We just finished up our tenth annual Jubilate Deo Summer Music Camp here in West Monroe, Louisiana. The above video is a promo piece that was put together for us.
Jubilate Deo Summer Music Camp
This year’s concert featured music themed around “The Birds of the Air.” The large work was Mozart’s Sparrow Mass (K. 220) which got in on a technicality because of its bird song in the Sanctus movement. The concert featured music about birds and bird songs from the youngest five-year-old campers to the 12th-plus grade singers.
Each day students rehearse music, take art and folk dancing, and study the biblical themes from the musical selections so that they can better understand the works they are singing, some in foreign languages. It is like VBS and Choir Camp got married and had a kid that strongly resembles the Choir Camp parent.
This year we had our largest camp yet, with 330 registrations from 49 cities in 15 states. Some folks would send groups, some would bring mom and the kids, and some bring the whole family. Some folks stay in an Airbnb or with host families. Visit JubilateDeo.org for more information. Next year’s camp will be June 24–29, 2024.
The Fifth Annual BACH Lectures
This year we again had our fifth annual Bach Lectures with talks by Dr. Scott Aniol, Paul Buckley, and Maestro John Mason Hodges. We had Wednesday and Thursday morning talks from Dr. Aniol and Mr. Buckley on a practical and philosophical approach to singing and understanding the Psalms. Then Thursday evening, we concluded with a lecture recital of Bach’s Cantata 51, “Shout for joy to God in all lands” (Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen), which featured guest soprano soloist Julia Cumming of Memphis, TN, and piccolo trumpet by Brian Lassiter. Maestro Hodges talked through the work and introduced some of the themes before taking us through the entire work. It’s a great way to enjoy the music with some understanding and awareness. The idea is to have something for the parents and interested community folks to enjoy during our music camp week. Visit BachLectures.org for more information.
Friday Family Folk Dance
With our largest camp, we also had our largest family folk dance on Friday night of music camp week. We teach the dances during the week and then go over them so parents and family/friends can enjoy them as well.
If you are new to folk or social dancing like this, check out a previous article titled “Dancing With, Not At One Another: An Explanation of Folk Dancing’s Joy and Blessings.”
Singing, Dancing, & Feasting