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Friends Music Camp
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"FMC is a place where I can come to make music among friends....Incredible." Music is at the heart of FMC. Campers come with an eagerness to learn more about their instruments, and many find new inspiration and motivation while at camp. Please follow the links to the left to learn more about the different aspects of music at FMC.
All campers have scheduled practice time for at least one hour every day. Campers studying two instruments practice their second instrument for an additional half hour after lunch. Teachers visit their students during practice time, answering questions, helping campers improve their practice skills, and giving mini-lessons. Lessons are offered in piano, voice, guitar, and all band and orchestra instruments. Lessons in other instruments can usually be arranged; early application is recommended in this case. Every camper receives two 40-minute lessons each week. Campers who have chosen to study two instruments receive one lesson per week on each instrument.
Classes at FMC are designed to allow campers to broaden their musical knowledge in subjects of personal interest. All campers must sign up for between one and three classes. Our class offerings vary from year to year depending on camper interests and teacher availability. Past classes have included acting, guitar, sightsinging, theory and recording. Campers who are beginning musicians will automatically be signed up for a musicianship skills class. This course will help campers improve their note reading, rhythm and other important musical skills. At FMC, we consider participation in ensembles to be an important part of each camper's growth as a musician. All campers sing in the camp chorus. Campers who play a band or orchestra instrument participate in band or orchestra. Students interested in jazz have the opportunity to sign up for our jazz ensemble. Other ensembles offered in past years have included a folk dance band and a womens' singing group. In addition to these large ensembles, students who have reached a sufficiently advanced musical level may be placed in smaller ensembles (trios, quartets, small jazz groups, etc.) These ensembles are formed at the beginning of camp based on students' schedules and levels of experience. Every weekend of camp, we give a concert that features our large ensembles. Small ensembles have the opportunity to perform on our camper recitals.
The camp gives three performances each week. Every weekend our large ensembles are featured in a public “big groups” concert. Weekly recitals give campers the opportunity to perform for their peers. Our staff gives a recital for the camp every week. Every year the camp gives a concert for the local community, either at the Barnesville historical society, or at a local retirement center. At the end of the third week of camp, we give a benefit concert in Yellow Springs , Ohio . This concert is a combination of ensemble performances, faculty performances, and camper performances selected by audition at the beginning of camp. In past years, the proceeds from this concert have been given to the village of Jicaro , Nicaragua . The concert currently benefits the Glen Helen Institute, an ecological research center and nature preserve in Yellow Springs. All campers participate in the camp musical, which is performed for parents and friends at the end of camp. Past musicals have included The Music Man, The Wind in the Willows, Once Upon a Mattress, Children of Eden, Once on This Island, Godspell, The Sound of Music, and many original shows written or compiled by FMC staff members. Two week campers perform their own musical, sometimes written by a staff member or the campers themselves, at the end of the second week of camp.
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