Clinton Kids Give High Marks to Music Camp at Mississippi College

Mississippi College Music Camp 2014

Music camp at Mississippi College is always close to home for Clinton students each summer.

The week-long residence camp led by MC Music Department professors is also close to their hearts. Clinton kids rave about the enriching experience and many of them return year after year.

“I love the one on one attention with each teacher and the experience with other campers,” says Sarah Kane, 16, an incoming junior at Clinton High. “You make lifelong friends.”

Despite Central Mississippi’s heat wave, Sarah found every moment was enjoyable as she learned from a team of outstanding professors to improve her skills as a voice student. The talented Clintonian also plays piano.

Look for Sarah Kane to be back at MC music camp next summer and study music as a college student in a couple of years.

This summer’s music camp attracted 46 students from Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Tennessee. It’s a busy week for campers and faculty that continues to evolve each year. “This year, we added conducting,” said camp director Bob Knupp. “There’s a good bit of interest in it.”

The camp also offers piano, voice, and guitar instruction, while Knupp teaches students on the organ. Students do more than just practice each day. They showcased their talents at a student recital held Friday evening on July 4^th.

A Clinton resident, Knupp is serving his 9^th year as a camp leader. He finds it never gets old. “Faculty come up with new ideas all the time."

Others with Clinton connections made a return trip to Mississippi College’s music camp just a few miles from home. They have their reasons for returning.

“You get to be around people who understand the love of music,” says Gabi Jones, 14, a Clinton High sophomore back for a second year. The daughter of an MC history professor, Gabi is studying piano and learning to properly use her voice during her daily lessons at Aven Hall.

Clinton resident Molly Spencer, 12, says music camp has been helpful as she makes progress with her violin. “I like being around people who play musical instruments,” says the 7^th grader at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Ridgeland.

A Clinton High senior, Emily Katherine Dacus, 16, likes seeing familiar faces from her hometown at music camp, but also enjoys getting to know newcomers. “I like meeting people from other places,” she said. “I made a bunch of friends from Texas.”

Clinton teens like Jane Wilson, Ashton Custer and Mary Madison Pevey also made the short drive, but got lots of mileage out of Mississippi College’s music camp.