A Day in the Life at Summer Voices
At the end of June we held our 2024 Summer Voices day camp program for students interested in exploring the world of singing and music! Since 2011, we’ve been offering this musical intensive annually. It’s the perfect opportunity for students to expand on their music education in the summer months and keep their skills sharp and growing for the school year ahead. Over just four days, from 8:30am-1:00pm, the campers further developed their vocal skills and love of singing. Here’s a glimpse into the experience of a Summer Voices camper:
In the early morning, singers began with some vocal warmups in St. Bernard’s Church. They prepared their voices for the day underneath the beautiful stained glass images in the sanctuary, a view in itself. Once they were all warmed up and ready to sing, it was time to break off into smaller groups. While the younger students remained upstairs, focusing on singing in unison, the older singers in the group headed downstairs to focus on more advanced vocal techniques and learn songs in different languages in preparation for their end-of-week performance.
After a short snack break, it was time for one of the most unique parts of their days – the special interest sessions. Over the course of the week, the campers also have the opportunity to experience aspects of the musical world outside of singing. These sessions serve not only to enhance their musicianship, but also to pique their curiosity and open their eyes to subjects they could explore further in the future.
Inside St. Bernard’s church, campers took an organ tour and admired the giant pipes that stretched from the floor to the ceiling – quite a sight! Organist and faculty member Dan Foster took some time to talk with the students about the different functions of the organ, how it’s different from a regular piano, and even how to play music with your feet. One by one, the campers had the chance to try out the organ for themselves. They were fascinated by all the different sounds and tones that came from the instrument and had a great time experimenting with different chords and notes.
In a separate area of the building, campers partook in various activities to help bolster their rhythmic skills. First, they were asked to walk around the room to the beat of a bongo drum – sounds easy enough, right? But as the drum got faster or slower, campers quickly realized that they needed to adjust their tempo of walking accordingly, which is easier said than done. Then, as the drum got softer or louder, they needed to decide whether to make giant steps or tiny tip-toes. Next, each camper received a tennis ball. They had to bounce the tennis ball to the rhythm of a piano and adjust the bounces to get slower or faster, or louder or softer. These activities proved challenging at first, but once all the campers got the hang of it, they had a blast bouncing the tennis balls around the room!
During their lunch break, campers took some time to unwind and share their experiences from the day, as well as run around a bit to let loose. This was a great chance to play group games and spend quality time with the Summer Voices mascot, an adorable goldendoodle named Toby!
In the afternoon, the campers prepared for group practice sessions. They took the first part of the afternoon to split up into smaller groups of 4-5 campers; this allowed them to work on specific parts of each group song and practiced harmonizing with one another. They also learned how to perform not just with their voice, but also their hands! When a song mentioned the word “dance,” campers would place two fingers on the palm of their hands and move them in a dancing motion. When they sang the word “celebrate,” campers would throw their hands up in the air as if celebrating. These exercises proved helpful in memorization and showed them how to integrate their entire bodies into the music they were creating.
The combined ensemble rehearsal took place at the end of the day, when all the campers got together in the church to sing their group songs. They had so much fun singing songs like I Won’t Grow Up from Peter Pan and Old Joe Clark. They learned how to unite all their voices to create what sounded like a little bit of magic.
Their work culminated in a final performance for friends and family at the end of the week, which was met with a standing ovation! The campers stood in front of their audience proudly with smiles on their faces as they were applauded for all their hard work.
We can’t wait to welcome our next group of campers in the summer of 2025! Visit MusicSH.org/summer-voices to learn more about this wonderful program designed for 2-12th graders and register early for next year’s session which will take place July 28-31.