Founded in 1976, Birch Creek's mission is to provide intensive, performance-based instruction to promising young musicians by immersing them in a professional, mentoring environment. Divided into 2-week sessions devoted to one genre, Birch Creek offers sessions in symphony, percussion and steel band, and jazz. Birch Creek's small student enrollment (approximately 55 students per session) and 2.3-to-1 student-teacher ratio bring together the most talented musicians of all ages and experience to work and perform together in concerts nightly before paying audiences within two days of their arrival on campus. By the end of their two-week session, students have performed in six to eight concerts on campus and in additional concerts in the community. The Birch Creek "difference" is that students are not only taught by, but they also perform alongside, professionals in the music industry.

“To provide intensive, performance-based instruction to promising young musicians by immersing them in a professional, mentoring environment.”