<p>I posted this in another section, but wasn't sure if I put it in the right place, so here goes:</p>
<p>Any suggestions for a music camp for a 10yo violist? He's been to day camps last summer and the one before, and now would like to try a short sleep-away camp, lasting a week, 10 days, or at most two weeks. Not too far from the Fingerlakes (upstate NY), please!</p>
<p>What I like about that list is that the minimum age is listed in most of the descriptions.</p>
<p>I found two candidates in NY State: Eastern (at Colgate) and Ithaca College. Both of them published schedules on their websites, and I see evening activities listed every day starting at 8 pm and 7:30 pm, respectively. This seems rather late for a guy who's normally in pajamas at 8:00 and turning out the light between 8:30 and 9:00.</p>
<p>We'd like to find a program that has both chamber music and orchestra. He's crazy about both. (There are a lot of music camps that focus mainly or entirely on orchestra.) We're open to a Suzuki program if it does quartets or other chamber music.</p>
<p>I checked the Pennsylvania section of the Instrumentalist's list, but didn't find anything appropriate.</p>
<p>You’ll be lucky if you can find a good camp for a 10-year old musician. Perhaps band camps are different, but my daughter was extremely disappointed with camps at that age (they were too easy; more geared towards babysitting than teaching/learning). I would really research any camp before I’d send a 10-year old.</p>
<p>Check out [Luzerne</a> Music Center](<a href=“http://luzernemusic.org/]Luzerne”>http://luzernemusic.org/) near Lake George (north of Albany). They offer a junior session for ages 9-14 that can attract young musicians with lots of talent. The cabins are accurately described as “rustic,” but there’s a good community feeling there.</p>
<p>My kids went to Kinhaven at that age (10-12). They fell in love with chamber music during those years and one went on to be a professional musician. (Well, she is a junior at Juilliard, and always cites Kinhavan as a life-changing experience.) Kinhaven has intensive chamber music and a full orchestra (also a choir.) The woman who was director while my kids were there died last week, sending a wave of mourning and reminiscence among the conservatory and post-conservatory crowd. Many of my daughters’ friends whom they met at Kinhaven went onto major conservatories-- Juilliard, Curtis, NEC, etc., and many others did not go into music but were left with a lifelong love of chamber music. It’s in southern Vermont, not far from the NY border.</p>
<p>Woodwinds’ daughter had a hard time at Interlochen; Kinhaven is a very different, very joyous experience. They take the kids and the music very seriously but also infuse the experience with warmth. </p>
<p>Greenwood is also popular for chamber music, and has a junior session. Same with Luzerne, as Stradmom notes, and Point Counterpoint.</p>
<p>Actually, my daughter did not attend Interlochen until later, after her 8th grade. When she was 9, 10, and 11, I tried sending her to various band camps. It was my mistake; I did not realize how advanced my daughter was in certain aspects. The first year it was a local day camp, which worked out OK once the instructor had been convinced to let her audition into the group she could get into, rather than place her in the beginning band according to age. When she was 10 or 11, we took her to a large band camp in North Carolina, and ended up picking her up two days later. I had assumed that because there were so many different groups (around 15) that surely she would be placed into an appropriate group. Wrong again; she was placed by age, bored to tears, and insisted on coming home.</p>
<p>I heard great things about Kinhaven, only later. By then my daughter was going to Tanglewood and didn’t have the chance to try it out.</p>
<p>My son spent several summers at Interlochen as a violinist. The regular junior program was a nice introduction to summer camp but not much of a challenge. The advanced junior program was better but it is 4 weeks long.</p>
<p>I went as a kid & teenager, and had a very good experience. Except that the food was awful. But that is part of camp, and they may have improved it over the years!</p>
<p>*Sorry, missed your initial location requirements. But for anyone in the midwest, something to consider.</p>
<p>My daughter went to this camp back when it was only for strings. The instructors were mostly Philadelphia Orchestra teachers and were great. The camp was well-organized, accommodations and food were quite good as you might expect since they use Bryn Mawr college. Note that they group socially by age, but orchestrally by ability. I do not know the viola teachers, but their resumes are all very impressive. The bass teacher is the one my daughter studied with through most of high school and he is tremendous.</p>
<p>Good call, BassDad. This camp is very well-organized, and they have excellent string teachers-- it started as a string camp. I happened to be talking with the director at a social event a few days ago. They do a great job promoting a love of music for kids of all ability levels-- beginners through Curtis-level students.</p>
But that is part of camp, and they may have improved it over the years!</p>