<p>Summer camps and music schools are very expensive. Are the summer camps worth it? My son (cello) is busy preparing to audition at Interlochen and Brevard. I like the idea of intensive study. But will it help that much for auditions next year for college? Or is it a better use of time attending smaller camps at schools he think he might attend?</p>
<p>Your son should look for camps at schools and with professors he is interested in auditioning at next year. It’s great for the kid and the teacher to know beforehand if they’d fit in with the teaching style/philosophy of the studio. It can also help with things like prescreens which can get waived if the professor already knows you. I wouldn’t just shell out money on a summer program for the sake of it. Attending an intensive summer camp cemented my son’s first choice school. He had a fantastic week with the professor and he’s doing a great job and having the time of the life in college. Good luck.</p>
<p>I used to think that summer camps were worth the price. And certainly my kids formed lifelong friendships during these experiences. But unless you go to a “practice camp” like Meadowmount, there tends to be a stalling of development of solo rep in favor of orchestra and/or chamber rep. Of course, these experiences themselves are tremendously enriching. But I tend to think that summer programs are not particularly useful for prep for auditions since there is not much time to practice the audition rep. Could be your student will meet prospective teachers who will remember them at audition time, but whether that is a true boost is unclear. If I had to do it all over, I think I would not have spent as much as I did on summer programs.There are non-tuition festivals your student will be able to attend when he is older.</p>
<p>That’s my concern glassharmonica. He already has extensive youth and chamber orchestra experience. Ideally, id like him to work on his technique, learn to practice more effectively, classes on music theory and aural skills. And also get exposed to composing and conducting. He does have a fantastic chamber orchestra conductor that doesn’t except anything but the best from him. So he is learning a lot already. He has struggled polishing his pieces. I don’t know if it’s from ineffective practicing or if he needs some intensive studying to push through it. Aria boot camps looked good for that and was reasonably priced</p>
<p>I would definitely look into Aria. They have a good faculty and the boot-camp set-up might be more conducive to audition prep than a chamber- or orchestra-focused camp. You say he’s struggling to polish his pieces-- if he is a junior it seems early to be polishing his audition pieces, unless you meant polishing pieces in general. I know that some people do start on the specific rep this early, but he doesn’t want the audition pieces to be stale. (Not that it’s my business, but I thought I’d throw that in.) My daughter didn’t pick her rep until September of her senior year. Of course, each teacher has his/her own system. It could be his struggling is due to an inability to get in enough practice time (because 11th grade schoolwork is always a heavy load.) But if he needs the structure and camaraderie of a camp setting, a practice camp would seem like an attractive choice.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, about theory: of course each school has its own theory sequence, but if he can place out of some of the earlier theory requirements it will free up his schedule when he’s in college, which is always a good thing. More time for electives, practicing, gigging–all that good stuff! (My daughter took theory in high school but it never seemed to stick, even though she did well in the tests. So she had to take the whole theory sequence in college. She had a lot of company, though-- it was not so bad.)</p>
<p>My D attended Aria for two years and found it a good bootcamp experience. I agree - as usual - with glassharmonica about the lack of time to focus on rep during most other summer festivals.</p>
<p>For my D, who was exploring a number of possible paths of study, the intensive music experience of a summer long festival was important in shaping her decision about what kind of university experience she wanted - music intensive or more general.</p>
<p>And she continues collaborations with friends she’s made at many festivals, so there’s a professional networking component as well as a social one. It made auditions fun, too, when old friends discovered one another at the same place.</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing up the fact about not enough time focusing on rep. I too agree that junior year is tough. He took 2 ap classes before he announced his intentions to major in music and really struggled with getting enough practice time and keep his grades up. He ended up dropping those ap classes so he could keep up his gpa and be able to get 3 hours of practice time in a day. It was a good lesson to learn that when he gets to college, he needs to be very focused and not get sidetracked so a double major would be out for him.<br>
He has picked out his rep already. He’s using it for summer camp auditions too. I don’t think it will get too stale. He is somewhat obsessive about his piece and music in general. He’s also using his rep for his senior recital too. Here, both his cello and conductor (violin) were very supportive of starting early and his conductor regularly sends his students to cim. I don’t know if it helped them be better prepared or not.</p>
<p>Like any good or service, the answer is it depends what you want to get out of it. There are a ton of summer music festivals and camps, and quite frankly a lot of them are aimed more at kids to enjoy music and a camp kind of vibe then necessarily being aimed at “serious” music students (and there is nothing wrong with that…). Sometimes the ‘serious students’ like the more camp like environment and aren’t looking for intensity, it all depends. And as GH said, summer programs like BUTI or the various chamber festivals, as opposed to let’s say Meadowmount, tend to be focused on ensemble work rather than individual stuff, so may not help much for auditions in that regards. My S did a chamber program for several years but that was different, because his then teacher was on faculty and he did a lot of individual work. You could go to a program like Aspen and work with a top level teacher there and really push things, you could go to another program where there is no time for individual stuff, all depends.</p>
<p>There is a lot of mythology about summer programs, either that they are total wastes of time and money, or they are some sort of golden fleece to get you into schools, and the answer lies in between, and where it lies depends on the student. If being in an intensive music experience (if it is, many are not despite what they say) ,where the kid lives and breathes music, let’s him/her know if a)they want to go into music or b)not pursue it, it can be valuable. I think the real value is in the teachers and people associated with the program, I am pretty much convinced that getting exposure to teachers who might be on faculty where you apply is an edge, both to get into the school and more importantly, into the studio. Obviously, kids get into schools not having had any exposure to summer program or the teachers, but especially if it is an in demand teacher, if the kid makes an impression, it is going to help, the amount it helps depends on the teacher, their memory, and how much the kid stands out.</p>
<p>I definitely think summer camps are worth the price. I had a fantastic experience at Indiana University and at the Foulger Festival. At both places I made a ton of friends and gained an incredible sense of independence and confidence in being on my own. I also made contacts with some pretty amazing teachers who are offering to teach me and even waive prescreening for me now that I’m busy in the audition nuttiness. I learned a lot from them and still write them for input/advice. Wouldn’t trade my two summers for anything in the world…</p>
<p>Between the two them, my kids attended Idyllwild, EMF, Brevard, BUTI, Interlochen, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and Chosen Vale. (Also Youth Orchestra of the Americas, but that was after high school.)They always came home better musicians. They had really productive lessons most of these places. They played a ton and learned a lot. For my kids, I don’t think summer programs ever interfered with auditions. If anything, I think the auditions were enhanced by the demanding summers. Worth it? Absolutely.</p>
<p>Big thumbs up for Aria - Best money we spent (and we spent a lot) My kid who attended a few times met the right teacher there, kept in touch and is now studying with them. The near full ride received sure came in handy too. I have Aria to thank for the depth of teachers present over several years.</p>
<p>From my perspective they were worth every penny. My son has attended Domaine Forget (Quebec, Canada) twice and last year was with our national youth orchestra. </p>
<p>From my perspective some of the pros include:
- the opportunity to be surrounded by other like-minded musicians
- being inspired by the older participants, particularly the ones in university
- the ability to speak with university students about their particular teachers, programs, and schools
- an intensive music environment similar to a university environment so the kids can decide whether music is something they really see themselves pursuing (at a post-secondary level)
- being able to study with different teachers in terms of both networking and exposure to different teaching styles
- friendships
- the ‘maturing’ that happens when they travel alone and are away from home for an extended period of time (although I am not sure how often he did his laundry - lol)</p>
<p>Cons
- the silence in my house</p>
<p>The maturity thing would be a good sale for my dh. If he doesn’t get good enough scholarships we thought of doing the smaller less expensive camps at the colleges he’s interested in. Also, my ds is learning the bass for the school orchestra. I thought about sending him to a cheap local camp to get more experience. I see quite a few professional cellists that also play the bass to make it financially.</p>
<p>I think the concept of “worth it” depends greatly on what your budget is. For the students out there reading this - something can be a very valuable experience and “worth it” in terms of student time input but out of budget for your family. I would turn it around to ask what is the most productive and enriching experience available given your family’s resources?</p>
<p>My D did summer camps at FSU and Oberlin. As a result she now applying to both schools. It was a great way to get the feel of the school and get to know the faculty. I would suggest going to camps at colleges that you are interested in, not just ones to pad the resume.</p>
<p>^^^ That’s what we are doing this summer as a financial compromise - week long camps at schools of interest which will double as a college visit</p>
<p>good plan.</p>
<p>cellomom6, I just sent you a PM (well at least I think I did - it is my first one so hopefully I did it correctly).</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I think unless he gets the scholarship he will be doing the smaller camps as well. I know the cello professor at unt does his own cello clinic. I thought he could do that. And ccm has a chamber camp. And a cello camp too. I got the PM about the Canadian camp and am very interested. I need to look at it online on my computer and not my phone. My dh is quite shocked how expensive all of this is.</p>
<p>Cellists may want to look at the Lev Aronson Legacy Music Festival which is held at SMU. It’s new, 2014 will be only the second year for it but some well known teachers and musicians are involved with it so there are some valuable contacts to be made.</p>