The London Suzuki Group puts on an annual music institute at Bryanston School that is nothing short of spectacular. I blogged about it HERE when we first applied to go. This year there were over 700 people at the camp from around the world, including FIVE Canadians! There was also a notably large contingent from Iceland. Many came from Europe and even more from the London area. All came to enjoy a week of music making and studies. I came for the food. Did I mention there were TWO snack breaks?
Routine
In the days preceding the summer camp we were sent the kids’ schedules (see Desmond’s above). The girls’ days looked similar but with different times, buildings, and groups. They had schedules they had to follow and we only checked in on them occasionally. Heather was there to observe the piano teachers’ lessons and often our own children. She had a FULL day, everyday.
Desmond and I stuck together and by Tuesday had a routine going. We would start with buffet breakfast in the cafeteria. They always had lots of choices! There were plenty of healthy breakfast choices including things like muesli, low fat yogurts, fruit, and oatmeal. I chose the not so healthy options like bacon, hash brown waffles, and sausage. For a few breakfasts I was even able to have a full English breakfast!
After breakfast and violin practice Desmond would head down to tennis lessons. Some of the boys he had befriended were already great at tennis so this is where he got practice time in with trainers. When the girls had free time they opted to spend it with their newly made besties.
Group lessons
All three children had group lessons. For Desmond this was after tennis lessons so I had to drag him to his group violin lesson. These lessons were similar to the Suzuki group lessons they take during the school year. The lesson teachers worked with the groups on one of two songs. Desmond’s class learned “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. These songs were played at the final concert. Once we were done with group lesson we were off to first snack break. Do I sound like a hobbit yet?
Snack Break
As stated above there were TWO snack breaks. One from 10:30- 11:00 and another from 15:45- 16:15. These included cake or cookies and coffee or tea. This is where we were introduced to something we thought was odd. They left out cheese with all the other fix-in’s you could put in your coffee of tea. Read about Kaffeost HERE.
Improvisation Class
After snack break Lydia and Desmond both participated in improv class and they loved it. As creative as these instrumentalists are they are relying on a set score of notes. At a basic level the notes have different values tone wise and length wise. The musician takes those and interprets them to give them depth. Improv is quite different. There are no notes. Just the suggestion of a key signature and a beat included in the backing track.
It is a bit daunting to fill in the blanks, I know I couldn’t do it. But the kids in these classes did a fantastic job. The teacher use Django Reinhardt for a couple of backing tracks so I’ve been trying to play it a little more around the kids. Des had such a great time he asked to have his picture taken with the instructor after the final concert.
Instead of improv Madeline had percussion class. She said she was not thrilled I signed her up for that. I did walk by the class once while they were playing and Madeline quickly hid a smile as soon as she saw me.
Meals
There were three meals provided each day for us. I loved them all! The cafeteria staff were very helpful and organized. Having multiple queues allowed everyone to plate up and sit down quickly. There was always a vegetarian option, thought often it had a heavy tomato sauce base (Heather doesn’t want to re-live it). It became my job to send pictures of the menu out to the family to so they could plan ahead before arriving to the cafeteria. Here are some of the menus:
An omelettes bar was setup occasionally at lunch. The kind where you choose your own ingredients and they make it right infront of you. How does an omelette with corn, pineapple, red pepper, and onions sound to you? Horrible right?! Des liked it enough that he ordered it SEVERAL times!
Master Classes
All students attended Master Classes with expert instructors in their instrument. Each class had only three students in them! This allowed the instructors to work with the musicians with a laser focus that they don’t often get. This precious time of one on one instruction as a blessing. It allowed our children to have a fresh set of eyes watching how they played and helping them make improvements.
We recorded the teachers’ instructions on improvements our children needed to make. This meant they were able to integrate it into their daily practice. Can you imagine the improvements you could get from that kind of focused instruction?
Orchestra Practices
Each child belonged to an orchestra based on their age and level. Desmond’s orchestra practice overlapped a little bit with the beginning of supper. This makes it tough for these smaller kids whose fuel tanks are getting on empty at that point. Thankfully the high energy, engagement, and unicorn headband of the conductor easily won over the little musicians. Most every day they pushed themselves to play better and better. It was great to see how she rallied the kids is such positive ways. She kept the kids (and parents in the audience) laughing all practice long as they perfected their pieces.
The girls’ were together in the same orchestra and I didn’t see their rehearsal as often. Their final piece was the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song. It was a hit at the final concert.
Concerts
Sooooo many concerts! There were multiple concerts every day. The first series started at 13:45 when students performed solo concerts in multiple venues. There were postings up in the main building that allowed you to see musician names and the piece they were playing. These solo concerts were an inspiration and hopefully a little humbling to our children. Our kids are pretty good at what they do but these performers set the bar high. You could tell lots of targeted practice went into these performances.
I have to tip my hat especially to the piano accompanists who worked hard at supporting these young artists. They played a large repertoire of music with great precision.
In the evenings you could attend concerts put on by faculty members and other groups starting at 19:45. It is always great to be reminded that Suzuki teachers are also high level performers.
FINAL Concerts
On Saturday there were concerts throughout the day. Each class performed what they had worked on and most had an overlapping piece so they could join in playing with other levels. Heather and I attended the Piano Improv. concert and she told me about all the cool things the instructors had done with that class. We spent most of the time in Coade Hall where the string groups had their final concerts. I was really proud not just of our own children but of everyone in making everything work so smoothly.
Pictures from the final strings concert evening:
In the previous post about LSG Summer Camp (linked above) I outlined the hefty cost of this summer institute. It was pricey. All I can say is that it was worth every penny. We don’t often splurge on ourselves but this experience fits into our once in a life time theme.
There are many things I don’t elaborate on in this already lengthy post. The Bryanston facilities are BONKERS. The physical education building with a pool, two gyms, squash, racketball and other amenities kept the kids fit and having fun. The main building was beautiful! This is where our dorm room was. The staff and stewards were helpful and patient. It is a great place.
There really is nothing like Bryanston or the London Suzuki Group’s summer camp. If you can go, then go.
Ball Family Travel 