Summer Programs
Crescendo Academy of Music offers different summer music programs for students interested in continuing their music education year-round.
Crescendo Fiddlers
Director: Joanna Steinhauser
Director Joanna Steinhauser teaches folk fiddle music from various cultures, including Celtic, American, Canadian, Scandinavian, and Chinese styles. In addition to weekly classes, the Crescendo Fiddlers perform throughout the summer at regional folk music festivals, community events, and farmers’ markets. Membership is open to violin, viola, and cello players of all ages who have played for at least three players for Advanced Fiddlers, or around two years for Beginning Fiddlers.
Class Session:
Crescendo Fiddlers meet from June 20th – August 22nd
Class Days and Times:
Mondays from 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm for beginning fiddlers
Mondays from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm for advanced fiddlers
Class Fees:
Cost: $10 for beginners class; $15 for advanced class
A $15 drop-in fee is charged for each Fiddler Club meeting (September-May).
Chamber Music Ensembles
(Instructors listed below)
Crescendo Chamber Ensembles are for students of all instruments including voice interested in exploring chamber music repertoire. Placement in a group is based on playing level and age. Groups include duos, trios, quartets, quintets, and more. Rehearsals culminate in an August recital. Ensemble coaches include Mark Portolese (violin/piano), Silvia Sidorane McClish (cello), James Saunders (violin), Nicholas Jeffery (viola/violin), Jesse Williams (clarinet), Margaret Hamilton (French horn), and more.
Class Session:
Starting June 2022
Class Days and Times:
TBA
Class Fees:
$20 per one-hour coaching session
Violapalooza
Instructors: Crescendo Teaching Artists and guest musicians
Rehearse and play music with Kalamazoo area violists! Presented by Crescendo teaching artist Nicholas Jeffery and violist Karin Code (Code Studio Strings). Cost is just $25 per student.
Special guest workshop and performance by Arturo Ziraldo, Principal Violist of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.
To see the sheet music and hear the music you’ll be playing, go here.
To register, go here.
Class Days and Times:
Sunday, July 3, 2022
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
at Crescendo Academy of Music
Class Fees:
$25 per student
Workshops & Masterclasses
Instructors: guest artists
Workshop topics will vary; watch this page for details. Topics will include string instrument skills (vibrato, shifting, etc.), improvisation, aural skills, music theory, introduction to a new instrument, and more.
Masterclasses provide an opportunity for area student musicians to observe and learn from professional artists. Performance is by audition only. They are open to the public to attend.
Class Days and Times:
TBA
Class Fees:
$10 for Crescendo students; $20 for non-Crescendo students
Music Together
SELECT THE LEARN MORE BUTTON BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS
With Music Together, you’ll make music once a week for six weeks with our Music Together specialists using songs from the Harmonica Song Collection for younger kids or the Tiger collection for Rhythm Kids.
One session: June 27 – August 5
Registration opens in May
Epic Broadway! Musical Theater Camp
Shannon Scoles (vocal technique), Corlyn Longer-Schreck (acting and vocal technique)
DUE TO CURRENT COVID RATES IN KALAMAZOO, EPIC BROADWAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR SUMMER 2022.
Epic Broadway! is a collaboration between Crescendo Academy of Music and Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers.
focus:
Join us for a week of specialized training and education in Vocal Music Theater!
Work with college faculty who have spent decades teaching and coaching young singers in vocal technique and acting specifically for the musical stage.
This unique experience will include:
- Daily Private Voice Lessons working on a Music Theater solo
- Learning the basics of Character Development and Staging
- Learning about the history of Music Theater
- Meeting other campers who have the same passion for musical theater
- A Concert Performance on Friday, June 25
Class Session:
2020 camp runs June 21 – 25 for students age 13-18
Class Days and Times:
Camp activities will take place between 9 am and 4 pm each day. Prior to the start of the week, each camper will choose a music theater song that fits the camp’s theme (Musicals of the 1970s). Monday’s schedule will start with an Orientation Session. The week will culminate in a group Concert for sharing with family and friends that will begin at 7 PM on Friday, June 25.
Class Fees:
$250 (Register and pay by May 30 for an Early Bird discount of $20!)
Students will:
- Develop musical theater dance technique
- Receive individual voice lessons working on solos and/or duets
- Learn the basics of character development and staging
- Learn and stage large ensemble music
- Perform in the Finale Showcase on Friday, June 26 at 7:00 pm in the Wellspring Theater
