Sponsored by West Denver Suzuki Strings, this chamber music camp is a dream opportunity for students of violin, viola, and cello.

Every summer for the past 15 years, violin teacher Laura Barnette has headed up a chamber music camp for kids on the west side of the Denver metro area.

And unlike other music camps in the region, the Summer Chamber Music Session is specially tailored to and built around the skills and levels (and desires!) of the students who enroll, creating a friendly and flexible environment in which the young musicians typically thrive.

Courtesy of West Denver Suzuki Strings

And chamber music is such a beneficial experience that offers so much more individual musicality than playing in an ordinary orchestra can.

"We find that chamber music is one of the best ways to advance our students' playing," Barnette, the lead teacher at West Denver Suzuki Strings, says. "Ordinary practicing becomes a solitary endeavor, but when they're paired with other instruments in a quartet, each person takes ownership of their individual part and what they're contributing to the overall piece."

The camp is specifically for students ages 8 to 18, who play at an intermediate level (minimum) in violin, viola, or cello. Bass players and pianists can also be accommodated. And as long as students can read music well and are at an intermediate playing level, no specific Suzuki background is required.

This Is How It Works:

Registered students are divided into quartets based on age and ability and then assigned to an experienced teacher/coach via a 4:1 ratio. The coaches meet and determine which groups should tackle which chamber pieces according to the pedagogy that they've developed over the years. A lot of thought is put into this part, with pieces chosen specifically for and tailored to the individual quartets (usually three music pieces per quartet). For instance, one year, students requested to play Scottish fiddle music, and another year, tangos were popular.

"There are a lot of good chamber camps around," Barnette says. "We're a more intermediate to advanced level, and we're small enough that we can really look at which students enroll. We are really community-oriented and are able to remain flexible to the needs of the students." 

The Summer Chamber Music Session can only handle 11 quartets, due to space, for a total of 44 students. Once the groups and their pieces have been determined, the sheet music is sent out five weeks in advance of the camp so the students can start practicing. By the time the camp session begins on Monday, June 8, the expectation is that the quartet members will know their parts well enough that the collaborative practice time over the course of the week can be dedicated to developing technique and understanding music theory.

Campers attend Monday–Friday, June 8–12, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with an end-of-week concert at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 12.

One of the 2017 session's quartets, courtesy of West Denver Suzuki Strings

"My hope for the students at the end of the week is that they would have such a joyous, rewarding time making music with others that that same enthusiasm will carry them forward into their own personal music work," Barnette says.

And it seems that that vision is coming to pass, with many instrumentalists returning each summer to participate in the camp again and again. Past students have expressed pride in being able to successfully tackle a piece that everyone said was too difficult, while others, upon their graduation from high school, proudly displayed photos of their original quartet from 10 years before—showing just what the annual camp experience meant to them.

Barnette shares that one of the most meaningful things for her is seeing the age-old music passed from generation to generation.

"We once had a group of intermediate players who played an early Mozart string quartet," she says. "And when they had finished performing, I just felt this lovely thrill that 'Mozart's going to live for one more generation'!"

The Details:

The Summer Chamber Music Session will meet at First Presbyterian Church in Golden (17107 W. 16th Ave. 80401), June 8–12, 2020. The cost is $350, and the enrollment deadline is April 15. Visit the West Denver Suzuki website for more information and to register.

Have your kiddos ever participated in a chamber music camp or something similar? What was their experience like? Tell us in the comments!