ISSUED: 28 February 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Registration is open for Shepherd University’s annual String Orchestra Camp and Summer Jazz Camp, which will take place June 18-22 in the Frank Center. The early registration deadline for both camps is April 15 and includes a $25 discount.
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.-4:30 p.m., ending with a concert on Friday, June 22, at 2 p.m. in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall. Tuition, which includes daily lunch, is $250 if received by April 15 and $275 if received by June 11.
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 22. Tuition is $125 if received by April 15 and $150 if received by June 11. Junior campers are required to bring a packed 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; Ronnie Shaw, adjunct music professor, member of the U.S. Air Force Band, Three Mo’ Tenors, and The White House Band; Robert Sykes, freelance pianist and a faculty member at Levine School of Music and Frederick Community College; and Griffith Kazmierczak, freelance jazz trumpeter and violinist, award-winning trumpet soloist in the Essentially Ellington Competition, and semifinalist in the National Trumpet Competition.
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 22, with chamber music at 1 p.m. in the W.H. Shipley Recital Hall and the string orchestra at 4 p.m. in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall. Tuition, which includes daily lunch, is $250 if received by April 15 and $275 if received by June 11.
Auditions for Senior String Orchestra Camp seating will take place on the first day of camp, Monday, June 18. 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 after April 1.
Junior String Camp is new this year and is open to students in grades 3-7. The camp will run Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-noon, with a closing concert on Friday, June 22, at noon in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall. Tuition is $100 if received by April 15 and $125 if received by June 11. Junior campers are required to bring a snack and a drink.
Highlights of the camp include string orchestra rehearsals, 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 violinist, Apollo Orchestra 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 Renee Shaw, Shepherd Junior String Ensemble conductor, and violin instructor for Community Music at Shepherd and Music & Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Financial aid for youth participating in Shepherd’s summer camps is available thanks to support from Younis Orthodontics. Contact Sherry Sykes, Community Music Program coordinator at 304-876-5248 or ssykes@shepherd.edu for more information and an application. The deadline to apply for financial aid is April 15.
For more information and for camp applications, visit www.shepherd.edu/music/summer-music-programs.
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