Hey Laurel People!

We've had an overwhelmingly great start to our registration season! Hingham, MA and Newington, CT currently have the most students registered with 8 campers each that will join us in June! How exciting :) Many more districts across the northeast are represented... Cheshire, Trumbull, Naugatuck, Coventry and a few students joining us from NYC just to name a few!

For those 112 campers that have already registered, ACCEPTANCE PACKETS WILL BE SENT OUT IN THE COMING WEEKS. These packets will have additional information on: required forms, contact information, packing lists and much, much more. We know you have tons of questions... answers are on the way!

Haven't registered yet? No sweat! But: spots are filling up QUICKLY so we highly recommend adding it to your to-do list ASAP! We are specifically looking to fill out the following sections of our ensembles: violin, string bass, male vocalists, trombone and french horn. Make sure to spread the word!

ALL THINGS REGISTRATION: http://www.laurelmusiccamp.com/registration.html

Good Morning Laurel Music Camp! 

Registration has opened and spaces are filling up quick! We're just as excited as all of you :) We wanted to share some reminders of our guest conductors for the 2018 season: 

Three of our conductors from last season will be returning, and we have a new but familiar face leading our choir for the first time: Nhung Truong!

We can't wait to see you all on June 23rd! Spots are filling up fast, so if you haven't registered yet get to it! All information can be found on our website. 

Hey camp family! Our senior staff recently held our elections for Director of Laurel Music Camp. We are pleased to announce that Phil Giampietro will be serving as our new Director! His term begins with our September senior staff meeting in preparation for the 2018 season. Best wishes to Phil in this endeavor, and a huge THANK YOU to our departing director Scott Minnerly. He did an amazing job and we will be forever grateful! 

And, I all lead you in the following cheer: PHIL, PHIL, PHIL, PHIL...

GUYS: CAMP IS SOOOOO CLOSE!!!
Here's a big picture checklist of things to do leading up to next week:

                                                               Have you...

• Had your physical and mailed your health form to the address in the packet prior to June 20, 2017 (otherwise bring it to camp check in)

                                  Jeff Liskin
                                  55 Overlook Rd
                                  Winsted, CT 06098  

• Packed your audition piece and a music stand (instrumentalists only)
• Packed all of your concert attire (mom can't bring it to the concert it has to be at camp!)
• Made sure your parents/guardians know where the concert is:

                                Naugatuck High School
                                543 Rubber Ave
                                Naugatuck, Ct 06770  Downbeat @ 7pm (Please arrive early)

• Left your flipflops home
• Remember there is no place to charge your electronic device….why not unplug?
• Prepared yourself for an awesome week, making music and meeting new friends?

Some other helpful items: 
Sleeping bags or bedding (cots provided)                            Towels
Clothes for warm and cold weather                                      Rain Gear
Shoes appropriate for walking in the woods                         Personal grooming items
Flashlight with extra batteries                                               Rope for clothesline
Reading and writing materials as desired                             Insect repellent
Recreational materials as desired (softball glove)                Bathing suit
bug net for over the bunk (avail at scout store)                     Your instrument, guitar, Ukulele


AAAAAND remember that our concert dress is ALL BLACK THIS YEAR! See below for appropriate examples: 

Hello Laurel Music Camp! The senior staff is busy getting all of the details ready to go for LMC 2017. We can't wait to see you all there! Acceptance packets will be mailed out within the next week. This Morning, we have some important information to share regarding the final concert. 

Concert Location
Friday June 30th, 7PM
Naugatuck High School Auditorium
543 Rubber Ave
Naugatuck, CT 06770

Concert Dress (for campers)
We ask that students wear “concert black” for the concert. THIS IS A CHANGE FROM PAST YEARS, PLEASE NOTE!!!! While tuxedos and formal dresses are not needed, we do ask that campers dress nicely for the event. We like to think of it as Sunday’s best attire, rather than black tie.

• Black pants or skirt (knee length or below)
• Black button down shirt or nice blouse
• Black dress (knee length or below)
• Black Shoes
• A black tie is optional 
• A Jacket is not required (If not wearing a suit jacket, please wear a black collar shirt

Photo examples of appropriate "Concert Black" dress

What don’t I wear?

• Plastic flip-flops
  
• Very short or revealing clothing
  
• White socks with black shoes

Please remember that the students perform on an elevated stage under bright lights.  See-through clothing or short skirts are not appropriate – these are very obvious on stage. 

Happy Monday LMC fans! We had a great staff meeting on Sunday (at a snowy Camp Workcoeman, which was different), and we are gearing up and getting ready to make 2017 the greatest season yet!

We wanted to share exciting news with you all: all of the conductors from last summer will be BACK to share their expertise with you again this summer! We couldn't be more pleased :)

Ron Ciasullo (Jazz Band), Gary Partridge (Band), Sarah Bowe (Choir) and Ertan Sener (Orchestra) are all looking forward to working with you again! Check out our posts from last year for more specific details about our wonderful guest conductors. 

We hope to have our registration officially open later this week, so stay tuned for an official announcement!

Hellooooooooo Laurel Music Camp! We hope you are all having a wonderful school year and a jolly start to the holiday season! We have some exciting news to share with you regarding the preparations for our 75th Anniversary coming up in 2019, and we need your help: 

The Laurel Music Camp, Inc. 75th Anniversary Committee is seeking artists and graphic artists to create an image to be used as a logo to represent the 75th anniversary celebration of Laurel Music Camp, Inc.

Laurel Music Camp, Inc. is a non-profit organization in the State of Connecticut that provides a one week camp experience to junior and senior high school students at a camp owned and run by the Boy Scouts of America.  It is staffed by volunteer music educators and former campers. Its philosophy is that of “Fellowship Through Music”.

Images/logos are to be submitted in color.  If the image has multiple colors, please also include a single color version and a transparency of the image, all in Jpeg, PDF and EPS format along with the attached release to Roberta Prior at RobertaPrior@yahoo.com by no later than January 6, 2017.

Images will be reviewed and selected by the Laurel Music Camp 75th Anniversary Committee where the top three submissions will be to be voted on by the entire LMC voting membership.   The artist for the winning logo will receive two complimentary tickets to the LMC 75th Anniversary Concert on June 28, 2019.

We hope everyone has a moment to share their ideas for the logo! Please submit your submissions (along with the below release form) before January 6th... we can't wait to see what you come up with!

We're wishing all of our campers (and staff!) a wonderfully successful school year! Make sure to share one thing you learned at LMC this summer with you classmates and your music director! We can't wait to see you all again next year!

Want to relive the concert all year long? Make sure you grab the concert CD (... and DVD if you wish!) and listen to it over and over and over... check it out on the Soundwaves website here. 

Sarah Bowe is currently pursuing a doctorate in Choral Conducting at Louisiana State University where she co-directs the LSU Chamber Singers, mentors undergraduate conductors, teaches undergraduate aural skills for the LSU Music Theory department, and serves as a section leader at St. Alban's Chapel in Baton Rouge. Over the past year she has conducted the LSU Chamber Singers and the LSU Women’s Chorale, and has prepared the LSU Tiger Men’s Glee Club for performance of Mozart’s Requiem. 

Sarah holds an MM in Choral Conducting and a BM summa cum laude in Music Education and Music Theory from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her conducting mentors include Dr. E. Wayne Abercrombie, Dr. Tony Thornton, and Dr. John Dickson. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Society for Music Theory, and the American Choral Directors’ Association. 

Prior to graduate study, Sarah was an active music educator in Massachusetts and held teaching positions in Winchendon, Woburn (her hometown), and Springfield. Her experience includes work with secondary choir, band, classroom music, and summer theatre productions for students K-12. She is especially passionate about middle school music education, and in her most recent teaching position helped to implement a choral program for at-risk youth in an urban school. 

​We're excited to have Sarah back to work with our vocalists at camp! We are still looking for MALE VOICES to fill out the choir, as well as trombone, french horn, bassoon and orchestral strings. Only 23 more days until we see your smiling faces at registration! 

Gary L. Partridge received his Bachelor of Music Education from The Hartt School, University of Hartford, and his Masters of Music in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Connecticut.  He has studied conducting with Larry Rachleff, William Revelli, William Willett, and Alan Gillespie.
 
Mr. Partridge has retired from Music and Arts Centers where, as an Educational Representative, he managed school accounts and served as an advocate for Music Education in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts for the national company.
 
In his twenty-two years at Renbrook School in West Hartford, he was Director of Music and conducted the Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble.  Both groups annually earned Superior Awards in festivals in the U.S. and Canada.  Renbrook School commissioned W. Francis McBeth’s “The Dream Catcher”, and performed the premier of that work in September 1996.  The Concert Band appeared at the Connecticut Music Educators Association In-Service Conferences in 1997 and 2001.
 
He is in his twentieth year as conductor of Capitol Symphonic Winds at the Hartt School.  Capitol Symphonic Winds was a featured performing ensemble at the 2004 Connecticut Music Educators Conference. 
 
As Director of Bands at Central Connecticut State University, Mr. Partridge directed the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and the Blue Devil Marching Band from 1985 to 1996.  The Blue Devil Marching Band was featured at half-time shows in Foxboro, Massachusetts for the New England Patriots.  He was the conductor of the Concert Band at Laurel Music Camp for many years from 1990 to 2003, and is returning to Camp this Summer. 
 
He has conducted numerous All State, Regional, and District Bands throughout the country and is active as an adjudicator and clinician.  He continues to adjudicate for Classics Festivals, Heritage Festivals, Music in the Parks, and is a frequent adjudicator for the Rhode Island Music Educators Band Festival.  He is a member of many professional organizations, having served the Connecticut Music Educators Association as adjudicator chair for the All State auditions, and as Festival Chair for the Northern Region Middle School Music Festival for twenty years.  He is a member of the International Bandmasters Fraternity, Phi Beta Mu.
 
Gary is a longtime friend of LMC, so we're excited to have his baton back in front of our campers in Weed Lodge! We are still looking for trombone, alto saxophone, orchestral strings and male vocalists to fill out our ensembles. Make sure you get registered soon as spots are filling up fast!!!!!!