ISSUED: 21 March 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Registration is open for Shepherd University’s annual String Orchestra Camp and Summer Jazz Camp. The String Orchestra Camp will take place June 17-21 and the Jazz Camp will take place June 24-28. The early registration deadline for both camps, which will take place in the Frank Center, is April 15 and includes a $25 discount. Financial aid is available.
String Orchestra Camp
There are two String Orchestra Camp sessions. Senior String Camp is open to students in grades 8-12, college students, and adult string players. The camp will run Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Two concerts will take place on Friday, June 21, with chamber music at 1 p.m. in the W.H. Shipley Recital Hall and the string orchestra at 3 p.m. in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall. Tuition, which includes daily lunch in Shepherd’s Dining Hall, is $275 if received by April 15 and $300 if received by June 14.
Auditions for Senior String Orchestra Camp seating will take place on the first day of camp. Campers will need to be prepared to perform two scales of two to three octaves each, sight-reading, and two orchestral excerpts found at www.shepherd.edu/music/ community-program. Advanced 6th and 7th graders may also audition for the Senior String Camp with prior approval from the camp faculty and Sherry Sykes, coordinator for the camps.
Junior String Camp is open to students in grades 3-7 and will run Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-noon with a closing concert on Friday, June 21, at noon in the W. H. Shipley Recital Hall. Tuition is $100 if received by April 15 and $125 if received by June 11. Junior String campers are required to bring a snack and a drink.
Camp highlights include string orchestra rehearsals and a concert, master classes, chamber music, group coaching, music theory lessons, and workshops.
Dr. Scott Hippensteel, associate professor of music and director of Shepherd’s Ram Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Pep Band is the camp director. Instructors are Heather Austin-Stone, Shepherd adjunct music professor, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra concertmaster, Maryland Symphony Orchestra assistant concertmaster, and Roanoke Symphony Orchestra first violinist; Teresa Gordon, Loudoun Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Apollo Orchestra violinist, and Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra director; Camilo Pérez-Mejía, Shepherd adjunct music professor, Shepherd Community Orchestra co-conductor, Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra and National String Symphonia principal cellist, and Charles Washington Symphony conductor; and Shepherd alumna Renee Shaw Nutwell, Shepherd Junior String Ensemble conductor, and violin instructor for Community Music at Shepherd and Music & Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Jazz Camp
Summer Jazz Camp offers two sessions. Senior Jazz Camp for students in grades 9-12, college students, and adult jazz enthusiasts runs Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., ending with a concert on Friday, June 28, at 2 p.m. in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall. Tuition, which includes daily lunch in Shepherd’s Dining Hall, is $275 if received by April 15 and $300 if received by June 14.
Junior Jazz Camp is open to students in grades 6-8 and runs Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with a closing concert at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 28. Tuition is $150 if received by April 15 and $175 if received by June 14. Junior campers are required to bring a bagged lunch.
Highlights of both camps are jazz band rehearsals, a concert, individual and group coaching, combo/improvisation classes, theory classes, master classes, and faculty performances.
The Jazz Camp director is Dr. Kurtis Adams, associate professor of music and director of jazz studies at Shepherd, freelance saxophonist, and composer. Instructors are Kevin Pace, adjunct music professor, musician, composer, arranger, and winner of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award; Josh Walker, adjunct music professor, award-winning guitarist and composer, and faculty member at Levine Music; Griffith Kazmierczak, freelance jazz trumpeter and violinist, award-winning trumpet soloist in the Essentially Ellington Competition, and semifinalist in the National Trumpet Competition; and Jack Kilby, freelance jazz drummer and recording artist.
Financial aid for youth participating in Shepherd’s summer music camps is available thanks to support from Younis Orthodontics. Contact Sykes at 304-876-5248 or ssykes@shepherd.edu for more information and an application. The deadline to apply for financial aid is May 1.
For more information and for camp registrations, visit http://www.shepherd.edu/music/summer-music-programs/.
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