Cultural Exchange Through Music

Students will travel to Cartagena to immerse themselves in the music, rhythms and cultures of this vibrant city and region of Colombia. Through lessons, playing music together with locals, and attending local performances, students will experience Colombian folkloric music traditions  including cumbia and vallenato. Students will be exposed to new musical styles and vocabulary as they grow as musicians and come to understand the rhythms of Colombia within the context of its rich and complex history and culture. 

Engaging with a diversity of artists and musical styles, students will participate in an exchange with young musicians, and work with a professional musician who will spend time in residence at Deerfield before the trip. The trip will culminate with a concert where students will perform and celebrate their time together in Colombia.

This trip provides unique and powerful opportunities to engage in community building and joyful collaboration around musical expression. It will cultivate intellectual humility by revealing to even our most talented musicians the breadth and variety of music theory and performance practice that exists beyond the boundaries of their often western-focused music education.

Program Notes

  • This trip conflicts with the June 1 SAT and the June 8 ACT test dates.
  • Families are responsible for transportation from a NE/NY based airport to their home destination for the remainder of the summer.
  • During this trip students will stay in hotels and eat meals at the hotel and at local restaurants.

Program Dates

May 28 – June 3, 2024

Program Eligibilty

This program is open to all interested students with a preference to students who are currently in the music program. All interested students are encouraged to apply by November 5. Financial Aid is available to all qualifying students.

Faculty Trip Leaders

Thomas Bergeron, Jaime Correa, Mike Pfitzer

Approx. Trip Cost: $4,950 (*INCLUDES ESTIMATED ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE FROM NE/NY BASED AIRPORT)

Deerfield Academy’s Center for Service and Global Citizenship strives to make all of our travel programs affordable and accessible for all students while ensuring a high-quality global education experience. While the costs of travel around the world have been rising steadily over the past several years, all of our trips are subsidized, and thanks to the generosity of many we are able to provide robust financial aid for qualifying students.

Helpful links

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2024 Preliminary Itinerary

* This itinerary is subject to change

Day 1: Flight from a NE/NY based airport to Cartagena, Colombia, were the group will be based out of for the entirety of the trip.

Day 2: 

Day 3: 

Day 4: 

Day 5: 

  • Travel to Palenque
  • Palenque music and artists tour
  • Workshop with youth musicians and band
  • Travel back to Cartagena

Day 6:

  • Tour San Felipe Castle
  • Possible concert with DA connection/Escuela Taller

Day 7:* Travel day back to a NE/NY based airport

**Families are responsible for transportation from a NE/NY based airport to their home destination for the remainder of the summer.