For more than 30 years, the Road Scholar program has been a familiar presence on the Peabody campus. With their home base at the Peabody Inn, participants in the weeklong programs for lifetime learners have mixed with the more traditional students of the Conservatory and the Preparatory, adding a multigenerational vibe to the dining hall, the concert halls, and the plaza.

Beginning this fall, the lodging for Road Scholar programs will be moving off campus to nearby hotel accommodations, while the Peabody Inn will be converted to much-needed graduate student housing.

“These changes serve the evolving needs of both Peabody and Road Scholar,” said Maureen Harrigan, associate dean for finance and administration. “Peabody has been looking for the opportunity to offer more graduate student housing on campus, and Road Scholar will now be able to offer participants the hotel amenities baby boomers have come to expect.”

A small number of graduate students have made the single rooms and private baths of the Peabody Inn their campus homes over the last two years, but this fall the entire inn will be made available as student housing. The 38 students expected to live there in the fall semester will, for the first time, be able to practice in their rooms. The inn will also remain open over winter break.

Road Scholar participants will still have opportunities to take classes and attend performances at Peabody. In fact, program themes for fall 2014 will include Music of a Nation (October 19– 24); Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert (October 26–31); and Beloved Russian Composers (November 16–21).

“The long and successful relationship between Road Scholar and Peabody has enriched the lives of thousands of program participants and brought many benefits to the Peabody campus community,” concluded Harrigan. “We are pleased that we have been able to restructure the program to better suit both Peabody and Road Scholar, while continuing the tradition of excellent musical instruction for older adults.”

— Tiffany Lundquist