Young musicians hone skills at SIUC campus

CARBONDALE - Summer's here, so it's also time for camp. Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Music has plenty of activities planned for your budding musician.

School of Music Professor Joseph Breznikar teaches the seminar to beginning and advanced students. Breznikar is widely known as a classical guitarist, with concert credits at some of the most prestigious venues in this country as well as in the Far East, eastern Europe and South America. Besides his extensive classical repertoire, Breznikar maintains a presence in new music, including his own Twelve American Etudes for Guitar.

Other music camps this summer include:

Music theater, June 15-21. This is a program for 13- to 18-year-olds. The camp includes daily rehearsals and creative exercises in singing, acting and dancing.

Senior high band, June 15-21. Students learn concert band, jazz band, theory and technique. The week concludes with a camp concert during the Southern Illinois Music Festival at 1:30 p.m. on June 21 in Shryock Auditorium.

Jazz improvisation camp, June 15-21. Open to high school instrumentalists, this camp is for those who wish to improve their improv. Big band performance intersperses with improvisational and small group playing as well as sessions on jazz theory and history.

Junior high band, June 22-27. Students learn theory and technique in band and master classes. The camp concludes with a concert during the Southern Illinois Music Festival, beginning at 7:30 p.m. on June 27 in Shryock Auditorium.

Southern Illinois Children's Choir camp, July 7-11. The camp includes three levels of choir experience encompassing choral ensemble singing, movement and handbells. The camp ends in a three-choir concert beginning at 5 p.m. on July 11. The Level III Choir performs "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Rent One Park in Marion before a Southern Illinois Miners game on July 12. Membership in the Southern Illinois Children's Choir is not a camp requirement.

Youth band - week one, July 7-11; week two, July 14-18. This camp is for music students who have been playing for at least half a year and are in grades four through six. The camp includes technique classes, sectionals and listening exercises.

- The Southern