update: accepted off of string quartet and yao waitlist yesterday (after 1 month plus of waiting…) and i’m going to attend yao and interlochen intensive this summer !!!
if anyone wants help or info about camps from a student pov you can dm me…but honestly there are probably a lot of more qualified people on here
final results (current 9th grade violist played violin since 8, viola since 7th grade):
interlochen viola: accepted
buti yao: accepted
buti string quartet: accepted
buti viola workshop: waitlist
nyo2: rejected
Yes, excellent cello studio. They did a good job with scheduling and age-appropriate levels of supervision, too. It was like professional orchestra boot camp.
Now that summer is halfway done, I’d love to hear about kids’ experiences at different programs. My violist son is a rising junior and just got home from two weeks at NEC summer orchestra institute. It was his first time doing a residential program and he had a great experience! They rehearsed and performed the Elgar variations, Shostakovich 5th, a movement from a Mahler symphony and one shorter modern piece. Dorms were modern/AC, decent food, and he made some great new friends. He’s already making plans for next summer, so we’re taking notes for next year
How is everyone else feeling about their summer experience?
My 12 year old had a good time at Heifetz Jr. This year they took away phones except for a couple hours at night, and I think it was a good change. Similar to prior, the solo experience is much better than the chamber experience. Dorms are fine, laundry is free, AC is available but I think it broke in a couple of rooms, and bathrooms are down the hall. 13 year olds can go off campus with friends. There are some social activities but not a ton. There are ton of concerts and plenty of practice time. I think it is a good experience but maybe not amazing. My son really likes it though so he wants to go back next year.
Other son (cello) is loving Green Mountain. Great food, great facilities, great musicians, plenty of social things to do, growing a lot as a musician. There are a ton of concerts and a ton of performance opportunities. Happy to report that it is not just all chamber music. He attended daily technique classes, weekly studio classes, and auditioned to play an entire piece (ie all movements) in a solo recital, which was a great experience for him (he is in high school and has not previously played an entire work all at once in a concert). There are also yoga classes and body mapping. Food gets a big thumbs up. He definitely wants to go back next year.
My high-school age musician attended Center Stage Strings and is currently at Music@Menlo.
This is about the seventh year one or more of my kids has attended Center Stage Strings and I cannot say enough good things about it. They improved the chamber music experience even more this year, with everybody doing chamber music all weeks. My kiddo did have complaints about overly strict dorm counselors and a bit more drama than usual with some students, but overall it remains a very nurturing and friendly program. My kids have preferred this program to some of the more “famous” chamber music programs because the atmosphere is just much better. It’s a really good balance of chamber and solo, with daily technique classes. My kids have done the accelerated chamber music program (completing a full work) several years and really enjoyed that.
This is our first experience with Music@Menlo and so far it has been great. A few bumps with some students not having as much chamber music experience as I would have expected, but overall a super rich musical environment. There are concerts with top stars in the chamber music world, as well as college/grad school aged players, nearly daily. Masterclasses almost every day. I will say that this program is not for everyone – it is very intense. You are learning a lot of repertoire and rehearsing quite a bit daily. Besides it just being challenging to get into, you need to be able to learn music fast, be able to work with a new group of students weekly to learn new repertoire, and get a piece polished in less than a week. But if your kid is like mine and loves chamber music, this is likely the best experience they can get for a chamber music intensive. And my kid says the food is good, which is rare.
