If you are a teenager who wants to learn how to record, mix, and edit your owns songs (and/or others’), then this summer’s Music Recording Studio, June 17-21, is where you need to be! Students will take home recordings of their completed songs, which will also be featured in a special “Listening Party” on the final day.

Teaching artist duo Dr. Andrew Cote (Mason faculty) and Thomas Routon return for another great summer of Music Recording Studio, which is part of Mason Summer Music Intensive Week. Located in Mason’s School of Music on the Mason Fairfax campus in Fairfax, VA (in the Washington, DC Metro area), the Summer Music Intensive Week brings aspiring teen musicians from across the region and the country together for rehearsals, clinics, masterclasses, performances, and more.

 

 

During the week, students will be writing, arranging, and/or recording a wide variety of songs, mostly originals and some cover songs. Mason’s professional Music Recording Studio serves as the perfect laboratory for creativity. Using industry standard technology, students will learn to record their own music (or a cover of a song) from start to finish.

“Parents can expect their son or daughter to walk away from this program with a knowledge of how to see a recording project from start to completion,” said Dr. Cote, “and a hunger to continue writing and recording music!”

“After our camp, students should have a solid foundation to start to record their own music and audio,” added Mr. Routon. “As mentors, we like to make suggestions for what to do next, if they are interested in continuing in the recording arts –  so their journey starts here!”

 

 

Mason Music Technology Professor Dr. Robert Gillam will visit as a guest speaker for the camp, offering valuable insights into audio engineering and commercial music.

“My favorite part of this camp is showing students how to use a recording microphone for the first time, especially since some people are so shy around the expensive equipment!” said Mr. Routon. “We have a microphone ‘petting zoo’ where we take a look at all the microphones in our studio and demonstrate how each of them work. Last summer, we had students talk about what they had for breakfast that morning, and then played around with the recorded audio and showed the class how we could edit and change it!”

I love the Listening Party at the end of the week,” shared Dr. Cote. “Students are able to share with the public the hard work they have spent creating these new recordings.”

 

 

“One of my favorite memories is when students need to come up with names for their songs or projects,” recalled Dr. Cote. “A lot of times students will come up with really funny names, and we write them up on the board for students to choose from later. Though many of them are never used, it becomes a fun inside joke throughout the week!” [laughs]

If you are a student who is a musician, a songwriter, and/or an audio nerd who is curious about the recording industry, then come to the Music Recording Studio to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to produce a song. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to make some new friends who love music just as much as you do!

As part of Summer Music Intensive Week, the Music Recording Studio also offers a Residential option, including on-campus housing and meals plus special evening activities, for an additional fee.

 

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This summer, we are excited to offer the brand new Music Producer Intro Camp, July 8-12, for students ages 9-12. Taking advantage of the great tools and resources in the George Mason University Music Technology Lab and Recording Studio, kids will be able to utilize the same gear and software that professional music producers have been using to make popular music for over 40 years!

Directed by Mason Music Technology Professor Dr. Robert Gillam, the camp takes place in Mason’s School of Music on the Mason Fairfax campus in Fairfax, VA (part of the Washington, DC Metro area). Along with being an educator and composer, Dr. Gillam plays several different keyboard instruments including piano, Hammond organ, and his personal favorite, the keytar. He is also a highly skilled synthesizer and drum machine programmer. His primary areas of interest are in music technology, composition, sound design, commercial music and music for media.

 

 

During the week, students will have a chance to explore different software programs and different types of hardware for making and recording music. The Lab has computers with professional music production software, vintage drum machines, synthesizers, microphones and a full recording studio.

“It’s an amazing space where students can explore and be really creative,” explained Dr. Gillam. “They can expect to develop better musicianship skills, explore a wide range of musical creativity tools, and better appreciate what it takes to make the music that they love to listen to.”

 

 

Although not fully confirmed as of the writing of this post, we are working on setting up a special video conference session with platinum-selling music producer working in Los Angeles! (More details to follow…)

“I know the kids are going to have a blast working with the professional production equipment and hearing their song ideas come to life!” exclaimed Dr. Gillam. “When it comes to music production, it’s often ‘the weirder, the better!’ After leaving this class, students will have the skills they need to work on creating their own music tracks and gain a much better appreciation for everything that goes in to making a piece of recorded music.”

 

 

The camp offers a great mix of music fundamentals, creativity skills, hands-on technology use, and audio science. Students will be highly encouraged to be creative and try new things, and they will be introduced to great tools available for the beginning music producer. Who knows, maybe they will produce a chart-topping hit in the future!

 

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Young violinists ages 6-12 are invited to join us for a week of pure violin joy at the Mason Youth Violin Camp, July 22-26, 2019. Students will develop their violin skills and musicianship in a supportive group setting while engaging in a wide range of activities and exploring several musical styles.

Academy Teaching Artist Claire Allen directs the youth camp, with instructional assistance from fellow Academy Teaching Artist Drew Robertson. Ms. Allen founded the early strings program at the Academy, and has spearheaded several supplemental group violin classes for private lesson students. The program takes place at the Mason Community Arts Academy building, just off of the main Mason campus, in Fairfax, VA (part of the Washington, DC Metro area).

 

 

The camp offers a holistic experience of music for the students. In addition to participating in engaging group classes which will develop their violin skills, they’ll also sing in a choir, experience creative movement with an acting teacher, learn the building blocks of music through introductory theory and history classes, and be introduced to multiple styles of violin playing outside of the classical world.

Dr. Lillian Green, a music professor at Bethany College and a specialist in eclectic styles, will also be a part of the camp faculty, guiding young violinists on learning how to play in fiddle and jazz styles.

 

 

“I’m really excited for all the young violinists who might be having their first experience of playing violin in a group,” said Ms. Allen, “and for the musical friendships that will form during this camp!”

 

 

Come have fun with your violin this summer and learn more about music at Mason Youth Violin Camp!

 

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This summer’s Violin Bootcamp, August 5-19 & 12-16, is now in its fifth year at Mason, providing committed intermediate and advanced violinists (and now violists!) ages 10-18 the opportunity to develop their technique, strengthen their fundamentals, and elevate their playing to the next level. Bootcamp Directors Claire Allen and Matt Richardson, along with some of the faculty, recently offered their wisdom and insights into the program in a short interview with the Academy.

 

 

MCAA: What was your goal in creating Violin Bootcamp?

M.Richardson: When I was in middle and high school, I attended a 3-week summer strings camp in North Carolina. That program was a residential program, so we had chamber music and orchestra, but there was also a morning technique class and supervised practice time. Every year, when I would attend that program, I would learn more than I did the rest of the year combined! Now, there are a lot of good chamber and orchestra summer programs in this area, but I have never found a program that gives the other side of that experience which was so invaluable to me. In the Violin/Viola Bootcamp, we sought to recreate, and intensify this individually focused summer experience in a local setting, and the Mason Community Arts Academy is the perfect vehicle for that.

C.Allen: As a student, I vividly remember several experiences where I was sitting in orchestra, struggling to keep up and learn all the notes, and watching the students in the front of the sections who seemed to play so confidently and effortlessly. I practiced a lot, but I never quite got to the level I wanted. Much later, as a Graduate student at Peabody who had to restructure my entire fundamental technique and as a pedagogy student learning how to teach, I learned that the answers were largely structural. Our posture before we even start to hold the instrument can impact the sound. How the instrument is positioned and how the bow is held dramatically affect what the player will be able to do. These questions aren’t just for beginning players – at every level, students can benefit from doing a foundation check to ensure that they are set up properly and see the effects throughout their playing. In Bootcamp, I want to create an environment where students aren’t pressured to learn a crazy amount of notes – I want to help give them answers and solutions to improve their playing skills, and I want to create an environment that allows them to explore and make changes while being supported and encouraged.

 

 

MCAA: What has most surprised you about Violin Bootcamp?

M.Richardson: Honestly, the biggest surprise to me every year is how much the students enjoy the camp! As a professional violinist, I can obviously see the benefits of a week-long camp of intensive violin focus, but there is always a fear that while the camp will be helpful for students, it may not be terrifically enjoyable. But every time, I’m always amazed by how much the students enjoy the program, and how sad they are when it is over. Part of it is definitely the camaraderie that develops when everyone is working hard on similar goals, but it is often my experience that the students really enjoy the amount of progress that they make, and overcoming habits that have sometimes been long-term struggles in their playing.

C.Allen: The biggest surprise is the support from the wider violin community outside of the Academy here in Fairfax. Whenever we tell other teachers about Bootcamp, they love the idea and enthusiastically recommend it to their students. We’ve been very fortunate to have violin professors from several universities come in as guest clinicians, including Dr. Peter Wilson from Mason, Dr. Cora Cooper from KSU, Rebecca Henry from Peabody Preparatory/Gettysburg College, and Susanna Klein from VCU.

 

 

MCAA: How has Bootcamp grown and evolved over the years?

M.Richardson: When we first started the Violin Bootcamp 5 years ago, there was a feeling that we had to convince parents, students, and even other teachers of the value of our program. However, over the years, and after having a lot of successful student experiences, there has been a gradual change in expectation. Now, when our students show up for the first day of camp, they know how much they are going to learn and that they are going to have a great experience, and that changes the whole dynamic of our program!

C.Allen: The playing level has gotten higher every year, and the range of activities we can do with the students has therefore expanded as well. We tweak the schedule and classes every year based on feedback from previous participants. This year, we’re combining the fundamentals and scales classes so students can immediately integrate the principles of good posture into playing scales and arpeggios. We’ll also be creating separate tracks so that more advanced teenage students have more individual practice time, and so the younger students have more instructional time with supplemental courses.

 

 

MCAA: What is one of your favorite Bootcamp moments?

M.Richardson: I have an easy favorite Bootcamp moment. In the summer of 2017, Claire Allen was working with one of her students on developing a story to accompany the piece he was working on to help him connect to it more emotionally. He came to camp the next day with a two-page typed out story in which I was the main character, which was then very dramatically performed by one of my own students during the lunch break to great applause. And for those who were there, yes, I do still have that rock sitting on my shelf in my studio! [laughs]

C.Allen: One year, one of my new private students, who needed a great deal of technical rehabilitation and whose self-confidence in her playing was extraordinarily low, came to Bootcamp. She soaked up so much in her lessons and classes, practiced diligently, and made more progress in one week than she had in the previous two months of private lessons. At the end of the week, she said with surprised pride, “I didn’t know I could sound this good!”

 

 

MCAA: We hear that you and some of the other faculty have some special practice tips for students that are covered – and exercised – at Bootcamp?

C. Allen: Yes! Make changes from the ground up. If the lower half of your body isn’t supporting the rest of you or your spine is compressed, playing your instrument will be harder before you play a single note.

M. Richardson: Some of the topics I cover are – Why do we squeeze? How do we stop squeezing? Why do we play with Straight 4th fingers? What is a Habit and how do you immediately break them? and Why are all scales secretly really easy?

Hyunji Lee: Regular practice with a mirror is essential to developing proper technique!

Patrick LeStrange: Always practice slowly. If you cannot play something cleanly under tempo, it is not going to happen at a fast speed!

Drew Robertson: Your metronome will never lie to you. If you trust it, you will be friends for life.

Andrew Juola: A healthy practice strategy for learning a new piece involves taking turns playing and singing/imagining the music.

 

With limited spaces available, and a significant number of returning students each year, don’t miss your chance to get in on the action. A short audition video is required to ensure proper placement in the program – see the program webpage for details!

 

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Ovations Summer Strings Academy, for High School and Middle School rising Grades 7-12, offers a unique blend of string orchestra and chamber ensemble experiences, with an emphasis on musicianship and friendship. Violin, viola, cello, and bass students will enjoy a challenging week of rehearsals, clinics, two performances and so much more, June 23-28, 2019.

Directed by George Mason University Professor Glenn Dewey, the Ovations program takes place in Mason’s School of Music on the Mason Fairfax Campus (in Fairfax, VA, part of the Washington DC Metro area). The university has a strong Strings program, and several Strings faculty members are involved in Ovations, alongside an impressive cast of local string educators/ teaching artists – plus two Guest Conductors, Glenn Quader and J.D. Anderson from American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras.

 

 

We are thrilled to welcome back to Ovations this summer the string duo Bridging the Gap. This exciting duo featuring Peter Wilson on violin and Aaron Clay on double bass perform everything from traditional classical string arrangements to swing, funk, rock and pop. With lauded stage presence and musicianship, this duo is one of the most sought after groups in the metropolitan area.

“Students attending Ovations will develop a new level of confidence as musicians,” explained Professor Dewey. “They will also develop friendships with other student musicians that they will cross paths with for years to come. Most importantly, Ovations participants are instilled with a renewed passion and love for their instrument and music that will continue for a lifetime!”

 

 

As a special bonus, string repairman and luthier Aaron Reilly will join us from Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is a great opportunity for our students to try out professional quality string instruments and bows, as well as to learn how instruments are made/ maintained. Furthermore, students will be able to have minor repairs and adjustments made to their instrument on site for a small fee.

“Witnessing our young musicians playing chamber music for the first time in their life is incredibly gratifying,” stated Mr. Dewey. “To watch these young artists receive a piece of music for the first time on Monday morning, and on Thursday evening watch them walk out on stage without a conductor in front of them and present a work to a full audience is an amazing experience. To work on a piece of music and develop communication skills, problem-solving skills and be responsible for the success of a performance helps in goal setting and confidence. It is without a doubt the most gratifying experience ever to watch our students grow so substantially in a matter of one week!”

 

 

“My favorite memory every year is watching the students high-five and congratulate each other after their chamber music performance,” recalls Mr. Dewey. “Many times these are some of the same musicians that four days earlier did not think they would be able to achieve this goal in such a short amount of time. To see the joy they derive from attaining this goal is priceless.”

Ovations Summer Strings provides the students with an environment to inspire a renewed passion about music, to develop lasting friendships,  and to interact with a teaching artist faculty who are caring, nurturing and passionate about music and string education.

Placement seating auditions will take place on-site on the first day to determine best orchestra and chamber assignments. Specific audition excerpts will be provided in advance.

 

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