<p>As my name here implies, I've both taught for and sent my son to CTY Summer. If anyone has a question, I'd be happy to try to answer.</p>
<p>BTW, PLANTREE is right. It's very structured, enough so that some older students get very impatient with the rules, but that's why I sent my son there even though we live in Duke TIP territory and he qualified for both.</p>
<p>or BUTI (pronounced "booty") as the campers call it. A six-week summer program for highly-gifted musicians in their high school years. See <a href="http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/tanglewood%5B/url%5D">http://www.bu.edu/cfa/music/tanglewood</a> for much more information. Expensive, but well worth it. Some scholarship money is available. A two-week workshop that preceeds the six-week session is also available for some instruments. Auditions are required and tend to be highly competitive. I have heard a lot of student orchestras at the local, state and regional levels. None of them has even come close to the level of performance I have heard from the Young Artisis Orchestra at Tanglewood, particularly after they have been there four to six weeks and have knitted together as a group. Many of the teachers are from either the BU staff or play in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Attendees receive a Tanglewood Festival pass and get to go to incredible professional live performances every night of the week.</p>
<p>A two-week program held at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, PA. See <a href="http://www.stringscamp.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.stringscamp.com</a> for information. This camp accepts students from 8 years old through college age, although most attendees seemed to be between 10 and 17. They were grouped by ability rather than age, which works well in some situations and not as well in others. A 16-year-old playing at an intermediate level for their age may not be too thrilled to be in the same group as a bunch of advanced 12-year-olds, for example. Those whose kids made the top-level group seem to have nothing but praise for the camp while those with kids in the lower groups have given it mixed reviews. Teachers come primarily from the Philadelphia Orchestra. Some of the younger campers are taught by college-age attendees on scholarship. Dorm facilities and meals were top-notch.</p>
<p>My son attended Northwestern University's National High School Institute (NHSI). They have several divisions: music, film, theatre,
journalism, debate. My son did the film program & loved it. We know other kids who did the music and theatre programs. NHSI generally requires kids to be entering their senior year. My son was a novice at film. The music and theatre kids we know were more experienced in their areas. There was the right amount of freedom and structure.</p>