<p>Hey, what are the best music camps in the USA? Particularly those in New England that aren't that expensive. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you give more information, you will get more helpful responses. </p>
<p>What instrument do you play? Many camps are for only specific instruments (or voice). </p>
<p>How old are you (i.e. pre-high school, high school, or college)? </p>
<p>Are you looking for just one or two weeks or something longer like three to eight weeks? </p>
<p>How serious a student on your instrument are you? Are you looking for a camp where music is the priority or a camp in which there are other organized recreational activities? </p>
<p>By “not that expensive,” do you mean under $1000 or under $4000? Camps vary greatly in cost (from a few hundred dollars to over $6000) with much of the cost depending on the length of the camp. </p>
<p>The best music camp is the one that suits you the best; the same camp may not be good for another person.</p>
<p>high school.
viola.
2-6
Music is the priority, but I’m not serious enough to be a music major.
under $5000.</p>
<p>hola, here’s the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/510498-music-festival-master-list.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/510498-music-festival-master-list.html</a> a pretty comprehensive (but not all inclusive) compilation of what’s available in the US, Canada, and a few across the pond. </p>
<p>Your response to violindad doesn’t give enough depth or detail to really start throwing names out. Knowing a bit more about your training, experiences (have you been before and where?) youth orchestra participation, preference for orchestra, solo or chamber focus geographic area, helps in giving you a range of options.</p>
<p>If you search this forum for “summer” and display as threads (not posts), you’ll get the sum of the collective experience.</p>
<p>Another resource is both Strings [Strings</a> Magazine: Summer Study Guide](<a href=“Search Results for “ssg/default.aspx]Strings” – Strings Magazine”>Search Results for “ssg/default.aspx” – Strings Magazine) and Strad [The</a> Strad](<a href=“http://www.thestrad.com/nSummer.asp]The”>http://www.thestrad.com/nSummer.asp) with listings and searchable data bases.</p>
<p>Here are a few suggestions (actually more than a few: without knowing more about your playing level, I have kept the list long). Some have a stronger focus on chamber music than others, so depending on whether you want to focus on solo, chamber, or orchestral music, you may eliminate some quickly. You are fortunate in that many high school string camps face a viola shortage and therefore your chances for admission, scholarship, and being generally desirable are enhanced by being a violist.</p>
<p>Strings International Music Camp: held in Philadelphia and has some of the Philly orchestra members as faculty; it has students playing at a variety of levels from average to extraordinary; I don’t think it has too much of a “camp” feel; it is very much about the music</p>
<p>SoundFest Quartet Institute: Cape Cod, but you need to be 17, I believe</p>
<p>American String Teacher’s Association of New Jersey Chamber Music Institute: in Union, New Jersey; it has students who are new to chamber music and have never been to a camp before and also has students from some of the best NYC pre-college programs (in other words, a variety of levels); </p>
<p>Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music: runs five 9-day session in the summer for players at a variety of ages and levels; </p>
<p>Bowdoin International Music Festival: in Maine on the Bowdoin campus; while players as young as 12 are involved, I think the level is quite high</p>
<p>Camp Encore/Coda: in southwestern Maine (and not to be confused with Cleveland Institute’s defunct Encore summer program); this camp operates a fairly extensive recreation program but still focuses on music; this might be a good fit</p>
<p>Csehy Summer School of Music: in Houghton, NY; it has the usual fun summer camp elements, but also has mandatory chapel; three 2-week sessions from which to choose</p>
<p>Greenwood Music Camp: in Easthampton, Mass.</p>
<p>Kinhaven: southern Vermont; beautiful location; well-respected camp, but I don’t know anything of the playing level (I think it is quite high but not cut-throat competitive)</p>
<p>Maine Music Camp: at Colby College in Waterville, Maine</p>
<p>Tanglewood: in the Berkshires in Massechusetts; an excellent summer program, but generally for quite talented and serious musicians; </p>
<p>Meadowmount: in upstate New York; this is the ultimate serious music camp for string players so probably not for you if you are not headed the conservatory route (Perlman’s camp on Shelter Island in NYC also falls in the category of very high level, but with a somewhat more varied day).</p>
<p>a bit farther afield:
Interlochen: in Michigan; this is probably the largest and best-known music camp in the US; I believe that you can go for 3-week sessions; many students who have gone claim that it was the best summer of their life; it accepts players at a variety of levels; if the distance isn’t too much, I would highly recommend that you at least look at it</p>
<p>Indiana University Summer String Academy: Mimi Zweig runs a summer program on the Bloomington campus that is about 4 weeks long and again has a variety of levels of players, most of whom are quite serious; you must be prepared to do about 4 hours per day of individual daily practice (on top of chamber music, lessons, etc), so it is not for the casual player</p>
<p>New England Music Camp in Sidney Maine is a great camp. It is a good combination of “camp” and music experiences. The mornings Tues through Sat are spent going to four classes. Afternoons have recreation times. Evenings are a combination of music events, master classes, concerts, and more “campy” things like ice cream socials. Both of our kids went there for three years (summers after 8th, 9th and 10th grades) and one almost went the year after 11th grade too (but went to Tanglewood instead). The camp is not highly competitive but does require an audition tape. Even so, the musicians are from all over the world and are a talented bunch. Both of my kids would heartily recommend this place. There are two orchestras (a symphonic orchestra and a concert orchestra) and two wind ensembles (which won’t interest a string player in the least). Classes are in theory, music history etc. Students have private lessons on their instrument each week (I think twice a week…but I honestly don’t remember this detail). They also receive assigned practice spaces and times for practice. </p>
<p>There are two sessions…the first is four weeks and the second three weeks. OR a student can go all summer. I think most students go to one session or the other. My kids only went one session each summer.</p>
<p>I can tell you that our kids grew tremendously both musically and socially at this camp. The facilities and staff were wonderful. You can PM me for more details.</p>
<p>I also recommend New England Music Camp very highly. My S, also a violist, attended for 2 summers, 10th and 11th grade. He was not sure if he wanted to pursue music in College when he first attended, but the atmosphere of the camp really solidified his love for music and his instrument and he is now a freshman at a competitive conservatory. This is a good choice for musicians of varying abilities.</p>
<p>He did not want a camp that was all music all day long and this camp had just the right mix of music and recreational activities. The level of the music program is very high, with excellent teachers and conductors. He was able to play in 2 chamber groups each session and loved his coaches and teachers. He has remained in close contact with many of his camp friends and counselors. </p>
<p>The camp is non profit and offers scholarships for those who demonstrate need. The tuition is reasonable compared to equivalent quality programs.</p>
<p>You may PM me also if you have any questions. My S is hoping to be a counselor there either this summer or next.</p>
<p>I’d like to second (third?) thumper’s and sloves’ suggestion. My S spent three summers at New England Music Camp and absolutely loved it there, claims those weeks were the best times of his life. (As an aside, he was eventually recruited by one of the string teachers who is on the faculty at a midwestern college.)</p>
<p>Visit their website, they’ve got a great video which really captures the spirit and focus of the place. It is indeed a gorgeous campus and the staff is terrific.</p>
<p>Point CounterPoint Chamber Music Camp on Lake Dunmore, Vermont.</p>
<p>[Point</a> CounterPoint Chamber Music Camp](<a href=“http://www.pointcp.com/]Point”>http://www.pointcp.com/)</p>
<p>My son LOVED it.</p>
<p>New York Summer Music Festival, in Oneonta, NY, flies under a lot of peoples’ radar. The faculty, particularly in strings, comes from the top-level music schools in the Philly-NYC area. It’s not really a “camp” experience, it’s held on a fairly sterile-looking college campus (SUNY-Oneonta) … but it is a great $$$ deal. You could go there for 6 weeks under $5000. My D goes for vocal, and she is a happy repeat customer. Her first year, her roommate flew in from California to attend, and she, too, was a repeat.</p>
<p>My “other D” did Soundfest on Cape Cod last summer and found it excellent. It’s a two week program with levels from 12 year olds through conservatory.</p>
<p>Also, FYI, there’s the Sphinx Performance Academy at Walnut Hill in Natick, MA. It is open to Black and Latino string players, and there’s a mixed level from intermediate to advanced. I’ve visited a couple times and everyone there seems quite happy. It’s probably 90% music, 10% other things. If I’m not mistaken, it’s free.
[Sphinx</a> Organization - Programs - Sphinx Performance Academy @ Walnut Hill School](<a href=“http://www.sphinxmusic.org/programs/spa.html]Sphinx”>http://www.sphinxmusic.org/programs/spa.html)</p>
<p>Greenwood, which is in Cummington, near Northhampton is a wonderful music camp that my kids loved - and they’ve stayed friends with fellow Greenwood kids for years; it’s like love camp for musicians. Take a look at their website. Lots of parents drive in from Boston for the weekly concerts. It has chamber music (primarily; a different piece/group each week); orchestra; singing, and often has a resident string quartet).</p>
<p>I went to the University of Indiana Jacob’s School of Music Summer string program. This is a really great program if you’re a violist. The viola faculty are some of the best in the world and they even brought in people like Kim Kashkashian for master’s classes. The required practice is kind of intense, but you improve a lot and it gives you a good idea of what conservatory life could be like.
I’ve had a number of friends go to Kinhaven and Greenwood and they absolutely loved them. Same with Interlochen. They’re a little more pricey, but the quality is worth it. Interlochen has a number of merit scholarships as well.
Tanglewood and Music Academy of the West are both completely free, but are quite tough to get into, and they have a stronger focus on orchestral playing.</p>
<p>Perhaps Khachaturian is referring to the college-age and slightly beyond TMC Fellows program. Tanglewood is by no means free at the high school level unless you win a full scholarship. Their scholarships are based on merit, financial need and the needs of the program and full scholarships are not very common. The 6-week programs cost upwards of $6,000, not including travel expenses.</p>
<p>Both the Crane School of Music (SUNY Potsdam) and the SUNY Fredonia music school have music camps. Crane Youth Music is a whopping $950 for two full weeks all included except transportation. Fredonia is a week for about $775.</p>
<p>My kids both attended Crane and my daughter is going back this year.</p>
<p>wow thanks guys ive checked out the new england music camp and it looks awesome!! :)</p>
<p>what do mean “tanglewood is free”? if you get the merit scholarship?</p>
<p>The Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is the summer music program for high school students. It is NOT a fellowship program and is NOT usually “free”. They do offer some merit scholarships based on the audition for acceptance, but typically these are not full scholarships as Bassdad said. The orchestra program is six weeks long and is about $6000.</p>
<p>hola, a few of these programs (Aspen, Yelllow Barn, “Tanglewood” collectively to name a few) are “tiered”, with separate programs geared more to high age students, and a higher level, typically full fellowship for college age (ish) musicians, and emerging pros. You have to read some of the materials very carefully. It is important to refer to the specific program other than a generic name if two or offered. </p>
<p>It can be confusing.</p>