About the Mountain Area Chamber Music Festival
After a wildly successful first year, we are excited to announce the 2019 Mountain Area Chamber Music Festival! Join us for a week-long program of vocal and strings chamber music open to rising 6th- through 12th-graders (rising 4th- and 5th- graders with comprehensive musical backgrounds may be considered), led by world-renowned master clinicians and coaches. Daily vocal and strings coachings will be accompanied by masterclasses, musical enrichment activities and in-depth artistic training culminating in a combined concert showcasing the students’ development. A placement audition is required for all new camp participants, and pre-formed chamber groups are welcomed! Participants from our 2018 MACMF still need to submit an application, but are not required to audition.
The founders of MACMF, Nadya Hill and Michael Hoffman, are both professional performers and teachers from the Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul areas, and have formed the Mountain Area Chamber Music Festival (MACMF.org) to address an incredibly important yet grossly underrepresented facet of music education: vocal and strings chamber and academic music for middle- and high- schoolers.
In order to be considered for entry into a college music program, applicants must have a number of fundamental music skills not provided in most schools in the USA. These skills include: music theory, music history, high-level performing experience, in-depth knowledge of techniques and stylistic conventions, near-professional technical skills in your given instrument, and the ability to make informed opinions about pieces of music.
Even if your student is not considering a college career in music, extensive musical backgrounds have been shown to give applicants a leg-up in the admissions process. The grit and drive that students learn from high-level musical interactions are second to none when it comes to having the skills to succeed in other facets of education. Former students from MACMF have also reported boosts in confidence and interpersonal skills.
The Mountain Area Chamber Music Festival’s coaches are young, thriving professional performers and teachers from all around the United States. We’ve specifically hired some of the highest-caliber young and energetic chamber musicians to encourage the students to stretch their boundaries of thinking and performing. We believe the arts are an important element of every lifestyle, and just as being in the mountains feed the soul, so does music!