Well everyone...The 83rd season of Interlochen Arts camp has concluded.
Sunday activities were lots of fun getting the chance to see all the campers perform one last time. The WYSO performed Dvorák's 9th Symphony Sunday evening and it was amazing. Following the WYSO Performance in the Interlochen Bowl, all four music groups (two orchestras, two bands) Squeezed in on stage and played Les Preludes, the third Symphonic Poem written by Liszt. It has been a tradition at Interlochen since the beginning of time, and it was and is a true culmination of the experiences had at Interlochen during the summer.
Following Les Preludes, all the campers and staff bid their adieus to each other before returning to division for last minute packing and final goodbyes within the cabin. This was an especially somber time, because the staff had been very close since day one, seven weeks ago. Lots of pictures were taken, tears shed, and plenty of "Keep in Touch, Facebook me!" were exchanged. I will surely miss all of the High School Staff and I do hope there are more chances than not to reunite and visit with each other.
Back in the cabin, we ordered pizza with the 9 out of 14 girls that were left. It was a quiet, relaxing time overall, and it was fun to hang out with the girls before they departed. I packed the car Sunday night until about 2:15am and didn't manage to get to bed until about 3:30..I woke up at about 5am to see one of my girls off, and to get gas in the car and air in my tires. At 6:30, Myself, and two other girl counselors piled into my car and started driving to Detroit. My two friends needed a ride to the Detroit Metro Airport, so I was happy to get to spend the 4.5 hour car ride with Interlochen people rather than all by myself.
Sitting here, I think of Interlochen and how odd it will be to drop certain things from my life..things such as:
MoFro
Stone WF
Sco Sho
Apple Crisp
Sunday Lunch Service
Sundecker Sun Sets
Days off in TC
Meijer Runs
Friendship Bracelets
Craft Cabana
WYSO Concerts
Naps on the Couch in HQ1
Line-Up
Ninja
Chair of Doom
...and the list goes on..
Every good thing has to end for another good thing to begin, but it is always difficult to leave Interlochen and go home to no structured schedule what so ever. At least this year I will be busy unpacking, repacking, buying a car, purchasing last minute apartment items, packing up the cars, and moving back to school in Kalamazoo. I am very excited to see what the semester will hold, but I know that it will be a busy one. From this point on, my summer is over. Once I move, I will be busy unpacking and getting settled into my townhouse with my three roommates and soon after that starts Band Camp at WMU, which runs right into the beginning of classes. This summer has gone by with lightning speed, but I am so glad that I was able to spend it at a place I love with people that I have grown to love just as much.
and now running on two hours of sleep, it's time to eat dinner and sleep!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Week Six
As Week Six comes to a close, there are a lot of things happening all at once. My camper evaluations are done, as well as most of my paperwork so I'm glad that's out of the way.
Last night I went to the Musical Theater production of Aida. It was very well done for a group of high schoolers who learned it in basically 4 weeks, and have just been refining it for the past two. It was about a Nubian princess who gets captured by the Egyptians, and whilst the two are fighting the Nubian Princess, Aida, starts to fall in love with the Capitan who captures her. Typical love story, but the music and lyrics were written by Elton John and Tim Rice so it was overall a pretty good production.
Today we had a 6AM line up (which usually it's 6:45) so that was early, but it was a little exciting because the trumpets played an arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue instead of the regular Reveille. Most of the campers had Les Prelude rehearsal this morning at 7AM sharp, so it was definitely an early morning for everyone. It is currently 55 and cloudy at Interlochen now, so it is SUPER chilly. I think a nice long nap is in order soon. For the campers, today is filled with last minute rehearsals, spending time with each other, and saying goodbye. Tonight the HSG division has our closing campfire where we reminisce on the past 6 weeks, and give out divisional camper awards. (such as honor division camper, and honor campers for each cabin) After that, all the girl return to their respective cabins and have a last night in the cabin before Les Prelude and the many hours home.
Sunday will be a very busy day with Les Prelude and most of the campers departing for home. Some leave in the morning, or mid-day, but most of the campers perform in the Les Prelude Concert Sunday evening. All the counselors are preparing ourselves for dealing with crying campers,helping some campers with their early departures, unwilling campers who don't want to leave, and for saying our goodbyes to the staff we've came so close to in the past seven weeks. It will be a difficult two days, but I know a lot of the staff and myself are ready to get home and move back to school. (and a REAL shower!)
Monday I will wake up pretty early, and finish packing up the car, and cleaning the cabin with my co-counselor and the few campers I will have left. I am driving one of the other HSG counselors to the Detroit Airport, so we will have to leave no later than Noon. This means a busy morning, and an afternoon full of driving for me. It will be good to get home, and come back to the life I have at school, but Interlochen will surely be missed just as much as it usually is every year.
Last night I went to the Musical Theater production of Aida. It was very well done for a group of high schoolers who learned it in basically 4 weeks, and have just been refining it for the past two. It was about a Nubian princess who gets captured by the Egyptians, and whilst the two are fighting the Nubian Princess, Aida, starts to fall in love with the Capitan who captures her. Typical love story, but the music and lyrics were written by Elton John and Tim Rice so it was overall a pretty good production.
Today we had a 6AM line up (which usually it's 6:45) so that was early, but it was a little exciting because the trumpets played an arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue instead of the regular Reveille. Most of the campers had Les Prelude rehearsal this morning at 7AM sharp, so it was definitely an early morning for everyone. It is currently 55 and cloudy at Interlochen now, so it is SUPER chilly. I think a nice long nap is in order soon. For the campers, today is filled with last minute rehearsals, spending time with each other, and saying goodbye. Tonight the HSG division has our closing campfire where we reminisce on the past 6 weeks, and give out divisional camper awards. (such as honor division camper, and honor campers for each cabin) After that, all the girl return to their respective cabins and have a last night in the cabin before Les Prelude and the many hours home.
Sunday will be a very busy day with Les Prelude and most of the campers departing for home. Some leave in the morning, or mid-day, but most of the campers perform in the Les Prelude Concert Sunday evening. All the counselors are preparing ourselves for dealing with crying campers,helping some campers with their early departures, unwilling campers who don't want to leave, and for saying our goodbyes to the staff we've came so close to in the past seven weeks. It will be a difficult two days, but I know a lot of the staff and myself are ready to get home and move back to school. (and a REAL shower!)
Monday I will wake up pretty early, and finish packing up the car, and cleaning the cabin with my co-counselor and the few campers I will have left. I am driving one of the other HSG counselors to the Detroit Airport, so we will have to leave no later than Noon. This means a busy morning, and an afternoon full of driving for me. It will be good to get home, and come back to the life I have at school, but Interlochen will surely be missed just as much as it usually is every year.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Week Five and Six
And the last leg of the summer begins!
Week five flew by with lots of jobs and duties to do around camp. There were some VERY nice days last week, with 75 degree weather, sun, and low humidity it was the perfect week. I captured some great pictures from the Sundecker Pavilion, Roving around maincamp and some sunset pictures on Saturday night around 9:45 right before the 10pm call to quarters.
The Sundecker
View from the Sundecker
Roving Main Camp by the water
Sunset While roving Main Camp
Week six has begun with a running start, and I cannot believe we're already halfway through! I have been filling out lots of paperwork, camper reports and staff reports as well. Tomorrow the HSG Counselors have our Staff Outing at Platte Point. We had a staff outing there earlier this summer, so It should be fun and I'm excited to go. The Packing process starts tonight, and I know that getting my campers to pack and clean will be a challenge in itself, but it WILL get done! There is a lot to do in the next five days, and I know that it will fly by like the rest of the summer has...and with that, I will leave the week to that, and write again later this week!
Week five flew by with lots of jobs and duties to do around camp. There were some VERY nice days last week, with 75 degree weather, sun, and low humidity it was the perfect week. I captured some great pictures from the Sundecker Pavilion, Roving around maincamp and some sunset pictures on Saturday night around 9:45 right before the 10pm call to quarters.
Week six has begun with a running start, and I cannot believe we're already halfway through! I have been filling out lots of paperwork, camper reports and staff reports as well. Tomorrow the HSG Counselors have our Staff Outing at Platte Point. We had a staff outing there earlier this summer, so It should be fun and I'm excited to go. The Packing process starts tonight, and I know that getting my campers to pack and clean will be a challenge in itself, but it WILL get done! There is a lot to do in the next five days, and I know that it will fly by like the rest of the summer has...and with that, I will leave the week to that, and write again later this week!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Week Four
Oh my, time is just flying by!
Week four is coming to a close and it feels like I just arrived yesterday.
Sometimes the days blur together so it can become fairly difficult to remember what happened on what day, but overall I've been able to keep track of the weeks as they've gone by. Yesterday I had my day off (Friday) and my grandparents came to visit for the day. They took me into Traverse City and we rode on a big Schooner boat with about 25 other people. It was pretty calm in the bay, but it was also very relaxing as well as the wind blew through my hair and I watched various speed boats go by. We also ventured into downtown and walked around Front St. for a little while, the three of us stopped into Kilwin's fudge/ice cream shop and got ice cream and malts. It was a new experience for Grandma (not knowing what kilwin's was) and it was delicious ice cream as well.
Earlier in the week we had a Unit Activity for all the campers in Unit C. The event was a counselor dress-up fashion show where the campers of each cabin dressed up their own counselor. My campers dressed me and my co-counselor Katie up as the messy floor of our cabin and the "Caper Queen". (capers are chores) It was good fun, and there were lots of guest counselor and administrative staff judges.
This week I was also able to get away for a bit during the day and go see a movie with two of my HSG counselor friends. We went to Meijer and saw Inception, which was SUCH a good movie..makes you think though. At Meijer I bought raspberries for $2 and they were ripe and delicious and a good relief from 5 and a half weeks of cafeteria food.
Week Five is about to begin, and as much as I am excited to go back home and move to Kalamazoo for the year, I am sad that this summer has gone by so quickly and that I will have to leave all my friends that I have made here in just two short weeks..
Ta,Ta for now, I will write again later!
Week four is coming to a close and it feels like I just arrived yesterday.
Sometimes the days blur together so it can become fairly difficult to remember what happened on what day, but overall I've been able to keep track of the weeks as they've gone by. Yesterday I had my day off (Friday) and my grandparents came to visit for the day. They took me into Traverse City and we rode on a big Schooner boat with about 25 other people. It was pretty calm in the bay, but it was also very relaxing as well as the wind blew through my hair and I watched various speed boats go by. We also ventured into downtown and walked around Front St. for a little while, the three of us stopped into Kilwin's fudge/ice cream shop and got ice cream and malts. It was a new experience for Grandma (not knowing what kilwin's was) and it was delicious ice cream as well.
Earlier in the week we had a Unit Activity for all the campers in Unit C. The event was a counselor dress-up fashion show where the campers of each cabin dressed up their own counselor. My campers dressed me and my co-counselor Katie up as the messy floor of our cabin and the "Caper Queen". (capers are chores) It was good fun, and there were lots of guest counselor and administrative staff judges.
This week I was also able to get away for a bit during the day and go see a movie with two of my HSG counselor friends. We went to Meijer and saw Inception, which was SUCH a good movie..makes you think though. At Meijer I bought raspberries for $2 and they were ripe and delicious and a good relief from 5 and a half weeks of cafeteria food.
Week Five is about to begin, and as much as I am excited to go back home and move to Kalamazoo for the year, I am sad that this summer has gone by so quickly and that I will have to leave all my friends that I have made here in just two short weeks..
Ta,Ta for now, I will write again later!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Week Three
Here it is, it's already Week Three!!
Week three means all the staff has been here for a total of four weeks, which is crazy to even think about. Interlochen is amazing in every way possible. The weather has been pretty nice and unusually consistent, trips to Traverse City have been amazing, and listening to all the performances around campus is just great!
Me By the Grand Traverse Bay on my day off.
Yesterday (Sunday July 11th) was the second WYSO Concert with guest performer, David Shifrin who played the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Did I mention that the tickets were FREE? Besides the fact that he is one of the best clarinetists ever, he is also an Alumni of the Arts Academy Boarding School here, so that must have been cool for him. The WYSO also played Pines of Rome (also amazing), and as we got to the third movement, there is a part in the music where usually a recording of bird chirping plays, but as the orchestra played the movement, actual birds outside started chirping as well..and to add to the atmosphere inside Kresge, the fourth movement begins quietly and slowly the orchestra builds its instrumentation; first the violins, cellos, woodwinds, then brass. So as the orchestra was building intensity and sound, the sky outside began to cloud over and get dark as the sun set, and the wind came in stronger and stronger over the lake as the orchestra hit its peak sound. Talk about surround sound. It was amazing, I love music so much, and not many people realize how all the things in one place can go together if you have a little music.
WYSO Rehearsing Pines of Rome
So we are on to Week Three, as I said before. not much is new, just finding time to practice, sit at the lake and the staff beach, read, and hang with friends and campers. On Thursdays there is a reading orchestra in the evening, so I'm excited for that. The Reading Orchestra is just for staff members who want a chance to play in an ensemble and to sightread over the summer. I definitely need to practice sight reading, and I do miss playing in an ensemble, so it should be fun.
Week three means all the staff has been here for a total of four weeks, which is crazy to even think about. Interlochen is amazing in every way possible. The weather has been pretty nice and unusually consistent, trips to Traverse City have been amazing, and listening to all the performances around campus is just great!
Yesterday (Sunday July 11th) was the second WYSO Concert with guest performer, David Shifrin who played the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Did I mention that the tickets were FREE? Besides the fact that he is one of the best clarinetists ever, he is also an Alumni of the Arts Academy Boarding School here, so that must have been cool for him. The WYSO also played Pines of Rome (also amazing), and as we got to the third movement, there is a part in the music where usually a recording of bird chirping plays, but as the orchestra played the movement, actual birds outside started chirping as well..and to add to the atmosphere inside Kresge, the fourth movement begins quietly and slowly the orchestra builds its instrumentation; first the violins, cellos, woodwinds, then brass. So as the orchestra was building intensity and sound, the sky outside began to cloud over and get dark as the sun set, and the wind came in stronger and stronger over the lake as the orchestra hit its peak sound. Talk about surround sound. It was amazing, I love music so much, and not many people realize how all the things in one place can go together if you have a little music.
So we are on to Week Three, as I said before. not much is new, just finding time to practice, sit at the lake and the staff beach, read, and hang with friends and campers. On Thursdays there is a reading orchestra in the evening, so I'm excited for that. The Reading Orchestra is just for staff members who want a chance to play in an ensemble and to sightread over the summer. I definitely need to practice sight reading, and I do miss playing in an ensemble, so it should be fun.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Week Two
So It's been about a week since I have last written. The campers have been here for a full week, and I have been here for two already. Week two begins today, and there are a lot of things planned for everyone throughout the week. Dances, Lake Trips, Beach Sleepovers at the Waterfront, pizza dinner etc. Not all the counselors get to go on the off-campus trips, but it's still fun for the campers. Interlochen also has many different waterfronts that we can swim at that are nice. There is even a waterfront access that is right by Kresge (the main outdoor auditorium)that is only available to Staff and Visitors. We call it the 'Stone Waterfront', and it's a really nice smaller beach and swim area, a concrete deck area right next to the beach overlooking the lake with wooden lawn chairs and picnic tables to sit at and just relax. I went down there the other day, and it's a great place to chill out while the campers are at class on a warm sunny day under the huge tree that provides shade. It's the best when there's a big breeze coming off of the lake like yesterday (July 4th), especially when the WYSO is rehearsing in Kresge right next door.
I get one day off a week, which is cool to just chill at Traverse City all day. My day off is Friday, so last Friday a small group of counselors went to the Bay and sat on the beach for the afternoon. The Traverse City Cherry Festival was just getting started, so we were lucky to see the dress rehearsal of the Blue Angels right over the Bay.
So far I haven't gotten the chance to play my Clarinet a whole lot, but now that training and orientation is over with, I will have a lot of time in the morning and early afternoon to practice. There are even a few other counselor clarinetists in the High School Boys and Girls Divisions, so we were thinking of getting a quintet together or something fun like that. I played duets with one of the other girl counselors from Ohio the other day, She will be a Junior at Wright State University in Dayton, OH this year so it was fun to just relax and play duets.
Overall it's been a pretty chill week as far as activities and duties go, so I will post again once the activities and festivities get going.
I get one day off a week, which is cool to just chill at Traverse City all day. My day off is Friday, so last Friday a small group of counselors went to the Bay and sat on the beach for the afternoon. The Traverse City Cherry Festival was just getting started, so we were lucky to see the dress rehearsal of the Blue Angels right over the Bay.
So far I haven't gotten the chance to play my Clarinet a whole lot, but now that training and orientation is over with, I will have a lot of time in the morning and early afternoon to practice. There are even a few other counselor clarinetists in the High School Boys and Girls Divisions, so we were thinking of getting a quintet together or something fun like that. I played duets with one of the other girl counselors from Ohio the other day, She will be a Junior at Wright State University in Dayton, OH this year so it was fun to just relax and play duets.
Overall it's been a pretty chill week as far as activities and duties go, so I will post again once the activities and festivities get going.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Platte Point Pictures
The internet is finally cooperating!
....well sort of.haha
Here are a few pictures from the Staff trip to Platte Point :)
....well sort of.haha
Here are a few pictures from the Staff trip to Platte Point :)
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