Looking ahead: Summer 2023
It’s that time of year when students (and parents) are looking at possible things to do over the summer! While the larger festivals’ auditions have passed (Boston University Tanglewood Institute, NYO, NYO2, Brevard, Interlochen), there are quite a few offerings in the area that I highly recommend students check out.
Bass Works - July 23-30 - Overnight and Day Camp offerings - Towson University - if you have any interest in honing your skills for a week playing a lot of bass (seriously, 5+ hours per day), this is the camp for you. The faculty are incredible teachers and players and include many of my friends, colleagues, and former teachers, and you’ll never another chance at spending a week with only bassists.
Terrapin Music Camp - July 23-28 - Day Camp only - University of Maryland, College Park - a great musical extension of school if BassWorks seems a bit too intense. Housed at UMD, Terrapin Music Camp is a wonderful opportunity to spend a week learning repertoire for a concert, and also take some fun electives classes like Music Tech or Movies! I’m a bit biased towards this camp, as I worked here as a Junior Faculty during my last years of college and returned as the Assistant Conductor/Manager of the upper orchestra in 2022.
National Jazz Workshop - July 16-21 - Overnight only - Shenandoah Conservatory - NJW has three tracks: performing, arranging, and recording. I can’t personally think of another camp where you’re immersed in jazz from the time you wake to the time you fall asleep. I was part of the inaugural years of NJW, and took part from 2009-2013. This camp is both for students who have been doing jazz for years and for newcomers to the idiom.
