<p>Anyone have some experience with this camp? They take 300 I think and do not require an audition tape since they have so many orchestras they place you accordingly. It is at Bryn Mawr and associated with violinist from Phillidelphia Orchestra.
thanks for any help</p>
<p>My daughter attended after sophomore year in high school and loved it. She plays bass and got lessons from Hal Robinson, who changed the course of her playing and ultimately inspired her decision to be a music performance major in college. The students who get into the top orchestra in particular get excellent instruction. The facilities are very good and the counselors are quite friendly. The food is among the best I have eaten at a kid’s summer camp and my daughter’s dorm room was among the nicest I have seen anywhere. The campus is beyond beautiful.</p>
<p>One thing you want to be careful about is that they group by ability (as demonstrated at the on-site audition) and not by age. I have heard some dissatisfaction from the parents of one student who expected him to get into the top group but who was placed a couple of groups lower than that. This student found himself playing with mostly younger kids and not getting as much attention from the top teachers as they thought he would when they signed up. It may be hard to predict before you get there which group you will wind up in, because the talent level of the students varies over a very wide range.</p>
<p>Mine went there in 2005 and 2006, then to Interlochen next three years. SIMF was great for someone who is younger or who only wants two weeks. I highly recommend SIMF.</p>
<p>My son attended the summer before his junior year. He was enrolled in the very small piano component where he and 5-6 others worked with Hugh Sung from Curtis (daily group classes and private lessons 2-3 times per week). He also played viola in a chamber ensemble. He had never attended a high level music camp before, and found this to be an excellent and eye opening experience. The majority of the faculty are members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which S found to be very inspiring. A huge highlight for him was that he had the opportunity to be a page turner for several of the evening concerts.</p>
<p>S also took viola lessons with a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which I have to admit probably ultimately led to his decision to stop viola. Nevertheless, that was for the best since his primary instrument is piano, he also plays concert percussion, and jazz piano is what he intends to pursue in college. I can’t speak to the orchestras since he wasn’t in one, but the chamber ensemble experience was very positive, as was the whole piano experience with Hugh Sung in the piano program. Given that this was his first of this type of experience, an important take away for him was that he discovered that total immersion in music 24/7 is where he thrives.</p>
<p>He would highly recommend the camp, though there are a lot of younger kids, and those in his age group were perhaps the minority. It’s true that the groups are based on ability as opposed to age, although he was fortunate that the kids in his chamber group were all about his age.</p>
<p>My son attended for viola after his freshman year at MSM (2 years ago)and studied with C.J. Chang of Philadelphia Orchestra which was the highlight of the camp. The faculty were wonderful, however the only downside was a wide range of abilities in the college level group - which did affect the chamber music and chamber orchestra experience. Highly recommended!!</p>