News From Britt Hill – June 2016

In addition to the concerts that Britt presents all summer, did you know that Britt Music and Arts Festival also offers education programs twelve months out of the year? Starting in January, we bring in our first cadre of interns. Internships at Britt provide in-depth, hands-on experience in Marketing, Development, Education, Orchestra Management, Programming, and Graphic Arts to individuals 18-years-old and older. Interns have the opportunity to work closely with non-profit professionals as the staff prepares for the performance season in the summer and then gears up for the fundraising season in the fall.

Our camps and workshops provide people of all ages an opportunity to explore the act of creative expression through music. This year we held our first camp over spring break in March. Partnering with the Modern Roots Foundation, we offered the Rogue Roots and Strings Camp. Campers learned about bluegrass, folk, and Americana music. This summer, back by popular demand, aspiring guitar players can join our Guitar Workshop for four days of instruction by some of the region’s most accomplished guitarists. The workshop will be held August 25-28, and is open to beginning and intermediate students ages 14 and older.

Attention all parents! Thanks to Southern Oregon Subaru, Britt’s Children’s Concert Series has been expanded from two to seven FREE concerts being held between August 1-16 at 10:00am. See our website for details: www.brittfest.org.

For the first time ever, the James M. Collier Britt Orchestra Fellowship program will provide aspiring classical musicians the chance to rehearse and perform alongside members of the Britt Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Teddy Abrams, be mentored by professional orchestral musicians, and form a Fellowship Chamber Ensemble to create their own performances in the southern Oregon community.

This past year, Britt coordinated visits to over a dozen different area schools, giving local students the opportunity to connect with professional musicians in their classrooms. To sum-up the impact of these in-school residencies, Penelope DiGennaro, Principal, Sunny Wolfe Charter School, wrote:

We were thrilled to have a musician at our school for students to enjoy. Our school is in a rural, impoverished area and the children do not normally have access to the arts, such as music, fine arts, or theater. Performances like this one inspire our young children to believe that they could do something like this themselves. It allows them to step out of their environment and imagine that they could have similar experiences as artists. These performances are possibilities for students to break out of the cycle of generational poverty. So in addition to enjoying the wonderful music, the children were given hope.

Our 2016-2017 in-school residency programs will kick-off in September and run throughout the school year.

For more information about any of these programs, please contact Kay Hilton, Director of Education and Community Engagement at kay.hilton@brittfest.org.