Contributed by Percussion in the Valley
This summer will mark the 4th year of excellent summer percussion camps right here in the Mat-Su Valley! Student percussionists from around the state of Alaska will have the opportunity to study with local percussion professionals as well as educators from the lower 48. Three sessions are offered to accommodate all age and ability levels. Participants must be between the ages of 7-18.
This summer the camp will be held from June 6-10 at Colony Middle School, in Palmer. Each day will be organized into three sessions. The first session of the day will be for students aged 7-12 who have little or no percussion experience. This is a wonderful chance for those students who are interested in trying percussion to explore the instruments for a week and see what they think. The second session will be for students going into 4th-7th grade who have had at least one year of percussion study. This session is ideal for students who have finished a year of 5th or 6th grade band or have taken percussion lessons. Finally, the third session is for students going into 8th grade to those just graduated from 12th grade who have some musical background. Experience in percussion isn’t necessary as students will be grouped based on ability level.
The camp faculty will include professional Alaskan percussionists Dr. Meggie Aube, who is the camp’s director and Anchorage-based percussion performers and teachers Erika Ninoyu and Kyle Drake. We are also pleased to be bringing up to Alaska, Dr. Dan Moore, a professional percussionist from Iowa City, Iowa. Dr. Moore is the head of percussion studies at the University of Iowa. He is an internationally renowned percussion performer and teacher. His extensive experience in all realms of percussion will be a huge asset to the percussion students of our community. All will benefit greatly from working with him.
Through bringing up a different guest percussionist each year, Alaskan students receive the value of learning from and developing relationships with top professionals from around the country. This is a great asset to all students, but especially to high school students who may be considering making music part of their college experience.
During the camp, students will have the chance to work on their percussion technique, learn a variety of new percussion instruments and music styles, and make friends with other percussionists from around the valley, all while having a lot of fun! The camp will culminate with a concert on Friday, June 10, where students will share all they learned throughout the week. The camp will touch on a variety of percussion areas including: percussion ensemble, Taiko drumming, African drumming, mallet ensemble, drumset, snare drum, percussion accessories, improvisation and more!
For more information on the camp, to see full bios on the faculty, and to register, visit: www.percussioninthevalley.com or contact Dr. Meggie Aube at: 907-631-8079 or meggieaube@hotmail.com. New this year: early registration! Sign up before April 11th and receive $15 off your enrollment fee. Space is limited and early registration is recommended to reserve a spot.