9. This one time at band camp...

Writing from Cincinnati New Horizons Band Camp (lots of photos!)

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Hi friends,

I arrived in Cincinnati on Sunday and am in the midst of teaching at a week-long New Horizons Band Camp at Mt. St. Joseph University. I’ve conducted the Portsmouth New Horizons Band for twenty years and it is a phenomenal program for adults who are looking to express themselves through creativity. I always jump at any opportunity travel and teach at one of the New Horizons International Music Association’s band camps.

Sunday evening rehearsal on the first night of New Horizons Band Camp in Cincinnati. I am conducting the Advanced Band, and when I’m not on the podium I play in their saxophone section.

This week I am one of three conductors for the camp’s Advanced Band. I really enjoy being a part of a conducting team, because I learn so much from the other conductors. The repertoire is fantastic and the musicians are true New Horizons devotees. Some of the campers have only recently begun playing an instrument and it is exciting to see them experiencing the joy of an immersive music camp for the first time.

Every person at the camp gets a music folder stuffed with information and a name tag. The name tags come in handy, since there are about one hundred campers!

I’m also teaching an Introduction to Improvisation class, which kicked off on Monday. We learned an Eddie Harris tune and everyone had an opportunity to take a solo - totally improvised! For many of the participants, it was the first time they had tried to do this. My approach is focused on allowing each player to fully understand that they are embarking on a new creative journey with improvisation, and that they can start right away with a few simple tools, the most important being self-forgiveness. Most tell me that they’ve never played music without reading it off of a written page and that the very thought of improvising is intimidating. Adults spend too much time beating themselves up over playing a “wrong” note (in our class, there are NO wrong notes), instead of letting themselves be absorbed in the music and improvisation process. As we lower our musical inhibitions, we free our creativity in ways that can often be surprising. It’s going to be a fun week for this group.

The camp organizers keep me busy every day of the camp!

The saxophone ensemble I’m leading each afternoon has six altos, three tenors, and two baritones (I’m one of the two baritones, playing alongside one of the campers), so the group has a full rich sound. We balanced our first rehearsal between a 16th century chanson transcription and an arrangement of the theme song from Mission Impossible. I’ve assured the group that playing a piece in 5/4 is not impossible, despite the title…

The Advanced Band rehearsal on the main stage at Mt. St. Joseph University.

The tuba and euphonium section in the Advanced Band. The tuba player on the far left is one of the conductors, Bruce Knapp - going strong at eighty years of age. Music can keep us young!

Al Rochlin is another conductor for the Advanced Band. I learn a lot watching my peers lead their portion of our rehearsals. It’s a true professional development opportunity for me.

The New Horizons Music program is a great opportunity for adults to engage in a creative activity that is also social and is truly fun. It’s low pressure compared to most music ensembles, and highly educational. If you’ve thought about playing music, but haven’t picked up an instrument yet, I highly recommend you seek out a New Horizons organization in your area.

Russ Rosen (the other Russ at camp), is not only a clarinettist in the Advanced Band, he’s the camp director. He’s done an amazing job of welcoming us to Cincinnati and tomorrow evening he’s taking us on a river cruise.

Jack Conway, one of the camp organizers, conducts the Intermediate Band at their Monday morning rehearsal. It was great to sneak in and hear some of their music.

There is also some wonderful art on campus. The Catholic university the camp is based at has some interesting mid-20th Century architecture, and a lot of religious iconography. The music department facilities have been very nice and the staff is friendly and kind. A great place to spend a week making music.

The architecture on campus is mid-20th century - and at times feels like I’m in a time warp, in the best possible way. This is Corona Tower. I love the three bells atop the tower, just below the cross.

This piece of art hangs in the Theater building, near back entrance to the stage we’ve been rehearsing on, and where we’ll perform on Friday.

On my daily walk, before sunrise on Monday morning, I discovered a pedestrian path at the convent across the street from the university. While walking the grounds, four young deer were frolicing on the lawn, as if they were playing a game of tag. When they saw me, they became curious and kept a close eye on me, following me around the grounds. I’m going to head out early each day to see if this is a regular routine for them.

Some curious young deer check me out on the grounds of the convent, across the street from the university. The iPhone exposure of this photo makes it look like daylight, but it was actually taken just before dawn, at about 6:15am (the sun comes up later here than on the east coast!)

If you want to come hang out with me at band camp, I’ll be teaching at another New Horizons camp this October in Mt. Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. For information on enrolling (especially if you are a percussionist - we need percussionists in the advanced band) click here.

I hope you continue to make time for music in your life. In fact, make time to play today. And make some art. Dance. Sing.

Be Creative.

~Russ