Young Musicians Flock To Campus For Youth Music Camp 2006
Contact: Ginger Hwalek, 991-2785
George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO – More that 350 middle and high school students from Maine and throughout New England have been on campus in the last two weeks for 2006 Maine Summer Youth Music Camp.
Ensemble and practice rooms in the Class of 1944 Hall are abuzz with young people spending a week immersed in the practice and performance of music.
Last week, more than 200 middle school students attended junior camp. This week, nearly 160 high school student musicians are attending senior camp. Most of the young musicians stay in dorms during their weeks on campus.
The resumption this year of a string component in the junior camp after a six-year hiatus increased attendance by about 18 students, “and it was really well received,” says camp Director Ginger Hwalek of the School of Performing Arts faculty.
Concerts of note, which are open to the public at no charge, include a Mid-Camp Concert Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m. in Hauck Auditorium, Jazz Night on Wed., July 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Hauck, Musical Theatre (“Les Miserables”) on Friday, July 28, 2 p.m. in Hauck, and a final concert, Friday, July 28, 7 p.m. at the Maine Center for the Arts.
Camp instructors come from the University of Maine School of Performing Arts faculty and music students in collaboration with music teachers from around Maine.
Student progress and performance quality, she says, have been “awesome.”
“It will blow you away, what these kids can do,” she says. “If you’d seen what the junior high kids did in five-and-a-half days, you wouldn’t have believed it.”
This year’s music theater, “Les Miserables,” is an ambitious musical based on the novel by Victor Hugo. Adapted to the stage by the composer Claude-Michel Sch