More than two dozen Lake City students dedicated part of their summer to enhancing their music skills at the Florence Three Summer Chamber Music Camp and treated parents and peers to a recital at the Blanding Street Auditorium Friday.
The recital was the culmination of a week of musical instruction in small, focused groups.
“Some of [the students] haven’t played and focused this much for this long a period of time,” said Cliff Gardner, a music teacher for the school district and director of the camp. “But they are better for participating.”
Gardner said his goal was to extend what the schools do during the academic year and to provide students with something they don’t typically get to do.
“A lot of our kids don’t go to college and major in music but we want to show them that you can still be a musician; it doesn’t have to be your major or your life. You can still be involved in all the things that are going on in the town,” he said. “Just because you graduate, doesn’t mean you have to give up music for the rest of your life.”
Gardner said one of the main purposes of the camp was to “connect our students with some professional musicians in the area so they could get extra individual time.”
Whereas band students during the school year get to play in a large group with everybody and to do solos individually, they rarely have the opportunity to play in smaller ensembles; the camp offered that chance.
“It’s just getting our kids the opportunity to do something different but still with their instrument,” saidGardner. “They play in a big band of 30-40 kids all the time; they go home and play by themselves all the time. This is just giving them a new way to experience what they already know how to do in a small group setting where you have to work together and be a team player because everybody’s part is important,” he said.
In the chamber music camp, students play in smaller groups of three to five with no director, “so there’s a lot of things you have to not only learn about playing music but about working as a team with your group,” said Gardner.
Chressa Wilder, whose daughter Marlena Shivers participated in the camp, said the opportunity really helped her daughter learn better breath control through the camp and Roslyn McElveen, mother of camp participant Jaqawnya McElveen, said it helps them “see the big picture.”
“It great enrichment; it adds to what she was learning during the school year,” said Roslyn McElveen. “It’s something different than what she was doing in the classroom.”
Percussion student, Chelsy Harris, said she liked the smaller groups and how it allowed for more concentration when playing.
Dinah Gamble, a student at the camp, said the camp is “a fun activity to do instead of being at home,” and that the small groups were different – and better – than regular classes. “You learn better and it’s not so loud,” said Gamble.
Kaitlyn Luna, who got the opportunity for one-on-one instruction for her trumpet playing during the program said the camp helps her enrich her learning and helped her expand her range.
“It’s more like working on a team than such a big group and you work more on helping each other sound better,” said Luna. “I preferred playing in a small group and by my self than with a big band because I guess it helps you to be more independent in a way,” she said.
The groups, all students from grades 7 through 11, met with professional music coaches from around the area. The sessions focused on several areas including playing their specific instruments, music theory, and breathing and voice techniques, and culminated in Friday’s Final Recital.
“There’s such a huge difference with these kids wanting to be here,” said Angel Yock a music teacher at theLakeCityHigh Schoolwho had the opportunity to teach music theory during the camp.
“They took time out of their summer and it means that music means something to them,” she said, “and when you share that passion it shows; it shows in their attitudes.”
This article originally appeared on scnow.com.
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