STARS SHINE AT WOODLANDS MUSIC CAMP JULY 6 AND 13

MUSIC PROGRAM EMPOWERS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES TO FIND THEIR OWN VOICE

 

Wexford, PA – The Woodlands presents their 19th annual Notes from the Heart music camps concerts taking place the first two Fridays in July 2018. Through the Notes from the Heart program, The Woodlands’ strives to ensure that all participants share the enrichment and educational benefits of creating music with their peers.  Each week-long summer camp culminates in a concert and celebrates the participants’ accomplishments with their family, friends, and the community. On Friday, July 6, “Starlight Serenade” presents performances by the adult participants of The Woodlands’ Notes from the Heart music camp. The following week, on Friday, July 13, “Bringing Out the Stars” highlights the talents of the child and teen campers, ages 8 to 21.  Both performances begin at 7:00 p.m. on The Woodlands campus, and are open to the public free of charge.

 

“Through Notes from the Heart, The Woodlands is dedicated to using the universal language of music to empower people with disabilities to find their own voices and tell their own stories. This program has become a vehicle for assisting participants in enhancing self-worth and a heightened sense of community. The joy that is observed through these weeks at camp translates to a fun and rewarding atmosphere for the participants, and this contagious sense of fun, in turn, transfers to the audiences at the concerts,” Director of Programs and Marketing Jesse Solomon said of the program. The Woodlands is a nonprofit organization with a resort-style campus that provides enrichment and recreational programming for children and adults with disability and chronic illness.

 

Throughout their week at camp, participants study music appreciation and theory, are coached in singing and playing instruments, and compose their own musical pieces. Campers also attend performances by visiting artists to The Woodlands, such Allegheny Brass Band and Jim Donovan, one of the founding member of the band Rusted Root and also of Jim Donovan & the Sun King Warriors.

 

Internationally and locally known musicians, conductors, and educators return as Notes from the Heart Music Camp faculty and staff. Previous to his position as Director of Orchestral Activities at The Hartt School, Edward Cumming was Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Andrew Clark is Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University. Allison Fromm is the founding director of Joyful Noise, a New Jersey and Delaware chorus of adults with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries, which has become a national model for similar ensembles. Lilly Abreu is a vocal recording artist and teaches Voice at Carnegie Mellon. 

 

The Woodlands’ mission is to enrich the lives of children and adults with disability and chronic illness by providing adapted therapeutic programs that support and strengthen the development of skills in socialization, creative expression, environmental awareness, recreation, and spirituality at its fully accessible Wexford, PA, facility.  Further information and a schedule of The Woodlands’ programming are available at www.mywoodlands.org.

 

Contact: Heidi Matthews

Program Marketing Coordinator

The Woodlands

724-935-5470

412-608-6120  Mobile

hmatthews@woodlandsfoundation.org

Images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/acglxhipigmlpo6/AADj1-wxoHKkD3oJSc-m6P7ga?dl=0