Sacramento Performing Arts Conservatory

Summer Camp 2016 - Musical Theater: The Magic Flute

Camp Structure and Daily Activities 

 

We are very proud of the teaching and counseling staff at SPAC's Summer Camp. We believe that our teachers, performers, and counselors are representative of the very finest to be found anywhere. To demonstrate that belief, we include in the camp concert program a brief biographical sketch of each and every member of the SPAC's Summer Camp Staff. As you will discover, every person associated with our camp is an artist and arts educator. Eighty percent of our camp staff members hold advanced degrees in music and merit regional, national and international acclaim. The quality and dedication of our staff is the single greatest strength of the SPAC's Summer Camp.

SPAC's Summer Camp is structured to be a fun and educationally rewarding music experience for all campers. Campers attend a variety of classes and performances throughout the day. Full camp is 6 hours every day, allowing for adequate time to learn instruction of their instrument, academic musical studies, and a chance to perform with fellow students. The SPAC Summer Camp provides an opportunity for students to perform with each other and to learn in a relaxed and fun setting.  The campers get the opportunity to perform for parents and friends at the end of each week in performances that combine music and dancing. The camp classes are composed of the most fundamental and essential classes needed for all students of all ages and levels. The unique thing about attending SPAC's summer camp is that our classes in the camp allow students a social environment to share their love of the arts as well as to gain additional musical knowledge they do not receive during the school year. All campers will be closely supervised, with one camp counselor per group of 10 campers.

Full Day Camp

The Full-Day Camp is a fun and relaxed camp for violin students, ages 7-1 to further their violin abilities in a supportive and social environment.  The camp combines violin-based activities with arts & crafts- pertaining to music, as well as dancing and performing short plays. Camp is composed of six 40-minute classes, in addition to a 40 minute lunch and a 40 minute free time period where students may engage in supervised musical outdoor activities or choose to practice on their violin in a practice room. In addition to classes, lunch and free-time, students meet at the end of every camp day for 40-minute Performance Session, where camper get to listen to each other play, have the chance to volunteer to perform and listen to faculty members perform.  This is a wonderful opportunity for students to share their musical skills with one another and listen to their teacher perform! Special additional activities included will be classes on conducting, note reading Suzuki repertoire, string duet, trio, quartet classes and violin making. Violin campers will put on a musical each of the two weeks, featuring stories about the lives and work of various composers i.e. Mozart, Handel, Beethoven.  In creating the props and costumes for the musical play, students combine music, arts and crafts and dramatic performance in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Half Day Camp:

Half Day Camp is similar to Full Day Camp except for it is designed for the very young children. In addition, participants attending Half Day Camp will play with various musical instruments, dance, play musical games, learn about items they can use as instruments and create some of their own to take home and keep. Games will include but not limited to Musical Chairs, Hot Potato and Freeze Dance…

Some of the types of activities are included in class:
Singing, movement, rhythmic chants, Suzuki ensemble, vocal play, music literature, experimentation with props and instruments, tonal patterns and rhythm patterns, as well as music theory.
 
Singing is an important part of Half Day Camp. Don't worry about how you sound, just have fun! If a child's parent is enjoying themselves singing, the child will have the desire to learn to sing too. Songs are generally sung all the way through in class, because research shows that learning music is very much like learning a language. Songs are in the keys that are most readily heard by children, and your teacher will lead songs in the written keys in class. We will learn popular themes from Vivaldi’s Spring, Haydn’s Surprise Symphony and many more.

Suzuki Ensemble
Students and parents participate in group strings ensemble; playing mostly on open EADG strings following Mozart’s Twinkle Twinkle Variation A’s rhythmic pattern.

Vocal Play
Vocal play is a creative way to grab attention, elicit spontaneous response in class and is the part of class that is most often repeated spontaneously at home. Vocal play can also help your child experience the whole range of his or her voice.

Rhythmic Chants
For children of all ages chant is probably the most prevalent type of spontaneous music-making. Chant can be a rhythmic, repetitive, recitation of words or phrases, have songlike qualities and be sung on one, two or three notes or have solo beginnings which then spread to the group.

 
Use of Props/Instruments
We use egg shakers, mini maracas, rhythm sticks, drums, triangles, resonator bells, scarves, balls, kitchen instruments, castanets, dyna bands and more! Props are used in 3-4 songs in each class and are meant to promote spontaneous and creative responses from the children (and sometimes the caregivers too!)

 
Movement
Movement is used continually throughout the class, and is very important to every aspect of music. We can interpret musical expression, timing, phrasing and beat all through movement. Beat must first be experienced in the body. Later, children will begin to feel the beat on the inside. Plus, the children will enjoy creating their own movements in response to the music, therefore developing a movement vocabulary.