Summer Strings Camp!

These last few weeks have been busy for me. As soon as my nephews went home, I began preparing for the Hendersonville Symphony's Summer Strings Camp which I have coordinated for the past 4 years! We had a great week, and I think the kids learned a lot while having fun. I spent the week pouring over the list of students and dividing them into two orchestras and into chamber ensembles. Our two orchestras were unbalanced (24 in the older group, 43 in the younger). At our Sunday Staff meeting, we decided to create a 3rd orchestra. It worked out great! Each group had between 20 and 25. We had about 4 "walk-ins", boosting our numbers to 71.

The Green Orchestra were the beginners who had only 1 year of experience. The Yellow Orchestra were the intermediates who had 2 - 3 years of experience. The Blue Orchestra was the older students with 3+ years of experience. The Blue Orchestra also gets to participate in an Improvisation Session. This year's song was "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns'N'Roses!

Everything went smoothly. Monday is always the hardest day because no one knows where to go or what to do next. The rest of the week was a breeze, and the staff took over. I sat with my computer and made programs for the concerts and revised the schedule for Friday (among other things).

The students have orchestra rehearsals, then they attend a sectional and a theory class. Lunch is next followed by either Improvisation Session or Music Appreciation. They have more orchestra rehearsal and a chamber ensemble coaching.

Each day ended with a Special Event. Monday was a Cello Quartet performance. Tuesday was a presentation of "early" string instruments by Gerald Trimble. Wednesday was the Staff Chamber Concert. Thursday was the Student Chamber Ensemble Concert. Friday was the grand finale. We had a packed house for this performance! I thought all the performances were amazing! These students learned A LOT of music in a short amount of time.

The Summer Strings Staff did an amazing job of teaching and entertaining these students for the week. I am so proud of them and the students!

I hope to do this again next year and continue improving the experience for the students!