Summer is in full swing here at Hochstein, and we have quite the happy campers! The first week of summer camps included Arts in Action, with daily music, art, and movement classes for kids ages 5-10; Comics & Manga Workshop, for teenagers interested in exploring how comic books are made; and the debut of Musical Leadership through Basic Conducting, where students learned about what it means to be a leader, both on and off the podium.
Lee, a student in the Comics & Manga Workshop, said, “This comic camp was a fun way to learn more about the process of making comics and a great way to get started on making them.”
They had a good guide for it – Dave Chisholm, who leads the camp, is the critically acclaimed writer/artist of graphic novels including Miles Davis & The Search for the Sound, Enter the Blue, Chasin’ the Bird, and Canopus. Dave is also the director of Hochstein’s Creativity Lab.
In case you are unfamiliar with the term “manga,” Dave tells us, “Manga is the word for sequential art – a.k.a. comics – that are made in Japan. It’s a HUGE market with its own culture that is quite separate from American comics, with tons of genres for any age, taste, or interest.” Students had time during the class to draw their own stories, as well as illustrating each other’s stories.
The new Musical Leadership Through Basic Conducting camp with Armand Hall – a conductor and clarinetist who is on faculty at the Eastman School of Music – gave students a chance to experience all facets of conducting. They learned a variety of rhythmic patterns and then put them to the test, conducting to recorded music with one hand beating the tempo and the other adding expression – and discovering it’s not as easy as you might think!
During the first week of the popular Arts in Action Summer Camp – led by Hannah Gieseke, along with her team of instructors and counselors – campers explored the topic of “Lights, Camera, Action,” even making their own set decorations and movie-related artwork. At their end-of-week concert, they sang and danced their way through the many genres of the big screen. The campers also had fun during the week playing games, reading books, and hanging out with new friends.
The summer continues to be busy, with students this week participating in Arts in Action, Week 2: Play Ball!, Explorations: Jazz & Improvisation Workshop, and Writing Songs & Making Beats.
The remaining camps are filling up but there are still a few spots left in Around the World of Dance, which runs July 29-August 2. Participants (ages 7-17) will work with Camp Director Wynton Rice and Special Guest Instructors Zach Frazee, Katy Rebholz, Julia Monica, and Monique Williams to explore African, Caribbean, hip hop, modern, and jazz dance. Click here for more information.