Sfzorzando String Camp

A couple of weeks ago my violinists partcipated in their first string camp. I also had 2 of my little ones who haven’t played yet be in the Pre-Twinkles program. It was a great Christian camp called Sfzorzando String Camp. It was about an hour from our house–so that was the hardest part of it for me. Also, since I had kids in all 5 different levels, they finished at 5 different times of the day. So, we hung out a lot at the church–at the playground, in the nursery, in the gym, and in the van!

They had a pretty strict dress code. I had to do quite a bit of shopping to prepare for the camp! I found some at the resale shop and made the girls’ black skirts. It was nice to see the kids looking so pretty and spiffy! I also loved that my older kids got to play in orchestras for the first time. The directors were really fine. The older kids also had choir, theory class, composition class, and chapel. My oldest son played in a chamber group (trio) as well as the orchestra.

One of the neatest pieces the kids played was called a “wrap-around” piece because the three lower orchestras stood around the auditorium (with cellists in the middle) while the advanced orchestra was on the stage.

I really loved that my kids got to participate in a choir.

Here is the advanced orchestra playing hymns by ear.

The Pre-Twinkles class was fun for my 4-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. My son was the youngest kid and the only boy. He almost dropped his violin during the final performance!

He sure is adorable, isn’t he?

The Advanced orchestra:

Intermediate orchestra:

The Beginning orchestra:

I also took advantage of the location to go on a couple of field trips with the younger kids in the afternoons when the intermediate and advanced orchestras were still practicing. Here is the Children’s Garden at the Morton Arboretum: