Indiana Music Camp 2018

For the last seven years, I've graciously been invited to serve on the faculty of The Salvation Army's Indiana Music Camp. Originally, I thought I wouldn't be able to participate this year because I hoped to attend a Highlights Foundation Novel Workshop. After much thought and deliberation, we decided we simply couldn't afford it ($2500) and so I attended music camp after all. I don't regret the change in plans.

I'm uncomfortable in leadership positions (I was never a great conductor when I led the junior choir, although I do think I selected appropriate and inspiring songs for them to sing), so I was thrilled to learn I would be assisting instead of leading. I worked with the middle school band instructor who led the Intermediate Band and assisted another officer teaching the creative writing elective, my favorite part of camp. I also taught a small group of campers during the daily theory time. I used to love theory, but after years away from it, it is like an unused language and not quite so much fun anymore. I played in the second horn section of the faculty band (especially challenging because I haven't picked up my horn in almost an entire year). While I'm sure I wasn't much of an asset to the faculty (messed up quite a few passages during the faculty band performance), I did enjoy the camaraderie and the chance to nurture a love of music in the campers.

On Wednesday evening of the encampment, we always make a faculty run to the nearby Steak 'n Shake:

This is the photo of our group, minus a fair number who stayed behind.

I was able to take Trevor along as a camper. He fought me tooth and nail about participating in the solo contest. He just didn't care about placing and didn't want to do it. Finally, in the week prior to the camp, I laid down the law and insisted. I don't think he regretted his change in plans either. He ended up winning first place in the Advanced Band competition. That's quite an accomplishment because he played a snare drum solo without accompaniment, competing against instrumentalists with accompaniment. But he blew the judges away with his confidence, accuracy, technique, and dynamics.

Moreover, if he hadn't participated in the solo competition, he wouldn't have scored enough points to win any of the larger awards. On the final day, at the closing concert, he received the Brigadier Richard Miller Award.

This award includes a scholarship to one of the territorial camps, either Central Music Institute or CBLI (the annual Bible camp we've attended for twenty consecutive years). Back when Trevor's older brother Bryce used to attend music camp, he won this award several times, but at that time you could only use it for CMI and that camp always conflicts with Indiana school schedules. While I would have loved it if my boys had been able to take advantage of these opportunities to attend CMI (a beloved camp from my teenaged days), I simply couldn't put them behind the eight ball by missing a solid week of school at the very beginning (when teachers form first impressions).

Midway through the week, Trevor regaled me with his three favorite parts of music camp, in order: 1) the ukulele elective class, 2) paintball, and 3) advanced band. In the advanced band, he was assigned the drum set for one of their pieces, "Moses." After doing so well in the band and in the solo competition, one of the officers who will be in charge of the tween track at CBLI asked Trevor to play the drums for the tween praise band there. While it was wonderful to get home to our own beds and loose schedules, both Trevor and I had a wonderful time at Indiana Music Camp 2018!