The annual Playathon helps to provide funds to LVMTA members' students who attend summer music camps. Enjoy reading these reports from the students who received scholarships for 2024. To see more information about the scholarships that we offer, visit our Scholarship Page.
Emily:
French woods, where do I begin? Everything about this place was absolutely stunning.
My first thing I did at French Woods was wait in this super long line for theater auditions. In the end, unfortunately, I was unable to audition that day. I was 100 percent ready to skip dinner and sing my heart away, but the counselors had other ideas.
The next day, me and my new bunk buddies got to try out for theater auditions again, and sadly we all landed ensemble in different shows, mine being Annie Get Your Gun. The cast of Annie Get Your Gun were all breathtakingly INCREDIBLE singers. Me personally, had never heard of the show before, but the main cast absolutely devoured their roles.
I should also talk about majors and minors. My majors were magic, Annie Get Your Gun, and improv troupe, in that order. As for my minors, I usually took art at minor 2, and of course my third was taken up by theater. I really wasn’t doing too many active things for my minors at first, but luckily, my amazing CIT, Rikki, convinced me to try other things, like the banana boat around the lake, which was AMAZING! Later, I found out there was a 4k race around the freaking lake. I’m a good runner, especially after running up all those hills, but I was not about the run that. But my friends at bunk convinced me to, and I ended up with a gagging 33 minutes.
So many events took place while I was at camp. Like the festival, for example! Me and my bunk mates got stuck with cupcakes, but I think we handled it pretty well. I got first shift, and advertised those cupcakes like they were made by the king Gordon Ramsay himself. After that, I got a cotton candy and sang karaoke with a couple of people in other theater productions.
Another event that took place was the talent show. I signed up late, so I didn’t even have to
audition. The talent I had practiced was playing piano and singing at the same time my own
rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You. I was bolting across the camp every day to get a little extra practice in at piano lab. It went SO well, practically flawless.
At the final days of camp, me and my bunk got to see other theater shows, and later performed our own. I ended up seeing The Olympians, which was SO cute, and 42nd street, in which I loved the live band and singers! All shows ran smoothly and perfectly. I’m not going to lie, I definitely cried at the end. I loved all the people there and how friendly
everyone was. I’m definitely missing it.
Gavin:
It was through my jazz theory and improvisation teacher, Daniel Wilkins, that I learned about the Moravian University Jazz Camp. I decided to sign up because I felt that I had hit a roadblock in my improvisation that I wasn’t sure how to overcome. Each day consisted of a big band ensemble, a small ensemble, theory lessons, and a guest artist/student performance. I think that one of themain benefits of attending this camp was learning to play with and listen to other people (peers and teachers alike) and learn through imitation. Style is something that I learn best through listening.
Many fantastic musicians appeared as guest artists to perform and teach. One of them, Tony
Miceli, a jazz vibraphonist, stood out to me for his approach to creating music as a method of connection. At the end of the week, a concert was held. I think that one of my general weaknesses is performing in front of people, and this was something that I wish I had worked on more during the student performance periods throughout the week. Overall, the camp had been an incredibly fun and rewarding experience, and I plan to attend again next year.
Andrew:
I would like to thank you for this opportunity to take part in the “acting through song summer intensive” camp from the Musik Makers. I really enjoyed learning more about expression through song and how to relate to the characters I’m portraying. I learned that it is important to pick songs that are appropriate for my age. I really enjoyed working on my songs with Ms. Rebecca and she taught me how to bring my character to life. She helped me find the perfect song to perform and she always gave me good feedback on my voice and acting ability. I feel prepared to perform my song this Friday in our final showcase and I think everyone will be impressed with what we learned all summer. We participated in many improv activities and I learned how to give my character a backstory so I can related to him more. I also had a lot of fun making new friends at the camp.
Thank you again for the opportunity!
Ethan:
My name is Ethan Nguyen, and I attended the Summer Music Festival at Kutztown University from July 6th to July 13th, 2024. Please read on as I share my experience as a piano student at the music camp living on campus.
This year’s camp was even more fun than last year’s. I enjoyed playing the first movement of Mozart sonata K. 448 for two pianos, the first Loeffler rhapsody for oboe, viola, and piano, and Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody for two pianos and eight hands. I especially liked the Loeffler rhapsody since it sounded interesting to me and gave me the opportunity to play with one of the faculty members, violist Junah Chung. I also performed the Liszt Liebestraum for the piano recital known as “88 keys around the world”. Maria, the piano teacher, taught me many different things on how to improve playing the piece, such as using the pedal correctly, adding singing tone, etc.
I also made friends with Aavi S., a participant at many piano competitions, and Chris Y., who played the oboe in the Loeffler Rhapsody.
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend this year camp. I hope with your support I will be able to again attend next year’s music camp to make beautiful memories in music and friendship.
Emmett:
I would like to thank the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the PA Music Teachers Association for the $250 Scholarship that was awarded to me earlier this year. I feel that my experience at Moravian University music camp had allowed me to advance my musical abilities substantially. Over the course of the week they taught the students and I about chords and how they work together to create interesting melodies, about improvisation, and how to play and practice on our instruments more effectively. In conclusion, I feel that this music camp was very informative and helpful to me, and I am very thankful for your scholarship.
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