On Sept. 29, the D’Angelo Department of Music will host its annual Piano and Strings Day.
This event brings students in grades six through 12 onto campus to attend seminars and private lessons and perform in a recital.
This is not an introductory camp, and the students should have some form of proficiency on their instruments.
The levels can range from intermediate to advanced.
The cost of attendance is $60.
This includes tuition, the day’s activities, a T-shirt and lunch at the Grotto Commons.
There is also room in the schedule for a tour of campus, but students are allowed to utilize that time to practice for their recital that evening instead.
In previous years, there have been about 16-18 students per session, split between piano and bowed strings.
The violin and cello are the most popular of the stringed instruments.
The day begins at 8:30 a.m. with registration.
Group lessons begin at 9 a.m.
The students are broken up into groups that either attend the lesson or attend theory class and/or an aural skills class.
“There may be four or five students in one group lesson while the other group is attending the theory class.
“The students then switch at 10:30,” said Nathan Hess, D.M.A.
After this, they break for lunch.
At 1:30 p.m., the strings will have a masterclass while the piano students will have a seminar.
At 3 p.m., they will switch.
Once this is complete, they will have dinner, which is not included in the fee.
Recitals begin with the string students around 5 p.m. and then the piano students will begin their recitals around 6:30 p.m.
The recitals will take place in Walker Recital Hall and are free and open to the public.
These will be recorded, and students have the option to purchase a DVD.
This program was the joint idea of former D’Angelo Music professor Joe Kneer, D.M.A., and Hess a few years ago.
In Fall 2015, they decided to go for it and held the first Piano and Strings Day.
They had about 18 attendees and consider it to have been successful. It is their brainchild and it is currently in its fourth year.
“It is a way to reach out to the community and local middle school and high schoolers.
“It is also a great recruiting event because we have had attendees who enrolled into our degree programs,” said Hess.
If you know someone who qualifies, they can easily register on the Music department website.
To ensure a spot register by the 26; however, they will accept applicants until the night before.