CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Like the swallows that migrate annually to a certain mission in California, flocks of budding young music-makers are once again congregating on the University of Illinois campus.
They, too, have a mission: to become better musicians through their participation in the Illinois Summer Youth Music camps.
This year's first session, which began June 14, runs through June 20. Subsequent sessions are scheduled June 21-27 and July 5-11.
The camps, which have been offered at the U. of I. every year since 1949, attract more than a thousand middle and high school students each summer. Most students are from Illinois, but some have attended from as far away as Australia and Indonesia.
As ISYM celebrates its 60th anniversary year in 2009, the program's alumni ranks have swelled to more than 60,000.
"Many are now performing in major symphony orchestras and other professional ensembles," according to ISYM executive director Joyce Griggs. Countless campers, after becoming familiar with the U. of I. through their summer experiences, have returned as college students to the School of Music at Illinois, she said.
Through the years, the program has evolved with the times and needs of its audience, Griggs said, but its main purpose always has been "to provide an interesting, exciting and challenging environment with music as the central theme.
"ISYM developed a core mission during its earliest days: to bring the highest quality of music education to pre-college students from the state of Illinois," she said. "Particularly important to this mission was the belief that participation had to be affordable."
Inflation has definitely kicked in over more than a half century. The fee for the first camps was $32.50. But the cost is still affordable for most; enrollment fees range from $375 for commuters to $645 for pre-college-level students and those enrolled in piano programs. For students requiring financial assistance, a tradition started in 1952 continues today: Various organizations, ranging from Rotary and Lions clubs to the American Federation of Musicians offer scholarships to campers.
Over time, the list of available programs has grown more expansive, Griggs said. Today's students can opt for sessions emphasizing band, orchestral or choral music, or can sign up for camps focused on a particular instrument - from piano and organ to horns and string instruments of all kinds.
Griggs said the majority of ISYM's 140 instructors are faculty and graduate students from the music school at Illinois. Others include recent U. of I. graduates and high school music teachers and conductors. Many of the camps' counselors are public-school teachers who are themselves enrolled for the summer in the master of music education program at Illinois.
Despite the diversity of instructional options, the typical day for all campers is quite similar. Their day begins 8 a.m. and doesn't end until "lights-out" at 10:30 p.m. in the Illinois Street Residence Halls, where non-commuter students are housed. Throughout the day and evening, students attend music lessons, ensemble rehearsals and performances, elective classes and extracurricular activities on the campus.
In addition to classes and rehearsals in a particular area, campers may choose, on a first-come, first served basis, to take one of several elective courses as well. This year, electives range from "Careers in the Arts" and the Alexander technique to world music and Balinese dance. (
"They can even learn to make and play a didgeridoo," Griggs said "And in the music technology course, they can create a piece of music through 'Garage Band' (software) and take it home and show their parents."
Brand-new to the program this year is a special section called the ISYM Academy, open to a limited number of applicants who must audition for acceptance. Billed on the ISYM Web site as "an accelerated track within the ISYM ensemble programs," the academy was created for students who want a "more rigorous musical experience."
"The academy is a boutiquey program in which students get lessons with faculty and perform in small, chamber ensembles," Griggs said. Students enrolled in the academy, which began this week, receive "a little more musical service and individual attention."
Many academy students also will have the opportunity to attend for a full two weeks. The first week's instruction focuses on the large-ensemble experience, with the second week devoted to a pre-college program that relates to individual students' instruments or voice type.
All ISYM students are required to perform a final concert that takes place on the last day or evening of their session in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. The concerts are free and open to the public.
Faculty concerts, also free and open to the public, take place on Monday evenings during each session in the recital hall of Smith Hall, 805 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana. Exact times and dates of performances appear in the calendar on the School of Music Web site.
For those interested in learning more about the history and evolution of ISYM, an exhibit is on display through July 13 in the lobby of Krannert Center.