Instruments of Worship
The Instruments of Worship Podcast, hosted by Casey Rinkenberger, is dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to lift high the name of Jesus with their instruments and their lives. Tune in every Monday for a new episode!
Instruments of Worship
Faith, Music, and Mentorship: Inside the Hearts of the HOISMC Founders | Ep. 11
The Heart of Illinois Summer Music Clinic (HOISMC) is a Christian summer music camp in central Illinois that seeks to provide great music training while in a Christian context. Today we get to talk with three of the founders: Laura Otto, Diane Wuthrich, and Jane Hoffmire. You will love hearing how God has worked through these women and how He's used this camp to glorify His worthy name.
To learn more about the Heart of Illinois Summer Music Clinic, clink this link!
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Hi friends, my name is Casey Rinkenberger and I am so excited to welcome you to the Instruments of Worship podcast. This is a podcast dedicated to encouraging and equipping classical musicians to lift high the name of Jesus with their instruments but also their lives. Today we have the privilege of talking to three of the founders of the Heart of Illinois Summer Music Clinic. That would be Laura Otto, Diane Wetherich, and again my mom, Jane Hoffmeyer. The HOI Summer Music Clinic is a Christian summer camp in central Illinois that's seeks to provide serious music training, but in a Christian context. There are actually many camps throughout the nation that understand the correlation between faith and music, and they want to foster that connection in young students. So I thought it'd be worth talking about today. It's a movement that I think is so beautiful and I hope continues to grow. So whether you're looking for camps to apply to this summer, inspired to start one of your own in your area, or just wanting to hear from super solid women sold out for the Lord who also love music, this episode is for you. So welcome to episode 11 of Instruments of Worship. Okay. Hi, everybody. Thanks for coming on the show today. I'd love if we would just start off by getting to know you a little bit. So go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, well, I'll start. My name is Laura Otto, and I live in Central Illinois, and I have been a violin teacher in the area for the past 25 years, and more recently involved with a small nonprofit music organization in Peoria called Youth Music Illinois, which has a variety of orchestras and a And so as part of this HOI team that's here today, I am thrilled to be on here with some friends. So I'll let them introduce themselves.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, I'll go next. My name is Diane Wuthrich, and I am local here to Morton, Illinois. My husband and I moved away actually for me to go to grad school in music performance. And then I was performing with an orchestra in Arizona for a couple of years, but we moved back here to be close to family. And so I've been performing and teaching in the area for about the last 15 years and before. So I do a lot of playing with orchestras and gigging and a little bit of teaching and some clinician work and a little bit of everything. which is kind of on the side while I homeschool our kids. So lots going on.
SPEAKER_01:And my name is Jane Hoffmeyer and I have been doing private teaching for about 40 years. And I went to Illinois Wesleyan, a local college in the area, for my undergrad and then U of I for my master's. And it's just been a joy to teach. That's one of my passions in regard to music. I also do some playing in the area. And then I have three adult daughters. Casey is one of them. And two grandsons and married to my husband, Darren, for over 30 years.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. That's awesome. Thanks, guys. I think it's so cool that you listed all your musical accomplishments. But even in more than that, you guys are all moms and very busy and involved in your communities and your churches. So super thankful you took the time to be with us today. Next, I'd just love to hear how it is that you all met. And if somebody even then wants to kind of go into how did the Heart of Illinois Summer Music Clinic come to be? What was the inception of that?
SPEAKER_01:Well, how about I start out this one because I am the old lady in the group and I have actually had the privilege of teaching Diane, Casey, and also Laura a few lessons throughout the years. Yes. And so that has just been an absolute joy as a teacher to see those that you have tried to do your best to pour into that they have, you know, really been led by the Lord to use their musical gifts that they've been given and impact others through their gift of music. And so that's just really, really gratifying that I'm not their teacher anymore, but I feel like we're just really good friends and we partner together on various things. And it's just a joy to work with all these ladies. So I'm so thankful for the relationship that we have through music, but also through friendship and all tied together with our love of Jesus, our love of the Lord and wanting others to just be drawn to the Lord through music.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. What an encouragement to any teacher to just have this example of being here with three women, mom, that have been impacted by your teaching and the impact that teaching can have. And you never know later on down the road, the investment that you're making into your community or just the music world in general, where you are and just really cool testimony. So did you mainly meet then through the music world of this area or how did you first connect with them.
SPEAKER_01:So it was through, I think Diane was in sixth grade. Laura, I remember you being about maybe middle school, high school. Casey, obviously, you know, being in our home. So then obviously through the seasons of life, you know, they go on and do their thing. And then Laura and Diane and Casey as well all ended back up in this area. And so it's really sweet to make the decision to say, hey, we're going to partner together. We're going to support one another. We're going to be each other's cheerleaders because we believe in each other. We are just bound by our love of the Lord. And so that is just, I think for any friendship, it's the foundation. And so then you have that as your foundation, and then you have these other layers of love of family, love of music, love of children, to want to pass all these things along to others that want to participate in something musical.
SPEAKER_03:And I wanted to add to that, Jane also teaches my daughter Ava. Oh, that's true. 11 years since she was four and what a blessing that's been um just that godly mentoring of ava and her lessons um and jane has also just been and her husband darren have just been mentors my husband and i just spiritually and with our family so it's um just the idea of mentoring and helping encourage those that are in you know as jane mentioned in different seasons of life and um this camaraderie of putting together this clinic really has that same theme of mentoring because this camp you know is ages six through high school and so very few camps are you high schoolers with grade schoolers you know and you know everyone has a seat at the table you know we're all here we're all learning um and i think just that you know tie together that we all love jesus and just helping each other along the way has been huge for my family as well
SPEAKER_00:So I started with Jane as a sixth grader, and it was sort of through mutual friends that she was recommended to me as a teacher. So I walked in not knowing anything, which was very fun. And I studied with her about a year, and then she kind of sent me on to a previous teacher of hers, which was another amazing relationship. And then Laura and I were in youth symphony together. And that was fantastic. And Casey, I've known about you your whole entire life. And I had totally not was not thinking of this, but I actually taught James daughter, Jamie. So your sister for a while on violin, like way back in the day before we ever moved away. So just huge blessing and so much fun. I think it's
SPEAKER_02:worth pointing out that most music people think there are so many advantages to being in a big city, but here's an example of the fun and the, There's amazing things that can come out of even just small town musicians and the relationships that you can have and build there. Anyways, keep going,
SPEAKER_01:Diane. I'm also remembering my daughter took lessons from Laura, so we've got all these little ties.
SPEAKER_00:I also think, so one more addition to that and the mentoring part of that. When I first, Daniel and I first moved back to Illinois after being in Arizona for I had done some teaching there, but I was thinking more along the lines of performing, and I certainly do and have done a lot of that. But she decided we should meet for coffee, and she wanted to talk me into teaching, and it was wonderful. And I haven't forgotten, her point was much more than, you should do this because it's good for you, it's good for them, but it's also a ministry opportunity too. And I've never forgotten that. And I do think that that is very important. And I think it's been a huge blessing for me. And I hope it's been a blessing for the kids. I still, as most teachers do, like I'm still in touch with a lot of them. And I keep having kids who graduate from high school and they think they're done. And then they decide they want to come back and they want to come back for lessons. They want to keep playing. So that's been great. But on to your question about what started our camp. So pre-COVID... That's an easy way to say it. I was filling in for the maternity leave for the Viola Professor ISU for some of her students. And one of those students happened, he was a grad student, and he happened to be the director of a very similar camp in Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. And he found out I was a believer, I found out he was a believer through conversation, through Just, um, when you live your life as a believer, I think you can see the spirit working. And he, he was like, we need a viola teacher down at this camp. Would you come? I was like, this is an amazing idea. I've never heard of anything like this. This is so cool. Um, so I put it out there to my other violin, viola, like string playing and teaching friends. Laura was one of those. Laura's like, Ooh, this sounds like something my family's interested in. Um, So it was actually, it was 2019. It's the one and only time I've ever been there. I've been asked to come back, but it's never worked out. And now we have other stuff going on. So we went down there. And similar to what you were saying before, the atmosphere is a wide range of ages. And with the faculty, some of those faculty members were absolutely amazing. They have great careers, but there was no... you know, shouldering, which is so prevalent in the music world, right? The whole music world is very competitive in so many ways. And it was not about that. It was not about me. It was not about people. It was about what God is doing and how he can work. And camp was so great. And I think Laura felt that. I think I felt that. And we're like, oh, if only, like, we could get more kids to go down there. And then it's like, wait a second, that's not realistic. Laura's like, what if we do that here? And I was like, I am not ready to start anything. And she was like, but I started it. I was like, but she does start stuff. I was like, well, maybe if we're part of a group. And I think about that time, Jane was like, ooh, like, I was like, you know what? All these people who are like, let's go do this together, like, let's go do this. And I just wanted to, it's a little bit of a long story, but I don't think that God makes mistakes. And I do think that I don't think I just happen to be teaching Sam and happen to be teaching at ISU and happen to have the conversations. And he happened to need a viola teacher down at the camp. Like that stuff doesn't just happen. I do believe God orchestrates those circumstances to bring that all together.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's so cool. Do you remember the name of that camp?
SPEAKER_00:It's KYCSC, Kentucky Christian Strings Camp. It's a Christian Strings Camp, which they also have piano. So
SPEAKER_02:a bit of a misnomer, but yeah. So then, Laura, you took your family there, right? What was that like?
SPEAKER_03:Well, that was the first time taking kids all to the same camp. And so that's what's neat about this all-ages experience. It wasn't like nobody got left behind. There was a place for everybody, really, to be there. And it was just a really neat atmosphere. And I think... one of the things that stuck with me was that we performed at a nursing home when we were there and just making, you know, music isn't just for our self glorification, you know, it's like giving back to that music gift that we've been given. And so I really liked that aspect. I want to kind of credit Sam Mead for, he kind of encouraged us. You guys should start one here. And, you know, just like, I'm hoping someone may take away from this conversation is like, maybe you can start one locally, you know, like, reaching out to your community, where you've been planted to
SPEAKER_00:provide that opportunity. And Sam was very helpful in getting us started too. He wasn't just like, oh, you should go do it. But then we had phone conversations with him. He was coming up to the area to visit and he made time to come spend with us and meet with us and talk through things, which is so helpful. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm curious, then, did you model the structure of your day directly off of that? Or how did you come up with that? And what does a normal day kind of look like then at the camp?
SPEAKER_00:So we started with that as a basis for our model, but we ended up tweaking it quite a bit. So we started our camp thinking, hoping we were going to start it in 2020. And then we decided to table it and really make it go in 2021 because we were Concerned about a number of issues when we did get it going. So the Kentucky camp ran basically like 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. And we looked at that and went, oh, that's maybe more than like, how about we start off a little smaller and then see if we want to grow it from there. And because they had they had a little bit more going on, too, in terms of they had some string orchestra stuff extra that we weren't doing. So we decided to just kind of start start off a little smaller scale, see where it went. And then as we got feedback from parents and students, it sounded like they kind of loved the half day idea. And I think that's kind of where it landed mostly
SPEAKER_02:yeah so it's a half day what time what's the time frame and what do you do within that time
SPEAKER_01:so the time frame is nine to noon And I will say, Diane mentioned that we had hoped to start in 2020, and then we tabled that because of COVID. And summer of 21 was also very kind of touch and go with many, many things still being closed. And we were like, oh, do we cancel? Do we have it? And Laura was the one that really said, we need to do this. Kids need normality. Kids need to... get back to normal and feel normal again. And so she really pushed us to go. And I'm so thankful that she did because I really feel like we met such a need other than just musical at that first year to start then. And so that was just something that we really had to grapple with and search the Lord's will in that. And I'm very thankful that was the decision that we made.
SPEAKER_02:For someone who's wanting to maybe attend the camp, what can they expect within that timeframe?
SPEAKER_03:the overall structure of the day is that kids come a little before nine and they have a devotional time that we all meet together and then I believe we break off into chamber groups and those are all kind of grouped together based on students levels and they get music ahead of time so they kind of know what to expect there and then we break for snack because you know what a great time for some fellowship and get to know the kids better and then we do two electives that the kids get a help choose what is something they're asked and are learning about, various topics from composers to studying music to composing music to rhythm, like with drum buckets, bells and ukulele, guitar, fiddle, worship. The list goes on. We try to make it fresh with some new offerings every year and have brought in some different teachers as well. And then we kind of wrap it up at noon. I know there's more that goes into it, so I don't know how much you want to dig deep, but
SPEAKER_00:that's an overview. I was just going to chip in to say, she's like, and I think we do this next, to point out like we've changed it over the years, tweaking, like just this is what works best for us. And we've taken, we've done surveys out to the students and the parents every year to get an idea of what is going well, what they perceive is going well, what they perceive is they would like to change. Because we do, That's kind of helped us decide like, oh, let's just keep it a half date. Like this makes the schedule doable for a lot of families that would be harder if it was different. And we want more of a focus on chamber music as opposed to electives. We want the chamber music in the first part of the day instead of the second part of the day. So we do change that. We have changed that and have kind of settled in to what we think has been going well.
SPEAKER_01:You know, every year we have a theme and we might choose. Oh, help me, gals. What have been themes in the past? Solid Rock was one. To God be the glory. to God be the glory, joy, Jesus, others, you, have been just different themes. Wasn't
SPEAKER_02:there come thou fount, like tuning your heart to sing God's praise?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, absolutely. And so then with that theme we have, we choose a hymn to go along with that. And then we have large group, you know, hymn playing that together in four parts. And gosh, it is just, it's amazing. fabulous to hear so many young people playing and it's just a real blessing in that but to speak more about the schedule of the day we are really a chamber music focused camp and that's just what we feel like works best for our context
SPEAKER_02:it's so neat to hear you kind of say how you have catered it to the needs of your community and how someone else might be able to do that too because every community is not the same and maybe has different demographics but how that really does make an impact on your camp and just the people you're wanting to serve through this camp for sure. I'm curious if you anyone would speak to how do you incorporate faith? There's a lot of festivals or music camps, a lot of options for people to go to throughout the nation for that. But what makes this camp unique or other camps like it is the aspect of incorporating faith and music and how those are intertwined. And so can somebody speak to or anybody just how you incorporate faith and the importance of that in this camp?
SPEAKER_00:So I think there's so many ways that you can go with that. And first of all, we do start our day with a devotion and playing through the hymn on purpose. I find it personally for me in my own day, starting with it in my own day. I start our school day with our kids that way. And I think it's helpful to start just setting the tone and giving it some thought. I think our whole, everything about us should incorporate our faith, right? It's not like part of my life is about living to honor God. And then part of my life is about me. It isn't that way. We should be exuding the fruit of the spirit in everything. every part of our day and so when we have the opportunities to talk with the students it just comes up we have the devotion we can we can have that conversation in our chamber groups we can have that conversation at snack time we can have a conversation when we see those same kids and families out in the community which i have been doing lately and it's really fun And I
SPEAKER_01:really am just thankful and just very much counted a privilege that we can teach students that doing music is not just doing music like Diane was over here was talking about. It's not like little compartmentalized part of life. It's kind of that idea of whole life worship and that what we do, whether it's music or sports or theater or academics, whatever, is to be to the glory of God. And I did not have that training early on. And so I'm so appreciative and so thankful that we have the opportunity to teach teach students about whole life worship and how that looks and what that's all about so that you can worship the Lord through music. You can worship the Lord really in anything you do. And so that's the super exciting part of camp to me.
SPEAKER_03:And I'd like to add that, you know, with that relationships that are being built at camp, you know, that can, you know, like Diane said, you see people in the community, that's neat to see students that way. With working at Youth Music Illinois, which, you know, has youth orchestras, it's just neat to see that kids have a connection point, you know, before and after camp, or maybe they've never been in a bigger orchestra, and they've met some friends at this camp, and then maybe have more courage to try something new, because they're like, oh, I've seen them at HOI camp, and, you know, they have You know, especially as believers, you know, walking their life in faith and having that, you know, again, extending things that just like these are my church friends. These are my orchestra friends. These are my school friends. It's it's blending those boundaries. And which I think is really important because little side note, if you go to rehearsals, they get like a 15 minute break. And what are all the kids doing? They're on their phones. They're not talking to each other because in a typical community, youth symphony, I mean, they're coming from many different schools and kids are a little less socially interacting than maybe they would have 20, 30 years ago. That would
SPEAKER_00:be so sad. That makes me so sad because this is how we know each other, right? We were in youth orchestra together and on the break, we talked to each other. Right. That's how you make friends. That's how you know each other. So
SPEAKER_03:just being together in activities is really not enough. So it's, you know, these additional opportunities that, you know, are not just ways to get to know kids better, but it also opens the door for them to be, you know, this is, my faith. This is guiding my life. This is what gives me joy. This is how I'm approaching college. This is how I'm handling this. You know, it gives you a platform to get into some of those deeper conversations. So I'm very thankful that, you know, students have that opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:Totally. And I'm so thankful that I feel like the vibe of the camp that that's not it. Everybody's talking, everybody's chatting and making new friends. People legitimately walk away from that week having at least five new friends, you know, and that they're excited to see next year at camp or maybe they'll run into at youth symphony. And you're totally right. I think this space that the camp has provided for people just opens, even when they're young, it gives them the freedom and the confidence to be able to talk about their faith in a music setting. And I think that's And again, not just at camp, but so much more beyond that. And I see it as building up the body so that they can also, though, go out then to their youth orchestras or to their colleges or wherever they're headed next to then share the light. And it's a really easy way to bring people in. You know, mom, did you have a thought?
SPEAKER_01:I was just going to say that our camp attracts obviously believers, but it attracts non-believers alike. And so you have this kind of melding of people together, and it's really a beautiful thing. We've heard over and over, there's just like this spirit of joy, like the students are happy to be there. There's just this really sweet atmosphere. And of course, that's nothing that we've done. That's the Lord being there, being with us, guiding us, and giving us the wisdom to make the decisions that we make for the best interest of the students. But I really feel like we sense God's presence during that week.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's such a fun week. I always walk away just feeling so full, genuinely, both musically, being able to mentor and teach, but also to build those relationships and have so much fun together. I know another way that I've loved that we kind of do create the freedom to just talk openly about our faith and everything is after the devotional time. I believe that's when we go into like our chamber rehearsal, but we do take the beginning of that time to talk. We have at least the first couple of years or the last couple of years to kind of unpack some of the devotional and get to hear people's thoughts and ask questions and get to pray together. And so that's been super cool. Again, not something you typically get to do in a chamber group setting, but super cool that you get to do it at camp and getting to hear just the ways that the Lord's working in kids' lives and revealing to them through the devotional time.
SPEAKER_00:I would just add to that. So we used to do a big icebreaker at the beginning of the week. And we changed that up to do a little bit more, just the icebreaker, more within your chamber group, because that's who you're spending time with. That's who you're going to see. And if we, there's nothing wrong with making a bunch of friends, but to be able to have deeper friendships where you actually talk about something meaningful beyond your favorite food, which is fine, but it's great to go deeper. So even that has been tweaked through the years.
SPEAKER_02:I'm so thankful too that sometimes a kid will start walking into the week and be pretty shy and not want to engage and not want to interact. Just kind of stay to themselves. Probably their first year coming. a lot of times kids or teachers will kind of scoop them up and interact with them and really make sure that they feel included. And then they just really do get a chance to break out of their shell a little more because they have just been brought in and really loved with the love of Jesus. And then just to get to see them thrive more in their music and socially and have more fun. Those have been really neat stories for me to get to witness the week of camp.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I was just this week... I have an adult student who actually has her own students who have been attending camp. And I mentioned it to her like, hey, just I'll say, you know, I sent you this. Are you able to like, did you send it on? Whatever. And I mentioned, oh, is this particular student of yours planning to come back to camp? And she was like, yeah, she was like, I don't know if she signed up, but I can't imagine that she would like. She has to go to camp. To her, this is a huge priority now. She's looking forward to it. This is what she's looking forward to in summer. And I know that kid. I've had that kid in my chamber group before, and I've watched her just blossom, both relationship-wise and even musically. I think it gives a musical boost, too. They get a different perspective. They get a bigger... a higher view of where they could be. They set bigger goals. And a lot of times we see huge musical growth. So I think for her, it's both. I think it's musical and I think it's relationship. Like she's excited to see those friends
SPEAKER_01:again, like we said. Casey, you mentioned, you know, teachers will come in and scoop children up and, you know, just try to get them involved. And students do that as well, which is immensely gratifying to see. And I would say that, so we have a staff of nine kind of full-time teachers and then three elective teachers that join us. So a staff of about 12 people. And so with that, we've really tried to have great intentionality to say, hey, we've got to look for the kids that are off to the side. We've got to look for the kids who don't seem to have a buddy. And then we can go and pair those with students that we know will be so excited to take them in. And I think that's the neat thing about camp is just our teachers intentionality with that and having eyes open to that. But also the students that do that, it just makes me want to tear up when i think about it because it is precious to see um like laura had said earlier everybody's got a seat at the table everybody's welcome we want everybody to come away feeling like they are not alone like they have a friend they have someone that they could could lean on and they could enjoy music with and and hopefully share a faith relationship with as well and so maybe that's one of the fruits that comes from that is potentially very long-lasting lasting friendships, not only in the music world, but hopefully with a spiritual aspect as well.
SPEAKER_03:I love that. And to go along with that, I think a big fruit that comes from the camp, from my perspective, is being able to invite my private students and students that I work with in orchestra, which, you know, Obviously, believers, non-believing families, but just to put it out there, hey, I'd love to join you. And just, it's just kind of like an invitation, you know, at the camp, I have more freedom to talk about my faith. And I just felt like, I just love that there's that opportunity for me, you know, just professionally, you feel like, where can I fit in, you know? it's hard to know besides living out, you know, trying to be joyful, trying to let a guide, but that kids can hear the gospel. So I'm just really thankful to have something that can grow that conversation. And like I said, they may attend camp for various reasons. Maybe they just want to study with a certain teacher or they just want a friend from orchestra is doing it, but we're just really glad that they're there.
SPEAKER_02:I think what you're all describing, it's just so beautiful to hear because it's so countercultural to both the world and to the music world because the music world in particular can be so competitive and cutthroat and you don't want the other person besides you to succeed because you want to succeed, you know, and you see other people almost as a threat sometimes as to your success and that's just so the complete opposite of what the Lord calls us to but then what this camp represents and And I think people can feel that. And it's something it's why they want to come back and just the cultivating of community, I think, is just one of my favorite fruits. And I think it is such a testimony to the Holy Spirit and the work there. And just, I don't know, I think it sets us apart from the world, you know, as we're called to, to love and build each other up. And we don't get that all the time in the music world. So it's so refreshing through this camp. So
SPEAKER_01:I just had one other fruit too that I was thinking is, how believers view Christians can vary widely. And sometimes a believer's view of Christians is not that great. If we're dealing in reality, I think we can all agree on that. But I feel like non-believers that come to camp I really believe that they will leave with a very positive view of Christianity because they see the joy, they see the love that is poured out between students, between teachers and students. And I just am so thankful that we can have that kind of a testimony, especially to build up our believing students, but then also to give a good testimony of the Lord and his goodness to those that don't know him. And I
SPEAKER_00:will say, I was debating about saying this, but I will say, so there is one particular student that I noticed I think the student has been there every year. I could be wrong, but I think, and this student from our knowledge, the student didn't come from a believing family and didn't really have an experience with faith. And I think, and there's never, ever been pressure at the camp ever to make a commitment to Jesus or, you know, any kind of, altar call, but it's always been an open invitation. If you ever want to talk about this, I'm happy to talk with you. And during devotions, we've made it a point to, this is the plan of salvation. It's freely offered. If you want to talk, it's there. And, but there was some, I, this particular student last year, I noticed a difference in their attitude and the way that they were talking to people in so many things. And I just thought that was fascinating. And I was wondering what had happened in their life. Like, no idea, just super curious. And at the end of the week, Brandon who had worked with that student also was like, oh yeah, I talked with that person, they profess to be a believer now. And I like, part of me was astonished, like what happened? And part of me was not at all surprised because I was like, but that explains everything about what I saw in a different, it's like a different kid. And so we don't know what else has happened in the last year or two of that student's life. We don't know, you know, like, Hopefully there's mentorship. Hopefully there's growth. Hopefully there's even just a Bible and a person can change a whole life. Just reading and knowing God that way. So to me, that's one of the strongest examples of the fruit of the camp. But there's obviously so much, so much that we could talk about.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. For me, the ones that don't know Jesus, it's a way to get exposed to that. But for the ones who do, it's such a way that they can grow in that and be mentored and pointed more towards Jesus and hopefully be more sanctified through the week. So I'd love to transition, though, if it's OK, to just kind of more the nuts and bolts behind the camp of how it functions and the behind the scenes that maybe a camper might not see, but it's necessary for the camp to run just in case maybe somebody would feel convicted to start something similar. or maybe it's just out of pure curiosity. How does a camp like this run? I'm sure each of you have a specific role or do you just tag team everything? How do you three work together? And I believe there's even a fourth member, Melissa, who wasn't able to join us today, but how each of your strengths may be playing to the role that you have in helping guide and lead the camp. Can you speak to that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely. I'd be happy to start us off on that. So there are four directors, Laura, Diane, myself, and then Melissa Beidel, who is a pianist. And so I feel like we, through the years, and this is actually our fifth year of camp this summer, but there's been tweaking as we've referenced, you know, through our talks today. And so every year we tweak a little bit more and dial things in a little bit more. And I feel like we've really set a a good rhythm with kind of between the four of us, we all have our lanes. And it's not that we don't ever cross over and help one another in their lane, but we kind of know where our strengths lie. Melissa is brilliant at technology. And so that is her lane and we just can't thank her enough for that. I take a role in kind of organizing meetings and getting the ball rolling The last day of camp, we as a staff will meet and just kind of do a quick run through of what we felt went well, what we felt we could improve on, different suggestions for next year so that everything's super fresh in our mind. And then we can have kind of a springboard for going forward. So that's the first thing. And then about in October, we meet to say, hey, what new electives can we offer? What electives need to fall off so we're not just repeating the same things all the time? We discuss, do we need to raise tuition? Do we need to keep it? Just all the nuts and bolts of that sort of thing. And then we kind of are in a holding pattern until another meeting in probably January, just between the four of us, where we really dial things in and we get registration live and then we decide on a theme we get the registrations going and and then things start ramping up closer to camp for placing students and groups and choosing music and all that but I I enjoy just kind of the organization of things and and running the registrations and keeping the checkbook and hoping that it balances so that's kind of my role with things and kind of how we are dialed in right now. So we know that in May, when music is going out, that's going to kind of be a couple days that's just really intense. We know that then, you know, things coast again until camp. And so I really feel like, yes, it is a time commitment, but we each, because the Lord has gifted us in different wonderful ways, we can use our gifts to capitalize on making things efficient and and not have it be overwhelming and a burden really for anyone.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, this is a very organized group of women here. Mom, just because it came up, can you kind of explain the timeline, though, for somebody maybe wanting to go to camp? Registration is open now, and I know that there's a discount until April 1st, and then that price increases. And then what do they do to register? What does that look like, the registration process?
SPEAKER_01:Right. So we do have a website, showisummermusicclinic.com, and they can go on the website, they can register, they can send in a video. The videos that they send in really help us place them well into the groups that we have. And then there's also an elective preference form. We have a list of about 20 electives, maybe more, and then they give us their top four choices, and then they get placed in two elective classes. We try to honor the first and second choice for each student. And then that's kind of their set schedule for that time. By about May 10th, which is generally about a month prior to camp, we send out music. Teachers make connections with every child. You're going to be in my elective group. I'm so happy to meet you. This is who I am. I'll be coaching you in chamber music. And so I think that's another really nice aspect of the camp. Many camps you go to, you show up, here's your folder. We think this person's going to coach group or whatever. We just want students to know when they walk in the door, you're going to have Jane, you're going to have Lori, you're going to have Diane, whoever that is. We want them to know, we want them to feel settled when they walk in the door as much as possible so that they can just start to enjoy and thrive in camp throughout the week.
SPEAKER_02:So they can register.
SPEAKER_01:Really, we've had registrations up until about May 1st, May 5th, but then we just really need to start placing students. So our prime is$210 for this year. That's until April 1st. And then it increases$25 after that. And that includes a t-shirt, includes snacks, and then all the teaching for the week.
SPEAKER_02:Great. Thank you. Laura or Diane, do you want to speak to kind of your role in the camp and your strengths? Sure.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. What I really love, my role is kind of putting together the first groups, some ideas, because we just need to start somewhere. So it just really needs to see who the Lord brings us every year, because really grouping similar skilled students together is, you know, they're going to get to know each other and, you know, and then determining music based on You know that group so it's kind of like, who did the Lord bring? And then what would be a great piece for these students? That would be that balance of, you know, challenge, but also they really have like four days, four to five days to, to get it polished together. So brainstorming some possible ideas and then presenting it to the other directors to see their input. And I'm thankful for that opportunity just because I do know a lot of the kids from some of the local youth symphony and Suzuki school. It helps a little bit, just kind of know the dynamics there and just want it to be a really great experience for everybody.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I would say too, like Laura knows, knows all these kids. She does such a great job, like getting us started with that. And also knows a lot of the rep that would be at their level and some of what's out there. So one of the things that I've been doing is helping figure out the schedule, setting the schedule's kind of along with Jane, like helping with some of that organization, taking notes at our meetings, putting stuff out there, coming up with a whole list of, you know, an agenda for our meetings, and then also doing the evaluations at the end, getting those out to the kids and the parents, and then taking all that information in and trying to summarize it so that we can, as a group, have a pretty good idea of what they're saying I did want to say we really try to get the music out to the kids about a month in advance. Hence, we've moved up the deadline. We aren't accepting as many late registrations. We prefer not to do that so that we can get the group set, so that we can get stuff sent out to the kids. Because, and I do want to make this point, we make this to the kids every year. Some of the kids every year are like, oh, the music was too easy. And we often say yes, and we did that on purpose because we want them to be able to have the focus on the chamber music aspect of it. Just because you can play this piece does not mean you're really good at listening to everybody else, to being exactly together, to matching articulations, to listening for their intonation and matching it. There's so many other aspects that we'd love for them to learn. They can learn a piece for their teacher in a private lesson. That's different. This is giving them, and they can be in an orchestra, and a lot of the kids have orchestral experience, and that's great if you have a conductor. And now they're thrown into a chamber music group, and they don't know how to play with other people without a conductor. So that's been very intentional, and we keep trying to Help the kids understand that. And as they've been there more and more years, they get better and better at that. And that's also one of the reasons we decided to go the chamber music route with this camp. Because there are more opportunities in our area for orchestral playing. There aren't a lot of opportunities for chamber music. So that's kind of why we went that route.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm. Totally. Okay, so I'm curious... If someone were wanting to start a camp of their own, a Christian music camp, is there anything you can go to and think of? These are absolute must first steps to get the ball rolling, even getting personnel. Like, have you ever struggled with that before? The first thing
SPEAKER_00:I would say is pray. That's the first step. Pray about it. Pray for God to bring the personnel. Pray that you know what direction to go. Pray that you know how long the day should be. Pray that God would bring the right people to camp as campers, as students, as volunteer parents. That's the first step. That's great.
SPEAKER_01:I guess another thing that I am just really thankful for in our little central Illinois area is I do feel like there are a lot of believing people musicians. And that is a gift that I'm not sure any of us really fully realize living here. But I would say to pray about who you know and your network of people that shares your passion and gift for music and that also has a relationship with the Lord. And it doesn't need to be nine people. It could be two people starting this out. And don't be afraid to start small. When we started, I think our first year, we had 28 students. And for us, that was huge. I mean, we were just thrilled with that. And now we're at, by God's grace, about 60 students every year. And so I just think, don't be afraid to start little because even if you impact one child, that is worth it. And so finding people that you share a faith with and are musically aligned, then you can really just start and forge your own path like we did. We don't do everything like was done in Kentucky, but we found we've hit a stride with what is meaningful and beneficial for our area. And maybe it's starting out with a couple hours a day. There's no set way to do this. You just have to kind of find out what works. But I just want to say again and reiterate, when you find your people It's just such a joy and it's a blessing beyond measure.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I'd like to also kind of switch gears to just the concept of Christian music camps as a whole. I know that this is the time when registrations open at different places and you have to maybe send in a video and audition. So I'm just curious, do you know any other Christian music camps maybe you've had kids go to or you've gone to in the past?
SPEAKER_00:I think Kentucky is the only one Like this that I know of. I haven't done a lot of research because I don't have kids doing this yet, although I am going to have my son coming on cello this year. So I haven't been looking. When I was a student, I don't remember anything like this out there.
SPEAKER_03:I think I've heard of like Credo. And they have several locations in the country. I think their headquarters may be in Chicago now. So I think that's, you know, a great opportunity that's geared towards, I believe, high school and college. And their format is different than ours. You know, so it's for older students. And I believe they have like they tour maybe like a luthier, like a string shop to learn about instrument, maybe posture. and some master classes, and then some orchestra rehearsals. So completely different format than what we offer, but it's also another great opportunity for students to explore.
SPEAKER_01:I have heard, and I don't know a lot about them. I've just heard of Masterworks in Ohio, I think it is. And then I believe Wheaton Conservatory has a summer music camp as well. I really don't know about their programs, but they would be, you know, not day camps. for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. It's super nice to be local, but I know, you know, as you get older and maybe there's even college festivals, it would be great if they're, they had both faith and music. I've also heard of SESI. I think that's how you pronounce it. C S E H Y, which if you listen to the episode with Gary Rhodes, he had actually become a believer at that camp. So I did a little research and it's really, um, seems cool. It's in Pennsylvania. And the other one that I thought of was just the Annie Moses Summer Music Festival. They're a super cool family that's in Columbia, Tennessee. And again, each camp probably offers something a little different. I know that they're even doing a parent conference alongside that week in the summer, which I think is a really neat idea. And they do maybe more some commercial music, different genres of music at a really high level and how to perform and be engaging and then also how to do that for the glory of God. So it's true. It doesn't seem like there's an overwhelming amount of families Christian summer music camps or festivals. And would you agree with that? Do you think there's more of a need for these sorts of things or is there some momentum behind it?
SPEAKER_01:I would think there would always be a need for it. And if any one of your listeners is interested or think they might, the Lord might be calling them to do something like this, I can speak for myself. I would love to just share and, you know, what, what has worked for us, what hasn't worked for us and, and talk through. And I can't imagine that any one of these other women wouldn't feel the same way. I mean, we've been blessed by Sam and his guidance and his encouragement when we first started out and would just love the opportunity to be that for someone else as well. And
SPEAKER_03:I would also just encourage, you know, parents to have a good conversation with their students that are going to camp, just seeing, um, know what kind of format if it's their dedication with their instrument you know because some camps can be really intensive where it's you know it's rehearsals all day long and it's overnight and some camps can even be like four weeks long um so there's a lot of variation on um just the intensity um one thing like our hoi camp offers is like these electives So I have a son that plays cello, but he's not super serious on cello. He just likes a little bit of cello. And then for him, having a drum bucket elective or learning about a composer was nice. He's like, I don't want to spend all day playing cello. So I think just knowing your child and what would be a positive experience for them. And maybe it's like Do they need to grow in chamber music, like work on their confidence playing just 1% on a part? You know, would that be a really gratifying experience, really help their skills? And then just even spiritually, like... would going to a secular camp maybe be a challenge for them if they're already struggling and feeling disconnected? We talked earlier about a teacher or other students kind of scooping up or coming alongside students that are just feeling a little disconnected. So there's just so many angles, and I think just praying about it, like Diana was talking about, you try to make these decisions as parents and teachers and help with some wisdom, but just pray about it and just also think, you know, not every camp is the same, you know, just think spiritually, think about the format, think about what's the right balance.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for
SPEAKER_02:sure.
SPEAKER_01:It's great.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm just so thankful that you guys were willing to come on today. And if you have any last thoughts, now would be the time.
SPEAKER_00:I just, I am continually amazed at how God put things together and how I think it even of the team of directors, the four of us have such different giftings in so many ways. And there are a lot of things that have to get done and a lot of things that have to be. And I look at particularly the things that Laura and Melissa, we didn't mention like Laura is our social media guru. Don't ask me to post anything anywhere. I may tag
SPEAKER_03:you though.
SPEAKER_00:Which is great. I didn't have to do it. And Melissa getting everything set up and a master of spreadsheets and having all the information. And again, as you asked earlier, where do we find the faculty? And again, we pray about it. We talk to people. And God brings people into our life. One of our faculty members, Katie, is somebody that I've known through performing in orchestra for years. happened, again, happened to have a conversation, I don't think any of this is by chance, and find out that she's a believer, what her background is, and thinking, wow, she would be amazing. And I feel like when we first asked her, thinking, oh, this is probably not going to happen, this is going to be a one-off, and oh, I'd love to do that, this is great, right? So God providing, and we are looking, we keep talking, are we going to need to add faculty members? If we have more students, we need to add faculty members, and we keep tossing those ideas out. And I strongly believe if God gives us those students, he's going to give us the faculty members to meet that need. Like it's going to happen.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Well, thank you so much, guys, for being willing to come on and just share your wisdom with our audience. And I know they're just going to be encouraged to hear from you guys. I'm thankful for your faithful stewardship over the camp and just allowing the Lord to use you. I know it can be hard work, but I think as we've all shared today, it's totally worth it. I'm just so thankful that you guys were willing to come on. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. in the hands of God to honor and worship him with their lives, but also their music. Thanks so much. We'll see you next time.