At Griffin Hall on Northern Kentucky University’s campus, sisters Lillian and Bella Duhaime sit across from each other while they play music with a chamber quartet. Lillian glides the bow across the strings on the cello that rests between her knees. Bella sits upright with her violin underneath her chin and draws her bow across the strings. She cues the group by softly counting.
Sixteen-year-old Lillian and fourteen-year-old Bella said this week-long day camp is a chance for them to play new pieces with new people.
“I think it feels rewarding. It just feels good to play music with other people. Performing’s my favorite part of playing my instrument,” said Lillian.
“My favorite part would also be performing because I just like going through the song and feeling the music,” explained Bella.
NKU’s strings camp is for kids who have some experience with instruments like violin, viola, or cello.
Camp coordinator, Betsy Mendel, said students range from ages 8-18 and are split into three groups based on how long they’ve played their instruments and how comfortable they are with the music.
So, we have different levels of music. We have different master teachers for each group, and we have teaching assistants helping. So, we have a lot of wonderful faculty," said Mendel.
Mendel said this summer, about 70 kids show up every day from 9:30 until noon and are immersed in the music.
“It’s a short amount of time, but they do a lot during that time. They are playing their instruments almost the entire two and a half hours, and they learn a lot of new music,” reported Mendel.
Violinist Kathy Anderson conducts a group of more than 20 middle schoolers with enthusiasm and a sense of humor.
Anderson is credited with starting the strings program at Fort Thomas Independent Schools, but has since retired. She continues to perform, though. Her style seems to inspire the young musicians and keeps them smiling.
“I’m honest but not brutally. So, I’ll say that didn’t sound very good, but I say it with a funny tone, and they think that’s funny, and they agree that it does not sound good. So, we figure out what is it that’s not sounding good. And then we make some improvements. So, we’re having fun along the way. It’s always hard because you can’t tip the scales toward crazy and chaos and anarchy,” said Anderson.
The NKU Strings Camp is one of the programs under the umbrella of the NKU Music Preparatory Department. The University also hosts the String Project that runs during the academic year. The String Project offers the students quality string music instruction that's affordable.
Dr Holly Attar is Director of NKU’s Music Prep Program and the director of the award-winning NKU String Project. For the Strings Camp, Attar said she’s primarily administrative but plugs herself in to teach where needed. She said there aren’t enough school districts in Northern Kentucky with a daily strings program. One of her goals is to provide kids in this region the opportunity to experience string instruments from an early age.
“I mean, Northern Kentucky is home to the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. And all of this gets cultivated from a young age. If you don’t have string players at the beginning of their lifetime learning at 8,9,10 years old, you don’t have string players at 35,45,55,65. They have to be cultivated from the beginning,” said Attar.
String music is also being cultivated at Western Kentucky University for young musicians.
Dr. Andrew Braddock is the co-director of WKU’s String Academy. He said its mission is to develop and educate students in string education. Part of the mission, he said, is to keep music engaged throughout the year, so there are two summer programs, one for advanced students and one for beginners, called the Twinkler session.
“And that's where we welcome beginners as young as four years old. And we provide them with violins for the week. And we are able to teach them and get them playing on the violin. And by Friday, they stand up on stage and play a couple of short pieces. And it’s really kind of magical.”
NKU strings camp student Lillian Duhaime said she hopes one day to perform with a professional orchestra. NKU camp coordinator Betsy Mendel said that whether it’s for a career or just for fun, learning to play a string instrument can change a child’s life.
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