New summer music academy empowers middle- and high-schoolers to collaborate and heal through creating new music

Bloomington, IN — With summer music camps across the country cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of band and orchestra composers has stepped into the void to provide middle- and high-school students an opportunity to make new musical friends, collaborate with renowned composers, and perform new works for virtual ensembles. This new, online summer camp, the Music Creators Academy, will run July 20–31, 2020 and culminate in a live-streamed concert on Friday, July 31, 2–4 PM EDT.

“We want this to be an opportunity for student musicians to come together and heal from the pandemic that has created feelings of loss and isolation. All of us have been feeling that, so as professional musicians, the Music Creators Academy is something that we can do for the rising generation of music makers to help them feel connected and valued,” said program founder Benjamin Dean Taylor.

As a concert band composer whose works are performed across North America, Taylor was inspired to create the Music Creators Academy when he saw how large ensemble directors and students “felt like they could not make their art because they could not make it the way they were used to.”

“I hope this academy can show our communities that we can continue to make music that is meaningful, compelling, and relevant,” said Taylor.

Accordingly, Taylor gathered his “dream” roster of composer-mentors, including Brian Balmages, Steven Bryant, Viet Cuong, Tyler Grant, Garrett Hope, Cait Nishimura, Benjamin Taylor, Alex Shapiro, Joseph Sowa, and Haley Woodrow.

A prominent figure in music education circles, composer and conductor Brian Balmages was excited to join the program because of its “opportunities to challenge the way we think about composition and explore ways of realizing our music both individually and with others in our current climate.”

Over the program’s two weeks, students will meet with these composers and other camp counsellors over Zoom for 3 hours daily, Monday to Friday. Students will perform and record new, synchronized pieces for virtual ensembles (as popularized by Eric Whitacre’s virtual choirs) written by the Academy’s faculty composers. Faculty composers will also lead students through musical games and improvisation scenarios and mentor them as they collaborate with their peers to create new works that will also be performed at the final concert.

Registration for the camp is now open at www.musiccreatorsacademy.com and will run through June 30.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Joseph Sowa

Music Creators Academy

617-702-4651?

themusiccreatorsacademy@gmail.com

###