Hunterdon Youth Orchestra Camp

Once a year, the musical youth of Hunterdon have a chance to study orchestral music with Lawrence Kursar, conductor of the Hunterdon Symphony, and members of the Symphony, who serve as coaches. This year, the chance comes during the week of July 12th through the 16th.

That it happens over only five mornings of one summer week makes the transition these kids go through all the more astonishing. The students, some of whom have had little or no experience playing with an orchestra, are handed a daunting folder of REAL orchestral music (not the simplified version often used by schools) on Morning One, and go from the cacophonous chaos that surely might be played for audiences in Hell, at the first downbeat that day, - to a performance, after five mornings of intense work, that is enough to make any parent gasp with surprise, and glow with pride.

How do they do it? - Magic. (And a lot of hard work.)

The first time I attended the Friday evening concert, the culmination of one week's work, I was stunned, as were audience members all around me. "Wow!" people were exclaiming as they rose from their seats at the end. "That was amazing!" "That was wonderful!" I myself was speechless, as truly, I had not expected it to sound so good.

It happens year after year. This summer's session of the HUNTERDON YOUTH ORCHESTRA CAMP, brought to you by the Hunterdon County Department of Parks and Recreation, with Hunterdon Musical Arts, will the be the 11th.

7th through 12th grade students of all orchestral instruments (excluding piano) are eligible. The cost is $150. Camp takes place Monday, July 12th through Friday, July 16th from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Monday through Thursday at Hunterdon Central High School, and Friday, July 16th at St. Paul Lutheran Church, on Rt. 31 in Flemington. The Friday evening concert will be at Deer Path Park. Call (908) 782-1158 to register.

You can hear the HUNTERDON YOUTH ORCHESTRA perform the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky, Friday, July 16th 7:00 PM at the Cedars Pavilion in Deer Path Park, located next to the Hunterdon County YMCA, at 120 West Woodschurch Road (off Route 31), Flemington, NJ 08822. The concert is free.