By Robin Alberti
KILLINGTON — A group of very talented musicians shared their gifts with the kids attending summer camp at the Boys and Girls Club of Rutland this past Thursday, July 23. These young musicians, ranging in age from 13 to 28 years old and hailing from all over the globe, will spend five weeks in Killington studying their craft at the Killington Music Festival Camp, a program now in its 33rd year.
The orchestra campers are getting the opportunity to learn from a very accomplished group of musicians. The faculty includes fulltime instructors as well as special guests. Joseph Silverstein, former concert master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is one of the guest teachers this summer.
Every Saturday night the faculty has been performing concerts at Ramshead Base Lodge, and the students have been playing on Fridays. July 31 marks the last day of the five-week camp, and to cap off the experience the students will perform a free event open to the public, Wednesday and Thursday, July 29 and July 30.
Throughout the duration of the camp, students have been putting on outreach concerts. Janet Jacobson, dean of students for the camp, explained that these outreach concerts “. . . give the kids a chance to practice performing in front of audiences and do something nice for the community at the same time.”
The students have performed at the Rutland Free Library, the Rutland Regional Correctional Facility, and retirement homes in the area, as well as the Boys and Girls Club.
When speaking with some of the kids at the Boys and Girls Club, they described the performance as “awesome” and “great.” Most had never seen an orchestra performance, and it was inspiring for the kids to have a chance to see very accomplished musicians who were close to their age.
