My musical life has been very active. From July 24-29 I had my brass camp, and it was just incredible...the best year we've had it, in my opinion. A great response from the kids and the coaches, as well as some really great ideas on how to make it better next year. After this year, the camp is starting to feel like something bigger, something a little more "global", for lack of better terms. The fact that this camp is growing and we are getting more used to the process and are making a name for it, I feel this thing will start to become more of a "professional" music camp, in a sense. Something more official. It's just going that well. Some of the great comments I got from the students were the activities, the organization and schedule, and, of course, the repertoire.
And one of the coaches suggested bring in a guest artist(s), and to apply for grants to help pay for it...very interesting idea!
People really loved the music selection this year, and I am proud of it, myself. We played "Procession of the Nobles", "Jupiter" from The Planets, the "Raiders March" from Indiana Jones, the Shostakovich Waltz No. 2, March Slave, and many others. I really liked the music for the small groups, one of which was the Michael Kamen quintet. And the students played this very challenging music SO WELL at the concert. It was definitely the best playing done at a camp before.
Not only was that the highlight for me, but emotionally I really just needed this camp. I feel so much better after it. This whole school year has been an emotional roller coaster for me for various, and the months leading up to the camp were very stressful because of my limited amount of time each day to prepare for it. But once the camp started, I knew my life would be different: the stress was over, I was surrounded by amazing people, and that's how it was. The camp week provided a lot of reassurances to me...a lot of reminders of the camaraderie and relationships I had built with my students. It just made me forget about everything else. And now that the camp is over, I feel...great. I feel good about myself. I feel like I can let go of my students who have recently graduated and are heading off to college soon...and that was a big deal because I was already missing them!
But yes, I am finding it exciting to see them head off for college. Two of my seniors are headed to CWU to study music, and one to Gonzaga to study criminology but will play in ensembles on the side. And a student who graduated last year but stayed in town and took lessons is heading off to Washington State University next week. I'm excited for all of them!
And there's stuff to look forward to for myself, too. The Saratoga Orchestra has two concerts this month, one for the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute this week, and a pops concert in the part on August 23. I'm excited to take on Beethoven's 2nd Symphony once again this week, and to have some of my students join the orchestra again for the August 23 concert.
And yesterday I finally sat down and started making a list of all the music projects I wanted to do during this next school year...mainly just recording and arranging projects. I have many arrangements that I made this year that I haven't technically published yet. And I was so behind on recording last year...it's time to change that this year!
So yes...lots to look forward to. Once I get all the media from the camp, I will share some highlights on here.
Take care and value music.