Just visited one of my students at a summer piano camp. It was like a week of concentrated masterclasses for her, and I'm absolutely delighted with the polish the team accomplished.
Hi, John,
Did you happen to go to the Icicle Creek Young Pianist Festival?
I remember last year you had a student who went who seemed to enjoy it a lot.
Oksana Ezhokina - Artistic Director for not only the Young Pianist Festival, is also responsible for the highly regarded Piano Festival in January which brings pre-professional pianist from around the world for intense coaching and the International Chamber Music Festival for pre-professional
instrumentalists studying the chamber music repertoire.
At each of these "camps" the students not only receive coaching and masterclasses but also public performance opportunities that are free to the public. The students are all fabulous. The masterclass opportunities for the pre-professional "camps" are also free to the public. Since I am local, I try to attend them all, if I can.
Since I am an adult amateur pianist, I attend the Adult Piano Retreats at Icicle Creek which are based on the same model as the above "camps" EXCEPT that the masterclasses and piano "recital" (not mandatory) is only for the participants only and not open to the public. However, the faculty does have a public performance.
For parents looking for a camp for their children for piano
who live in Washington state, have a look into what the Young Pianist Festival offers. Icicle Creek Center for the Arts is located in Leavenworth, WA.
For parents of college students/conservatory students in piano or who study chamber music, have them look into the Chamber Music Festival.
For adult amateurs, if you are looking for a camp closer than the east coast, Icicle now has 2 sessions - June and October.
Sorry for the promotion of Icicle, but they do tend to fly under the radar even though the quality of their programs are excellent.
If anyone wants more detailed info, you PM me.
A R