Dmmetler Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 I have at least three students who are looking at camps and intensives (beyond the local day camps) this summer. Two are piano (one will be doing college auditions next fall, the other is a freshman this year so has a little more time), the other is a mixed instrument student who just did All West honor band on percussion, is a good pianist, but really wants to study accordion (we've been working on it together, since we've been unable to find a teacher, but accordion wasn't part of my college program, so about all I can provide is being more experienced at decoding music books from the 1950's). I'm looking at the University of Mississippi Piano Institute and the Belmont Piano Intensive as two possibilities. Both money and distance are a concern, so I think Blue Lake and Interlochen are out. Oh, and one of the kids is trans and would be more comfortable in a setting that would a) allow more privacy for changing, showering, etc and b) where his name and pronouns would be accepted. My gut feeling is that the latter is unlikely to be an issue, but the former makes me think a college dorm would be better than a shared cabin, and would also be less likely to have pressure to hit the lake, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 I am no help other than encouraging them to apply for financial and merit aid. A lot of those places seem to offer them. there is Brevard Piano Institute https://www.brevardmusic.org/institute/piano/ They offer aid, and I am guessing it’s not too far from you, so potentially a very long bus ride? (I might be wrong on your location though). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Was going to suggest Brevard, but Roadrunner already did! Definitely worth checking out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 https://jacobsacademy.indiana.edu/descriptions/piano-academy.html My son attended this program and had a great experience. I do believe when he attended it was three weeks long,however. It now appears to only be two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Just about the only thing I know about this camp is that someone I know has been an instructor, and he thoroughly enjoys going. It's at the Peace Gardens in ND/Canada, so travel might make it not work for your student. https://internationalmusiccamp.com/about/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) My Dd did the Belmont piano camp last summer and loved it! Only 24 kids. Fun and challenging. She had Kristian Klefstad for her instructor and he was fabulous! Belmont has a strong progressive/woke vibe and I don’t think a trans kid would have any trouble there. Definitely not a conservative, evangelical, Bible-believing uni anymore. As my kid is local and didn’t board in the dorms, I don’t have first-hand knowledge about that dimension. Edited February 28, 2023 by ScoutTN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 4 hours ago, ScoutTN said: Belmont is now a secular, progressive uni and I don’t think a trans kid would have any trouble there. But as my kid is local and didn’t board in the dorms, I don’t have first-hand knowledge about that dimension. Belmont definitely doesn't bill itself as secular; they call themselves a Christian university and require religion classes (although not necessarily on Christianity) and until....a few weeks ago, apparently, you had to be a Christian to teach there (I remember reading about that a couple of years ago, so I checked to see if it was still true, and it's big news that they're planning to hire some Jewish professors for the first time): https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/13/belmont-plans-hire-jewish-faculty-first-time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 49 minutes ago, kokotg said: Belmont definitely doesn't bill itself as secular; they call themselves a Christian university and require religion classes (although not necessarily on Christianity) and until....a few weeks ago, apparently, you had to be a Christian to teach there (I remember reading about that a couple of years ago, so I checked to see if it was still true, and it's big news that they're planning to hire some Jewish professors for the first time): https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/13/belmont-plans-hire-jewish-faculty-first-time What they say and what is reality are two different things. The school has zero accountability to any Christian denomination; they are self-regulating as far as belief and policy. It is a hostile environment for evangelical Christians, faculty and students alike. Many of the “Christian” fellowship groups, both student led and those with paid staff are clearly woke and politically progressive. We have many close friends with kids in school there, friends on the faculty, and friends in the administration. Many departments have no Bible believing Christian professors. No one in Nashville thinks Belmont is a Christian school. My daughter was in the piano camp last June and is a reliable source of information about the program as far as the general vibe, actual music instruction and events, and the evening social activities. She said that she thinks a trans student would be comfortable in the program and generally at the university. @Dmmetler If your student applies and gets accepted to the Belmont camp, I’d encourage them to visit the campus, meet Kelfstad (who leads the camp) and some music students. It’s a drive, but worth a day off school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, ScoutTN said: What they say and what is reality are two different things. The school has zero accountability to any Christian denomination; they are self-regulating as far as belief and policy. It is a hostile environment for evangelical Christians, faculty and students alike. Many of the “Christian” fellowship groups, both student led and those with paid staff are clearly woke and politically progressive. We have many close friends with kids in school there, friends on the faculty, and friends in the administration. Many departments have no Bible believing Christian professors. No one in Nashville thinks Belmont is a Christian school. No dog in this fight, but are you saying that they WOULD hire, say, an openly Muslim professor even though the administration says they won't? Because otherwise I just can't imagine saying that it's an inclusive school. That's not what inclusive means. I also don't believe (as a Christian) that "woke and politically progressive" mean not Christian, fwiw. I would suggest that "inclusive" might mean something very different to a not religious student from a protestant tradition than to a Muslim or Jewish or Hindu student. This is from less than a year ago: https://www.belmontvision.com/post/the-efforts-to-start-a-club-for-belmont-s-muslim-students Quote Belmont has over 160 student organizations, but a Muslim student organization isn’t one of them — and after multiple rejected attempts to start one, students and faculty have pretty much stopped trying. For over 10 years now, advocates on campus have been trying to start a religious organization for Muslim students, but were denied by administrators at every turn. ETA: I'm not questioning whether they'd be welcoming to a trans student, and I'm glad to hear they would be (I also don't think that's at odds with being Christian); I'm just questioning saying that a school that won't employ anyone who doesn't at least profess to be Christian or Jewish can be called secular. Edited February 28, 2023 by kokotg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 The OP’s question was whether a trans student would be welcome and comfortable. I have some ability to answer that question and did. My assertion was questioned on the basis of Belmont’s claim to be a Christian university. I answered that relative to the issue at hand, sexuality and gender. Conservative, evangelical, Bible-believing universities generally would not be welcoming places for a trans student. Belmont is not holding to orthodox, historical, Biblical Christian norms for sexuality snd gender and I believe a trans student would be welcome and comfortable at their piano camp. Other issues, such as the presence or lack thereof, of Muslim student organizations or faculty are not relevant to the OP’s question. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) @kokotg I removed the adjective “secular” from my comment, though that is absolutely how Belmont functions in the classroom and to the OP’s question, at piano camp, regardless of what they claim. Edited February 28, 2023 by ScoutTN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 18 minutes ago, ScoutTN said: Other issues, such as the presence or lack thereof, of Muslim student organizations or faculty are not relevant to the OP’s question. It's true. Sorry; sometimes I get carried away about semantics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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