Music camp a tradition that unites families
What started with an idea to teach modern music in a fun way to six kids in an Oakwood basement in 1991 has grown to be a summer tradition for hundreds of girls and boys in kindergarten through the ninth grade. Red Hotz and Lollipops is a two-week summer camp, exposing students to the world of performing arts without competition or auditions.
“This camp provides a niche for kids who want to celebrate music. They sing, they dance, they wear costumes. They have a great experience of a fun summer performance camp in a comfortable, non-competitive atmosphere,” Camp Director and Oakwood music teacher Nate Thompson said.
This year, more than 300 campers will participate. Along with the campers, 60 staff members, including many high school volunteers who were once campers themselves, will be on hand to share this experience. While most campers are from around the Miami Valley, Thompson said each year families who used to live in the area return to take part in the musical camp. Families from Michigan, Florida, California, Spain and Dubai are taking part this summer.
“We are hopefully one of the ways in a family’s experience that helps foster the love for music and musical expression, and provide the opportunity for kids to explore, at whatever level they are developmentally ready, their own place as both a consumer and participant in musical performance,” Thompson said.
Each day, campers spend the first part of camp in one of 13 age groups, rehearsing a musical performance that has been created specifically for them. They learn the music, the choreography and prepare costumes during the first eight days of camp. They develop, revise and fine-tune their sixto 10-minute performances, preparing for the big show at the end of camp.
The final days are held in a larger venue where they work on lighting, staging and other technical aspects of the full show. The weekend following camp, the group puts on two performances in front of audiences of 750-800 people. The finale of each performance includes a camp-wide musical number.
“Seeing the kids with nervous excitement right before they enter the stage and then euphoric as they leave is always so rewarding,” Thompson said.
As a music teacher, Thompson understands the value of the performing arts. While he sees the benefits first hand, he also receives positive feedback from parents and students.
“Having experiences in performing arts benefits kids in many ways. The feedback I hear most often includes inspiration in developing singing and instrumental music skills, the confidence to be in front of an audience and the joy children experience both in the daily camp experience and when fully realizing the end product of their hard work.”