Over the course of any music director's career, many parents will undoubtedly ask if their child should attend a summer music camp and if so, why?  On the flip side of the coin, many parents ask directors what they can do during the summer months to enhance their child's musical ability. In each of these scenarios, we believe that summer music camps are a positive experience geared towards the overall growth and development of a music student's talent.  

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We also feel that summer music camps provide students with many benefits.  The following are just a few of them.

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1.  Music Development During the Summer Months - There's no surprise that once school is out, many music students tend to partially or fully avoid practicing for the summer because their director, private lesson teacher, or fellow classmates are not there to provide the boost or motivation to do so.  With a summer camp, a student is practicing their instrument or signing.  They are exposed to new and different information that will eliminate them not practicing for weeks and months. 

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2.  Independence - When students are at a music camp, they are not exposed to the same routine they are used to in the classroom.  They have to work on building self confidence individually to ask questions in a different environment, around a different group of people.  Needless to say, they have to rehearse and perform with these people as well so their confidence grows through performance as well.  For students that travel away from home, learning to be independent is a great reward!  

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3.  Increased Confidence - Almost every camp will require a student to complete an audition of some kind.  Participating in an audition with new students and instructors can be scary, but also helps to build confidence when they experience other students doing the same thing in a safe environment. When students work towards handling the pressure of auditioning or performing in front of new people, they start acclimating themselves to it which is a life skill that will last them a lifetime.  Those future music auditions keep getting easier and easier! 

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4.  A Sense of Accomplishment Amongst Their Peers - Our stance is the majority of students that attend summer music camp return to their respective programs with a heightened level of accomplishment.  Given the experience of meeting new people and obtaining new musical information (or obtaining the same information in a different way), students are usually eager to share those experiences with their peers and their instructors! It happens all the time and we have personally witnessed the joys of many students bragging about their summer music camp on their first day back with their peers as they smile, laugh, and share stories!