Festival Dates
July 22 – August 2, 2024
ONE OR TWO WEEK SESSIONS AVAILABLE
Elementary Session: Age group 6-8
weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Junior Session: Age group 9-13
weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Senior Session: Age group 14-19
weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Locations
Our Lady of the Hamptons School, 160 N Main St Southampton NY 11968 (Daily Classes)
Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane Southampton NY 11968 (Masterclasses and Final Performance)
Schedule
Each day we will work with all of the students on different aspects of music making, such as orchestra, chamber music, musicianship, improvisation, ear training and composition. At the end of week one, all the hard work will culminate in a Works In Progress Masterclass. At the end of week two, there will be a final performance to showcase all of the hard work over the two weeks. 
Orchestra – Students will play together in orchestra. We will teach all the skills necessary to play in an orchestra. We do not have fixed seating in our orchestra, so students will be rotating and learn to sit in different positions throughout the orchestra.
Chamber Music – We will form chamber music groups of 2-6 students per group (duos, trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets). The coaches will give one-on-one coaching, and through core repertoire emphasize the importance of efficient rehearsal techniques. We place great emphasis on developing good practice habits, in order to maximize the potential of each and every young musician.
*If you have a pre-formed group that works together during the year, we encourage you to sign up as a chamber ensemble!
Masterclass – Each student performs in masterclass at least once during the week. After the student performs, the other students give both complimentary and critical feedback, thus developing critical listening skills, and public speaking skills. After the initial round of peer feedback, our coaches will work in-depth with the young performers on stage.
Improvisation – We pride ourselves on our unique improvisation class. By learning the basics of music theory and improvisation, we guide the students to discover their own musical voice in a series of fun and engaging creativity exercises. Our experience with these exercises have shown that they have a huge beneficial impact on the skills necessary to excel at playing classical music. And we all have a lot of fun doing it!
Composition – The composition program focuses on reinforcing fundamental principles of music (timbre, tessitura, tempo, dynamic, articulation, structural form) through the hands-on process of creating a new piece. Pre-composed musical fragments are presented to the ensemble, played through, and discussed critically. Students vote on which fragments will comprise the new piece, then collectively string them together, auditioning the excerpts high and low, loud and soft, short and long, arco and pizzicato, etc. A rough sketch is formulated, which the students rehearse and continue to discuss, contributing new ideas and inspirations as the week goes on. The composition program culminates in a “premiere” of the co-composed work for friends and family as part of the finale concert.