Chamber Music Camp

Why Attend Chamber Music Camp

For more than 60 years, adult musicians have come to Interlochen to read, play, and polish great works of chamber music together. This year, we look forward to gathering in-person where we will make and listen to variety of chamber works, build friendships with fellow participants and faculty, and absorb the creative energies that exist on the grounds of Interlochen Center for the Arts.

What You'll Learn

Chamber musicians from around the world immerse themselves in instruction and performances with a faculty of leading string, keyboard, and woodwind musicians. A variety of class options provide an enriching and flexible experience to all participants, including daily reading pairings or intensive study. This course includes:

Pedagogy workshops
Master classes
Participant performances
Large conducted reading ensembles

A Chamber Concert Series, featuring daily performances with our professional artist quartet-in-residence, and notable faculty members from leading university musical instrument performance programs, round out this remarkable Camp.

For information about the structure of the camp, types of ensembles, including the date and time for check-in, times for workshops, master classes, and specific campus information related to Chamber Music Camp, please see the Schedule tab below. The schedule and information are subject to change as we get closer to August.

Course Dates: Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 to Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023
Registration Fee: $625
Early Registration Fee: $575 (Early Registration Fee Deadline - April 15, 2023)

K-12 Educators: Earn 22 State of Michigan SCECH clock hours by attending the Chamber Music Camp

2023 Adult Chamber Music Camp Theme and Repertoire:

In keeping with our theme “The Science of Music,” Beethoven asks us a profound (or not so much) question, “Muß es sein? Must it be?” answering his own question flippantly, “It must be! es Muß sein!” In the Large Conducted Reading Ensemble I, we will investigate Beethoven’s motives in Op. 135 including head and heart and notice how he volleys between reason and emotion achieving the loftiest sentiments while somehow dignifying the mundane. Although the shortest of his late great quartets, Op. 135 will supply us with ample content and challenges to fill an adventurous week exploration.

In music that is technically more straightforward and therefore more accessible, Large Conducted Reading Ensemble II will continue its traversal of eighteenth-century composer, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges six string quartets. Known as the first classical composer of African descent, this repertoire gives us the opportunity to recognize a rare talent whose place in history made it a challenge to even be remembered. In addition, Ensembles I and II will come together to discover a new work that will mark a festive conclusion to the week!

For wind participants, Large Conducted Reading Ensemble III studies Richard Strauss’s richly textured Serenade for Winds in E-flat major, Op. 7 and the eccentric Frenchman Darius Milhaud’s Chamber Symphony No 5, Opus 75. Traditionally movements of these works are performed on the festive Participant Concert on the last day!

The highlights of the afternoon Wind and String Conducted Reading Sessions feature Louise Farrenc’s Nonet and Schubert’s mighty Octet in F Major, D. 803.

Large Conducted Ensemble Repertoire:
Large Conducted Reading Ensemble I for Strings (Salness):
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Opus 135 - Ludwig Van Beethoven (Henle)

Large Conducted Reading Ensemble II for Strings (Voglar):
6 String Quartets, Opus 1 - Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Large Conducted Reading Ensemble III for Winds (Wind Faculty):
Serenade for Winds in E-flat Major, Opus 7 - Richard Strauss
Chamber Symphony No 5, Opus 75 - Darius Milhaud

String/Wind Chamber Music (Williams):
Nonet, Opus 38 - Louise Farrenc

String/Wind Chamber Music (Knific):
Octet in F Maor, D. 803 - Franz Schubert

Aeolus Quartet Artists-in-Residence Repertoire:

Program 1: Monday, August 14, 2023
Program 2: Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Program 3: Saturday, August 19, 2023

Adult Chamber Music Faculty Repertoire:
Program 1: Thursday, August 17, 2023
Program 2: Friday, August 18, 2023

Click here for past years repertoire

Paul Austin

Adult Chamber Music Camp - Instructor of Horn and Winds Coordinator

DJ Cheek

Adult Chamber Music Camp - Instructor of Viola

Kacy Clopton

Adult Chamber Music Camp - Instructor of Cello

Evelyn Elsing

Adult Chamber Music Camp - Instructor of Chamber Music

Pamela Fay

Adult Chamber Music Camp - Instructor of Viola

Elizabeth Goode, D.M.A.