Music camp celebrates anniversary

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 27, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

The 50th anniversary Bemidji State University Music Camp opens today, a little worse off for the death of its founder in February, but still as vibrant as ever.

More than 140 students have registered to attend this year's camp, joining the 22,000 high school and eighth-grade students who have attended the camp over 50 years.

According to first-time camp director Jeffrey Macomber, most of the kids attending the camp come from the region, but it also draws students from the Twin Cities and other statewide locales.

For an entire week, today through Saturday, the students will participate in enrichment classes, section rehearsals, group sessions and private lessons -- all coming to fruition with several public performances.

The students have the option of studying in four large groups -- concert band, jazz band, choir and a piano ensemble -- and various related smaller groups, Macomber said. Overall, for the students who participate in more than one of the groups, they could spend up to six or seven hours in class per day.

But the price is the same for all of the kids -- $310 for the entire camp. Half of the money pays for the Music Camp staff, and the other half covers the students' weeklong stay in the university's dorms. Students pay extra for private lessons and other perks, such as Music Camp sweatshirts.

In the early days of the camp, it attracted over 200 children from around the state, but in the middle years attendance dropped, and bottomed at about 100 in 1995. But then, thanks to improved organization and state grants for children to attend such camps, an additional 30 to 40 students were attracted in 1996 and this year again.

As always, there will be a number of public performances throughout the week. At 8:30 p.m. tonight, there will be a performance of the Bemidji Big Band, under the direction of BSU professor Steve Konecne, and at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday there will be a faculty rectal night.

The students will first play Thursday at 8:30 p.m., featuring solo performances by some of the camp attendees, and as tradition will have it, the finale performance will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at which time the different groups will showcase their talent. All events will be held in the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.

Sadly, this year's concert will be the first without the camp's founder attending. Maurice Callahan, who started first camp in 1948 and served as its first director, died in February, and so this 50th anniversary camp is being held in his honor, Macomber said.

At the finale on Saturday, Callahan's widow will speak about her late husband and camp historian Betty Masoner will present a special tribute to him.

In the beginning, BSU's Music Camp was a rare gem for high school students, especially in northern Minnesota, according to Macomber. Recently, however, there has been tremendous growth nationwide in the number of high school music camps that are offered. Almost every four-year university holds one annually, he said.

So the ability of BSU to continue its Music Camp is a testament to the quality instruction offered by a quality staff, he added.

"There are a number of other opportunities," he said. So, we're happy when they chose our program for its quality. It's a privilege for us to host the camp here, and it's a privilege for the kids to come to such a beautiful place."