When the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association started leasing Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester from Saint Michael’s College in 2001, it was one of only a handful of youth orchestras in the nation with a dedicated building. Now the organization owns the venue, again distinguishing itself among more than 400 such orchestras nationwide.
The VYOA purchased the 23,000-square-foot historic structure from the college for $200,000 with a gift from a single anonymous donor, according to executive director Rosina Cannizzaro.
“The outpouring of well-wishes” from parents, alumni and others “has been incredible,” said Cannizzaro, who has led the organization since 2012. She first floated the idea of buying the structure with Rob Robinson, St. Michael’s vice president of finance and administration, before the pandemic.
The announcement came just as the VYOA prepares to celebrate its 25th year in the building. Founded in 1964, the youth orchestra rehearsed in Burlington-area schools for 37 years. Meanwhile, also in the 1960s, St. Michael’s acquired Elley-Long — built in 1895 as an equestrian hall for Fort Ethan Allen — to use as its north campus gymnasium.
By the 1990s, the college had a separate fieldhouse and recreation center, and the old riding hall was being used for storage. Aware that the growing youth orchestra was seeking a permanent rehearsal space, the administration of Marc A. vanderHeyden, college president from 1996 to 2007, offered the VYOA a 100-year lease on the building at a dollar a year. While the college maintained the building’s exterior and landscaping, the orchestra association embarked on a multimillion-dollar interior renovation — launched by a lead gift from orchestra manager Carolyn Elley Long — that earned the VYOA a Preservation Trust of Vermont award in 2001.
The orchestra association now engages nearly 600 students throughout the school year for four orchestras divided roughly by age group; two jazz ensembles; a woodwind and brass chamber ensemble; extensive music lessons in Elley-Long’s 14 studios; and early childhood, afterschool and school-day partnership programs. In the summer, the organization rents its cavernous space to the Lake Champlain and Green Mountain chamber music festivals, the Craftsbury Chamber Players, and Vermont Jazz Camp. It will continue to do so.
The advantage of owning the structure, Cannizzaro said, is that “we can think and dream about the next chapter, [including] what renovations can take place. Now we’re in control of our destiny.” The sale also provides more space: Hidden behind the wall to the right of the stage is a large room, previously accessed only by the college, that could become more studios, Cannizzaro said.
The college replaced Elley-Long’s entire roof and windows in the past quarter century, Robinson said. He explained the surprisingly low sale price as one the school and the VYOA “mutually agreed on,” adding that “the needs of the college have obviously changed in 25 years, and it seemed like a good time to make that building theirs.”
Decreasing enrollment due to New England’s demographic cliff and a shift in student preferences toward southern and larger schools, Robinson said, have also impacted the college’s financial decisions. “We’re looking at liquidating underutilized assets of all shapes and sizes,” he acknowledged.
Cannizzaro praised St. Michael’s College as having been “a wonderful partner” with “the vision to allow us to come in here.
“I remember walking into this space [in 2012] and being taken with how beautiful it was,” she recalled, adding, “Now, I’m just beaming.”
This article appears in Money & Retirement Issue • 2026.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
