Music Camp Part 1

Go ahead and say it. I'm an unreliable, untrustworthy, irresponsible, inconsistent, deceptive, oath breaking and lazy blogger who can't manage my time or priorities. Summer seems just as full as the school year but in a sneaky way. Each Friday comes and goes and I'll lie in bed thinking "darn, I didn't post today!" *sad face* Though we are now into July, I'm going to go back a bit into the middle of June in which I wrote the beginning of this post.

I just had one of if not the best week of my life! I have been at music camp with some of the coolest, friendliest people I'll probably ever meet, super great professors, funny councilors, and one awesome viola teacher. Seven whole days spent living on the other side of the train tracks. But seriously, it was incredible. Stick 17 Christian musicians together and there are instant friendships.

God works in a mysterious way. What started as a camp that didn't look like it was going to make it off the ground turned into the perfect amount of attendance for a terrific week. I signed up not sure how I would pay for it. In the end a number of people contributed money so that I could go. That was just the beginning of God showering blessings.

I was the only local kid at camp, others coming from places as far as Indonesia, Philippines, and Alaska. It was kinda fun being asked for directions. I've practically lived on campus this past year with orchestra and all. It was weird getting to take lessons from professors, most of whom I have known since I was a little tyke. But enough sentimentality. About the camp.

Every morning we had breakfast at 8ish(a.m.!!). Then afterwards we had group devotions which might have been one of my favourite parts.
We reflected a lot on the verse Ephesians 2:10
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
And decided that even if that were the only verse in the whole Bible, it would be enough to think about and enough comfort to ponder for a lifetime. The other thing we did was read through a short book called Art For God's Sake. Each chapter was assigned to a pair of kids who volunteered to read it beforehand and then prepare a little summary/ lesson. I surprised myself and volunteered to lead the second to last chapter. Of course, despite our best intentions, the other girl and I didn't get a chance to talk about it with each other until a couple minutes beforehand that morning, but it worked out.

After devos we headed to "movement class." This alternated between two techniques called Alexander and Feldenkrais. I definitely preferred one over the other. Whereas one is feel good stretching with some yoga-ish poses, the other we spent the entire 45min lying on our backs on a mat trying to visualize and feel each individual vertebrae along our spines move up and down. Someone was snoring quietly during it.

Next on the schedule was practice time, which didn't turn out to be enough at all. However, some practice is better than my usual none and it was probably more productive than if I had been given a few hours. After a short period which seemed like only enough to get unpacked, it was lecture time. Some of these were about applications, a bit about majors, volunteering, careers in music, and two were spent with one very vivacious music history prof. He is one of the most energetic, passionate- about- music guys I've met. On two nights we went into the city for orchestra concerts. The afternoon before each of these, we had the pleasure of previewing the concert pieces, composers, and were told what themes to listen for by the history prof.

Normally, I'd much rather play music than listen to it. But this guy made it so interesting, that everyone caught the bug. During both nights I could recognize parts the prof. had pointed out. I focused much better. Ooh and the first time we went, the Walton viola concerto was played! I was probably the only one that liked it that much. The second concert, both were outdoors, it rained. And everyone was wet and varying levels of miserable. I didn't mind all that much because it's okay to be having a bad time if it's together with friends. All in all, the concerts were good.

The first night, instead of the outdoor orchestra, we watched a faculty recital. I love the music profs and it was sooo fun to hear them perform. My favorite was a cello and viola duet (my two instruments!). They were having so much fun together and you could hear it, feel it, and see through the music and the way they smiled and communicated with one another. Almost everyone said it was their favourite too. Why are violists so made fun of?

Theory class, surprisingly, was a blast. I'm not sure I learned all that much because half of it I knew and the other half I can't remember, but the teacher was hilarious. He was almost always making jokes, or puns, and brought in desserts twice. Then came the best part of each day; lessons. First was a group/technique class. This I could have cared less about because, as the only violist, I was in it with a bunch of violins. I learned a couple useful tips though. It was after that that was great. Private lessons with Mrs. G.

You'll have to wait until next week for that though. I've decided to split this up into two parts because I can, and because it's long. Tune in next week to read about what I learned during lessons, a dilemma in advice, and exciting news about prospects for this school year. You won't want to miss it.