Don’t Miss a Beat: How to Nail Your Summer Music Intensive

Bows slide over strings, and fingers dance over keys. As you walk over to your seat, you feel the floor rumble with low brass tones. As they warm up, you can hear every individual instrument noodling through sounds. It’s not music, but the beginning of another day at your summer intensive.

Summer intensives enable young musicians to experience being part of a full orchestra and practice with expert musicians. Whether you’re fine-tuning your scales or perfecting your concertos, a summer music intensive will help you achieve all your goals.

What is a Summer Intensive?

Summer music intensives are immersive programs for pre-professional musicians of all ages designed to help boost their musical abilities. Most programs offer master classes, ensemble pieces, a full orchestra, or band experience, and performance opportunities. Often, these camps last for a few weeks, training students in their area of focus. This includes their technique, music theory, or musicality. Intensives also often allow students to work with musical experts who may be former conductors or current symphonic musicians. At the end of the summer intensive, students may showcase their progress in ensembles or solos. Not only does a summer intensive improve students musically, but also socially. Being in the music community makes it impossible not to make friends; many campers foster long-lasting friendships and connections with others.

What Should I Expect at the Summer Intensive?

Before most summer intensives, many camps require chair auditions. Seating auditions allow musicians to view their individual musical development. According to the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra, “this also allows the conductors to monitor the progress of musicians throughout the season and able to respond better to difficulties as they arise.” Not only are chairs important for monitoring, but they are also important to determine the parts that the musician receives (first part, second part, etc.).

The moment you receive your music and assignments, you may realize that the work may be more challenging than expected. Being successful in musical environments, like intensives, requires you to have long hours of rehearsal and practice. Not only do you have orchestral music, but most summer intensives have chamber music (music for small ensemble), which requires even more attention. Thomas Rosenberg, Director of the Chamber Music Academy and Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute, said, “Despite many years of private lessons and excellent youth orchestra training, chamber music playing reveals that most students still need much improvement… attaining good intonation is far more challenging in a chamber ensemble than an orchestra.”

You should also expect to have masterclasses with experts. Working with professionals gives campers more direct corrections and allows them to improve faster with one-to-one sessions. Lian Parsons, a Boston-based writer currently with Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, explains, “Professional development is important because it has the potential to open opportunities… assist you in honing existing skills and in learning new ones.”

With all these events stacked on top of each other, expect your schedule to be packed with practicing and events, little free time, lots of music.

How to Prepare Beforehand

Make sure to practice auditions or repertoire before going to summer camp. Knowing the pieces before camp allows you to focus on technique, musicality, and the interpretation of music, rather than having to spend your time at camp learning the basics. Knowing your music ahead of time allows you to make the most out of the limited time at camp. Being prepared allows you to make the most out of your experience and not fall behind.

An important skill to have as you’re going to camp is good time management. As a camper with little time to be distracted, you must balance practice, rest, and know how to stay focused under pressure. As much time as music takes up, having rested fully is equally or more important than perfecting music. Staying focused and calm under pressure also helps prevent burnout and boost your confidence. A study from the International Journal of Music Education found that students who entered music intensives with better time management were less stressed and more satisfied with progress.

Summer intensives allow young musicians to grow not only musically but also personally. From practicing early in the morning to late in the day, each moment allows the camper to learn and grow from their experiences. Not only do students leave camp with more knowledge, but with unforgettable memories.