Here we are at Thursday already in the first week of the music camp. It's a fabulous experience. We love the committed, joyful, talented students and the wonderful parents and teachers who make this a special place. We are loving every minute with you.
Parents, please send us your thoughts, comments and question. We want to hear from you!
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From More than Music...to Peanut Butter Jellyfish...to Carnegie Hall!
I first came to Bigler/Lloyd-Watts music camp as a flute teacher trainee. Carol Bigler's teaching, her humorous, nurturing style was a revelation for me and influences my teaching to this day.
Then when I had kids I took them to have the wonderful Bigler/Lloyd-Watts music camp experience. They loved it.
I'd always loved to sing, so Family Chorus and voice lessons sounded like fun. I was petrified when the time came to sing my solos. I thought, I'm a flutist, what am I doing here? But Carol Bigler, Dick Perry and Valerie Lloyd-Watts gave me such encouragement that I made it a priority and continued voice lessons back home (near Philadelphia).
Fast forward to the present day. My CD of kids' music just won a Parents' Choice award ( Peanut Butter Jellyfish, www.peanutbutterjellyfish.com ),I now sing in a folk band ( Group W, www.GroupWmusic.com ) that is getting airplay on local public radio ( www.xpn.org ), and I just was accepted into the Philadelphia Singers Chorale (the chorus for the Philadelphia Orchestra) (which will sing in Carnegie Hall on 11-30-07 and 5-6-08!)!!
It all started here at Bigler/Lloyd Watts music camp!
My favorite part of Bigler/Lloyed Watts music camp is still watching my sons perform in recitals, orchestra and family chorus. But never in my wildest dreams could I have guessed how profoundly it would impact my life.
So, parents: Bigler/Lloyed Watts music camp is so much better than a music camp that your child goes to without you. You can't forsee what wonders you will share as a family.
THANK YOU DICK, CAROL AND VALERIE!
Once upon a time there was a depressed therapist with a subterranean self-esteem. The wicked king of the land pronounced cuts to health care, resulting in the therapist losing her job.
Four months after being released from the bonds of a job that had brought much unhappiness, the depressed therapist took Teacher Training Book 1A with Carole Bigler.
Her life was turned around so dramatically that she really didn't know what had hit her!
With repeated summers at More Than Music, I've gone from hopelessly negative to deleriously happy and positive, from self-doubt to self-assurance, from being a prisoner to my job to the freedom of a job that I love!
What would we do without our music...and More Than Music?
The therapeutic values of music are endless! It was Carole and Valery who taught me that!
THANKS FOR THOSE POSITIVELY UP-LIFTING EXPERIENCES AT MORE THAN MUSIC YEAR AFTER YEAR!!
This was our first year at any music camp, and we were not disappointed that we chose More Than Music! We were thrilled to find that the attitude of Valerie and Carol and the instructors was one of care and interest in all students. That, in itself, is a beautiful thing.
Even though I have been a piano teacher, studio musician, composer, arranger and singer (with airplay on US Christian radio stations in the 1980's) we came to the camp for the benefit of my girls, who are both violinists.
I was pleased with the instruction and encouragement they received from Karen Kemmit. The fun yet talented and gifted T.J. (orchestra director) stands out heroically--he's amazing. Laurie Mitchell's chamber guidance was wonderfully helpful. We wouldn't have wanted to miss Clayton Scott's awesome story-telling and acting. Our entire family (Dad included) thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Perry's calm and yet excellent choir directing--we are still walking around home singing, "with ah little bit uh luck..."--what fun!
The girls made one special new friend; on our way back to Illinois, we even stopped by her home in Toronto to meet her family, and they were just as sweet as she. We plan to keep in touch!
At More than Music, we made memories for a lifetime.
I chose this particular camp first of all, because we do everything we can as a family, and secondly, the chamber groups and orchestra were offered to students in book four. From what I found online, many Suzuki camps in the US do not offer chamber or orchestra to students who are not in at least book five or six.
Thank you, Carol, Valerie and all the excellent instructors for a wonderful week of memories and music making!
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