Oh The Places You’ll Go: Music Camps 2017!

Oh the places you’ll go, Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So get on your way!

-Dr. Seuss

Uptown Violins just finished three weeks of music camps in three different cities. We had a blast working with our students across the Midwest!

Week 1: My Favorite Things, Springfield, IL

Our first camp’s theme centered on the beloved 1965 Rogers and Hammerstein classic, The Sound of Music. This movie has always held a special place in our hearts, as Allison and her family used to dress up and perform as the Von Trapps in the years following the movie’s debut. A half-century later, this touching story still resonates with our students. We read a portion of it each day to the kids, while also introducing them to several of its classic songs. We even sang My Favorite Things for our recital on the last day!

In addition to learning about the musical, we studied several other musical genres as well. We looked at classical music, listening to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and playing one of his minuets while learning how to dance like the courtiers of the 18th century! We also taught our campers to fiddle and even square dance like Texans, which was a whole new world to our Illinoisans! On the last day students learned about early pop and rock music, listening to the works of icons including Elvis Presley (whom none of them had heard of before!), The Beatles, and Michael Jackson. They particularly liked performing a rendition of the King of Pop’s hit song “Billie Jean.”

Week 2: Under the Sea, Dallas, TX

The second week of camp we took our Texas campers on an oceanic adventure! Each day we discovered more about our favorite sea creatures, including the fact that male seahorses can give birth to their own babies! We enjoyed playing some of our favorite water games, including “sharks and minnows” and “still water still.”

From a musical perspective, we focused on famous songs which center on the sea, including Handel’s Water Music, Saint-Saëns’ “Aquarium” from The Carnival of the Animals (which many of the students recognized from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast), Debussy’s Impressionist work La Mer, and Jazz singer Charles Trenet’s 1940s hit “La Mer,” popularized in the United States by Bobby Darin as “Beyond the Sea.” The kids especially enjoyed performing John William’s terrifying two-note theme from the 1970s thriller Jaws. We also delved into the world of music theory, working on mastering students’ knowledge of key signatures and the order of sharps and flats. To review our extensive material, campers went fishing for musical flashcards, and even embarked on a competitive musical treasure hunt, for which they had to search for clues with musical challenges, including playing the Beatles’ song “Yellow Submarine” and “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. Our little pirates celebrated with a treasure chest of Swedish fish and goldfish crackers.

Week 3: Oh The Places You’ll Go, Wichita, KS

We concluded our summer music camps with an engaging musical tour of Europe, inspired by Dr. Seuss’s beloved classic, Oh The Places You’ll Go, the last of his published children’s books. We focused on composers spanning the Baroque time period to the twentieth century. The first day of camp centered on Russian composers, including Tchaikovsky, who wrote one of the most challenging violin concertos of all time, and Rimsky-Korsakov, who wrote the stunning violin solos in his famous work Scheherazade. The second day the campers dawned braids and alpine hats for their virtual trip to Germany and Austria, meccas of Western classical music. Having already studied the great masters Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven in previous years, we focused on Brahms, Haydn, and the scintillating Schubert symphonies.

Of course we couldn’t ignore Uptown Violins’ affinity for all things French, so on the third day of camp we entered the realm of Paris, with the Eiffel Tower presiding over us as we enjoyed the Impressionist works of Debussy and listened to the coquettish music of Bizet’s opera Carmen. On the last day, we enjoyed the Baroque Italian masters, including the Vivaldi violin concertos and the chamber works of Corelli. We finished the week by performing some of our favorite showpieces at the Lakepoint Assisted Living Facility.

Needless to say, it has been a busy three works for Uptown Violins! However, we all took time to relax together at our favorite summer vacation spot, Table Rock Lake. A little known fact about us: in addition to playing violin, all members of Uptown Violins are avid water skiers!

My Favorite Things

Sound of Music: “My Favorite Things:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IagRZBvLtw

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUUUAsqE77w

“Boil the Cabbage Down:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441sSWWxee4

Michael Jackson: “Billie Jean:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Ph_MXIP1o

Under the Sea

Handel: “Hornpipe” from Water Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h4mAceHmrI

Saint-Saëns: “Aquarium” from Carnival of the Animals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyFpZ5MZ7kk

Debussy: La Mer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOCucJw7iT8&list=RDFOCucJw7iT8#t=76

Bobby Darin: “Beyond the Sea:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bRAtV-jgoQ

John Williams: Jaws Theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX3bN5YeiQs

The Little Mermaid: “Under the Sea:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_mV1IpjWA

Oh The Places You’ll Go

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op 35: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbJZeNlrYKg

Rimsky-Korsakov: Violin Solos from Scheherazade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPB15Ma2o48&list=RDTPB15Ma2o48

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” D 759: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWnKMzAedK4

Bizet: “Habanera” from Carmen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_HHRJf0xg

Vivaldi: Concerto in A minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTPiZup0QmM

Corelli: Christmas Concerto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na9OFx-DnAs