Apple Hill in Cuba

Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music Announces Winter 2025 Trip to Havana, Cuba

The Center’s award-winning Apple Hill String Quartet will travel to Cuba in December 2025 to support, mentor, and work alongside Cuban musicians

Students and patrons will have the opportunity to join the trip and travel with AHSQ in partnership with Minneapolis-based nonprofit CAYO

Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music has announced a groundbreaking international trip to Havana, Cuba by the Center’s resident ensemble, the Apple Hill String Quartet. The sojourn to Cuba’s capital city will take place from December 15-20 2025, and for the first time in Apple Hill’s history, music students and Apple Hill alumni will be invited to join the AHSQ on an international trip and experience the vibrant musical life of Havana while playing and learning alongside Cuba’s phenomenal musicians!

Partnering with Apple Hill on the program will be Minneapolis-based nonprofit, CAYO, which has been nurturing connections between US and Cuban musicians since 2017. CAYO organizes multiple trips to Havana each year which bring American musicians into Cuba’s elite music conservatories for master classes and coachings. These trips also bring together both student and professional musicians from both countries for rehearsals and cultural presentations on the island.

The AHSQ’s Cuba sojourn will take place under the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) educational activities general license, which allows groups of US citizens to travel to the island to promote cross-cultural understanding, encourage people-to-people contact, and engage in select educational activities.

Apple Hill’s Cuba Trip By the Numbers

Dates: The Apple Hill String Quartet and accompanying students and patrons will fly to Havana on December 15, 2025, and return to the US on December 20.

Students: As many as a dozen music students and/or Apple Hill alumni will have the opportunity to accompany the AHSQ on the trip for an all-inclusive fee of $2500 (airfare from students’ home cities is provided, as well as accommodations and all meals in Cuba)

Patrons: A limited number of slots will be available on the trip for travelers not participating in the music program, but who would like to have a side-by-side experience with the AHSQ and the student musicians, accompanied by a dedicated Cuban guide. The cost to accompany the trip as a patron is $3,275, all inclusive.

Costs: Both Apple Hill and CAYO are 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporations, and will jointly fund the cost of the project through participant fees and private donations to both organizations.

You can contact Apple Hill at 603-847-3371 or applehilled@gmail.com for more information.