchestras (RYO) — Primo $710.00/year RYO — Prep, Sinfonia, Phil, Youth Symphony $1,010.00/year Camerata Strings $1,010.00/year Rivers Youth Wind Ensemble Senior $1,010.00/year Rivers Youth Wind Ensemble Junior $710.00/year Studio Chamber Music $1,566.00/year ChamberMusicLab $2,270.00/year Jazz Ensembles $1,566.00/year Classes & Seminars Adult Piano Master Classes (1 per semester) $506.00/year 45-minute Theory Classes $720.00/year Summer Programs 2026 Summer Music $2,110.00/session Summer Jazz and Contemporary Music Session 1: $1,900/session Session 2: $2,110.00/session Summer Suzuki (Full-Day) $745.00* Summer Suzuki (3-Hour) $380.00* Summer Suzuki (2-Hour) $260.00* Summer Band $480.00* Summer Orchestra $480.00* Summer Percussion $745.00* *Any Summer Program that has an asterisk next to it must be paid in full. Fees Annual registration fee (per student) $35.00 Financial Aid The Rivers School Conservatory is committed to making music education available to as many students as possible. Financial aid is based on financial need and availability of funds. Learn more .

Adult Piano Masterclasses About Adult Piano Masterclasses Piano faculty member Marc Ryser teaches four two-hour evening sessions per semester. These master classes provide an opportunity to perform, discuss, and be coached on advanced repertoire in a supportive group setting. Tuition for Piano Masterclasses Learn more about our tuition rates Questions? Email music@rivers.org to learn more.

Timur Rubinshteyn Percussion, Marimba Timur Rubinshteyn holds a DMA in Percussion Performance from Boston University. He teaches percussion at Boston College, plays principal timpani for the Atlantic Symphony, and freelances with many regional orchestras. Timur completed his Bachelors and Masters at New England Conservatory, where he received Zildjian Award for Excellence in the Art of Percussion. He was also a joint winner of the commencement competition (performing solo with the NEC Honors Orchestra) and one of two members of the graduating class awarded the Gunther Schuller Medal for Outstanding Contributions to the Life of NEC. He attended Aspen Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, National Orchestral Institute, and Tanglewood Music Center. Formerly Timur was the percussion coach and assistant conductor of the NEC Youth Symphony, and managed the orchestra’s tours of Italy, Greece, and Costa Rica. Other tours included Israel, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. From 2012-16 he was on the percussion faculty of the NEC Festival Youth Orchestra. Currently Timur coaches percussion with the Tufts Youth Philharmonic, and teaches at Concord High School, Carlisle Middle School, Norwood High School, Coakley Middle School, Belmont Day School, and Common Time Music Studio Summer Chamber Workshop. t.rubinshteyn@rivers.org

Deborah Yardley Beers Piano Deborah Yardley Beers has developed a multifaceted musical career which has brought her awards and taken her across the United States and to Europe to perform, teach, and study. Her experiences as pianist, teacher, and composer have led her to develop a balanced and holistic perspective with regard to music and piano teaching that helps cultivate excellence, and is both individualistic and rooted in tradition. Since performing Liszt’s Totentanz as soloist with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra at age 16, Deborah Yardley Beers has performed as solo and chamber music recitalist across the United States and in several European countries. She has also performed live on radio WGBH and as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony, Denver Symphony, Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory Orchestra. A recent review in the Boston Musical Intelligencer called a performance by Beers “heartfelt” and “strong on color and dynamic variation.” As a pianist Beers has a strong foundation in the core piano repertoire. She has included on her public recitals works such as the “Hammerklavier” Sonata, and the first 12 Preludes and Fugues from Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1. In addition, though, she has also found inspiration in performing works of lesser-known composers, particularly women composers and contemporary composers. In 1990 she commissioned and gave the world premiere of Novellette, op. 37, by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee. In 1978 Beers won a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (through the Fulbright Commission) to study piano for a year in Germany. Beers was also a semifinalist as a pianist in the Ima Hogg National Young Artists Auditions in Houston, Texas; winner of the William S. Cooper Young Performers Award (from the Boulder Philharmonic Society); and winner of a Spencer Penrose Scholarship Award from the Central City (Colorado) Opera House Association. Beers has a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Colorado. She also holds a Master of Music degree in piano from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory, and a double Bachelor of Music degree in piano and theory from Florida State University. In addition she has studied piano at the Music Academy in Hannover, Germany; the International Summer Music Academy (Mozarteum) in Salzburg, Austria; the Curso Internacional de Música, Estoril, Portugal; and the International Bach Master Classes, Gunsbach, France. Her piano teachers have included Edward Kilenyi, Karl Engel, and Leonard Shure. Her chamber music coach was Dénes Koromzay. Compositions by Deborah Yardley Beers have been performed at the Women Composers Festival of Hartford, at the Music By Women Festival in Mississippi, on a Faculty Artist Recital at Central Michigan University School of Music, at a concert at the Berklee College of Music, on the Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young at the Rivers School Conservatory and on Modern American Music recitals at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Pianists who have performed her music include Miguel Campinho, Jonathan Levin and Prof. Adrienne Wiley of Central Michigan University, and students of Angel Ramón Rivera. d.beers@rivers.org

Kelly Watson Woelffer Flute Kelly Watson Woelffer is the flutist and founder of Hear Now Berlin, a virtuosic, international sextet at the cutting-edge of the contemporary classical scene in Europe. Hear Now Berlin released their critically acclaimed debut album in 2023, Music in Circles (Backlash Music). The Guardian described the album as “an intriguing gem…from punchy and energetic…to shadowy sounds of the night… this is one of the most interesting chamber music albums I’ve heard recently.” As a composer/performer, Kelly finds herself most at home in music written by living composers, where genres are fluid and musicians are challenged to bring unique and personal contributions to the performance. As a bandleader, Kelly released two albums of original music: From the Shelf (CD Baby, 2006) and dear and bare (Phonector, 2008). Her piece, the (un)raveling can be found on Music in Circles. Kelly has had the privilege of recording numerous film scores with the esteemed studio orchestra Deutsche Filmorchester Babelsberg and has been fortunate to perform and record with musicians from a diverse range of genres, including Becca Stevens, Jacob Collier, Kurt Elling, Barry Manilow, Greg Osby, and Reggie Workman. Kelly Watson Woelffer studied with Jim Walker at the University of Southern California and Göran Marcusson in Stockholm. Following a need to broaden her musicianship and artistry, Kelly attended the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC, where she studied composition and improvisation with Greg Osby. A devoted and passionate teacher, Kelly maintains a thriving private studio. Kelly has extensive Suzuki teacher training from both the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the European Suzuki Association and has been a guest teacher at the Colorado Suzuki Institute and the Boston Suzuki Flute Institute. In 2024 Kelly was named a Wm. S. Haynes Artist and plays a 14K custom gold flute which she discovered with Adam Workman at Flutistry Boston. k.woelffer@rivers.org

Magdalena Suchecka Richter Violin Born to a family of professional musicians in Gdansk, Poland, Magdalena Suchecka Richter started to play violin at four and joined her parents in her teenage years, performing regularly in professional venues. She studied first at the Academy of Music in Gdańsk, then at the Academy of Music in Warsaw, where she earned her diploma with the highest honors and joined a faculty. She continued her studies in the US at Boston University and Longy School of Music with Roman Totenberg. Richter holds her Master of Music degree from Juilliard School, where she was a scholarship student of Dorothy Delay, earning the Extraordinary Student of America Award. Other awards have included a fellowship to the Aspen Music School, a Special Award from the International Competition for American Music in New York City, first prize awards from numerous National competitions in Poland, a prize in the International Wieniawski competition, and the International Young Violinists’ Competition in Paris. As a soloist, Magdalena Suchecka Richter performed with Warsaw and Cracow Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Nashua Philharmonic, and Wellesley Symphony, among others. She presented concerts at the National Radio House in Paris, France, Warsaw Symphony Hall, and many other European cities. Now settled in Boston, Richter has performed in various concert series at Jordan Hall, the Gardner Museum, and Edward Pickman Concert Hall. She also participated in hundreds of concerts and presentations for schoolchildren in Poland and the USA. Richter is also a very devoted teacher and was a Chairman of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School String Department from 1995-2023, where she was awarded the prestigious Jean Stackhouse Award for Excellence in Teaching. She remains on the New England Conservatory Preparatory School Violin Faculty. She is also on The Rivers School Conservatory faculty in Weston, MA, where she served as the String Faculty 2000-2019 Chairman. She was a youth orchestra conductor at the Rivers Day School from 2007-2018. Orchestra was awarded Gold Medals at Canadian Musicfest Festivals in Ottawa in 2015 and Niagara Falls in 2017. Her students are involved in various Boston youth orchestras and District, All State, All Eastern, and National Orchestras, often serving as section leaders. Many are winners of local and national competitions and become professional musicians. Her former students are members of leading orchestras, including two former students in the New York Philharmonic. Magdalena Suchecka Richter is also dedicated to training new generations of teachers and was involved in the String Pedagogy Seminar at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston Conservatory, and The Rivers School Conservatory in the past. magdalena.richter@rivers.org

Jeanie Lee Piano Jeanie Lee, piano, has won First Prizes at the Fine Arts Society Competition, the Piano Forte Magazine Competition, and the Juilliard Concerto Competition. She was invited to the “Virtuosi 2000” International Music Festival in St. Petersburg, where she received the “Best of Festival” award and to perform in Alice Tully Hall as part of the Mozart Bicentennial at Lincoln Center series. Ms. Lee has given recitals at prestigious venues such as the Bunka Kaikan National Arts Center in Tokyo, Place des Arts in Montreal, the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Seoul National Arts Center and the Terrace Theatre at the Kennedy Center. An active chamber musician, she has made numerous appearances in the “Wednesday at Lincoln Center” chamber series and Museum of Natural History (NYC) concert series. As a member of Contemporary Music Presenters of Washington D.C., she has performed with members of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and National Philharmonic. She studied piano at The Juilliard School and Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. She is also on faculty at New England Conservatory. j.lee@rivers.org

Piotr Buczek Violin, Chamber Music Piotr Buczek graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Poland and the Chamber Music Institute in Milwaukee, where he received his Master Degree and worked with Pinchas Zukerman, Yo Yo Ma, Ursula Oppens, Shlomo Mintz, and others. He has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas with the Penderecki Quartet and as soloist and chamber musician. His discography includes eleven CD’s with the Penderecki Quartet. He has appeared as a soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra during Takefu Music Festival in Japan. p.buczek@rivers.org

Lisa Lederer Suzuki Violin Lisa Lederer trained at New England Conservatory and the American Suzuki Institute and is registered through Book 8 with Suzuki Association of Americas (SAA). She holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Boston University with additional post-graduate studies at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. Lisa Lederer is an accomplished performer who freelances extensively in the Boston and New England area and has performed with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Ballet, New Hampshire Symphony, Portland Symphony (ME), Rhode Island Philharmonic, as well as many choral and chamber groups. In addition to teaching at Rivers, Ms. Lederer also owns and operates the Cambridge Suzuki Studio, and is a former faculty member of Longy School of Music, the New School of Music, and the Bedford Public Schools after school string program. l.lederer@rivers.org

Karen Heninger Clarinet, Chamber Music Karen Heninger is a classical clarinetist who performs and teaches throughout New England. She has appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, Vermont Symphony, BMOP, Opera Boston, National Lyric Opera, Aspen Music Festival, North Country Chamber Players, New Hampshire Music Festival, Symphony of New Hampshire as well as many other musical organizations. Ms. Heninger is on the faculty of Brown University where she teaches applied clarinet and chamber music and received a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from Boston University. k.heninger@rivers.org

Adult Guitar Group Class About Adult Guitar Group Class Students will learn the basics of playing classical guitar, including all of the notes in first position, rest stroke, free stroke, basic chords and chord progressions, and ensemble music. The curriculum will also cover note reading and foundational music theory concepts. Registration is open to anyone with little to no guitar experience. Getting Started Please contact Catherine O’Kelly at c.okelly@rivers.org

Colleen MacDonald Conductor, Rivers Youth Orchestras—Philharmonia Colleen MacDonald has been teaching in the Weston Public Schools since 1999, where she is currently the elementary and middle school orchestra director. Mrs. MacDonald is also the conductor of the Rivers Philharmonia Orchestra and is a conductor at the Summer Youth Orchestra camp. Mrs. MacDonald received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Catholic University of America and later earned her Master of Music Education degree from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Mrs. MacDonald has served in numerous volunteer positions with MMEA, including Eastern District Junior and Senior Concert Coordinator and All State Concert Chair. Currently she serves as the Eastern District String Audition Chair. She has frequently served as a guest conductor and adjudicator at music festivals throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. c.macdonald@rivers.org

Narine Babadjanian Piano A native of Tbilisi, Georgia, Narine Babadjanian received her Bachelor’s Degree from Tbilisi State Conservatory, where she majored in Piano Performance and Pedagogy under the guidance of Professor Temur Matureli. A very active performer from a young age, she was an award recipient in numerous competitions, including the Competition of Young Performers in Yerevan, Armenia, the Young Performers Competition in Moscow, Russia, and the Young Performers Competition in Tbilisi, Georgia. Ms. Babadjanian has performed in festivals all over the world, including the International Music Festival in Moscow, Russia, the Annual Spring Piano Music Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia, the Days of Russian Music in Amsterdam, Holland, the International Chamber Music Festival in Telavy, Georgia, and the Days of Georgian and Russian Music in Yerevan, Armenia. Ms. Babadjanian performed as a soloist with various orchestras throughout Russia, Georgia, and Holland, collaborating with famous conductors such as Djemal Gokieli, Revaz Takidze, Jansug Kakhidze of Georgia and Eduard Serov of Russia. As a collaborative pianist with her husband, she performed for world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. She has performed at several local venues, including The Boston Conservatory and the Longy School in Cambridge, MA. Since 1998, Narine has devoted her music career to teaching. She was on the faculty of various music schools in Los Angeles, CA and Boston, MA. n.babadjanian@rivers.org

Studio Chamber Music About Studio Chamber Music Kristen Krauss , Director For students (typically ages 8+) interested in gaining chamber music experience. Depending on instrumentation available from the applicant pool, students will generally be placed in duos, trios, or quartets, including string, piano, woodwind, and brass players. Students are carefully matched in terms of playing level, age, experience, and temperament, and receive one hour of coaching each week with an experienced RSC faculty member. Open to anyone by audition 1-hour weekly coaching A workshop in the fall One recital per semester Studio Chamber Music Tuition: Learn more about our tuition rates Application and Audition Information 2026–2027 applications are now open. Auditions will be held on Thursday, September 10 from 2–9 p.m. in Bradley 102 (Library) downstairs. Audition requirements: – 1 scale of your choice – Solo piece of your choice Questions? Contact Kristen Krauss , Director, at k.krauss@rivers.org . APPLY TODAY

Adult Private Lessons About Adult Private Lessons Private lessons are available for adults of any age and ability. After a placement interview with the Department Chair, the student is assigned to a faculty member who best meets the student’s musical goals and style of learning. Private lesson tuition includes: Weekly 30-, 45-, or 60-minute private lessons Frequent evaluation of student development through workshops , recitals, and end-of-the-year evaluations Rehearsals and performances with professional accompanists Weekly student recitals Masterclasses Learn more about tuition rates Getting Started Please fill out an application , and you will be contacted to set up a placement interview. If you have any questions, please contact the main office at music@rivers.org or call 781-235-6840.