The Music, Meadows and Mountains Retreat (affectionately known as “MMM Camp”) is the perfect place for young musicians to wrap up the summer and get a musical head start on the new school year.While at camp, students have the opportunity to work with enthusiastic, energetic faculty in a variety of ensembles at beautiful CampMoran. In addition, MMM Camp emphasizes a balance between musical education and outdoor activities, thereby fostering the growth of enduring musical friendships and community.
SETTING
CampMoran is a retreat center located within scenic MoranState Park on Orcas Island, Washington.
MMM Camp revolves around the traditional lodge, where dining, activities, and many classes take place. A short walk through the orchard reveals CascadeLake and the accompanying swimming and canoeing areas. Short hikes and nature trails are also located nearby, and easily reveal natural wonders such as ancient evergreens and beautiful CascadeFalls. This ideal natural setting has the potential to inspire both musical growth and a love of the outdoors.
Families and students share cabins equipped with bunks that sleep 10-14 people, while unaccompanied students aged 13-17 will reside in supervised boys’ or girls’ cabins. Duplex cabins have 14 bunks and a bathroom/shower. Other cabins sleep 10-12 at capacity and share a centrally-located public bathroom that was remodeled in 2007. Please note that the accommodations are quite rustic—guests will need to provide their own bedding, towels, and toiletries.
DAILY SCHEDULE
Classes will be held Monday through Thursday.Instruction will commence following breakfast and will conclude in the early afternoon, allowing time for outdoor activities.Evenings will consist of nightly concerts and other scheduled activities.
Sample Schedules:
Schedule A
~ Breakfast ~
8:45-10 Orchestra
10-11(Unscheduled Hour)
11-12 Masterclass
~ Lunch ~
1-2Chamber Music
2:30Afternoon Activities (e.g. hiking, swimming)
~ Dinner ~
7:30Evening Concerts
Schedule B
~ Breakfast ~
9-10 Masterclass
10-11Group Class
11-12 (Unscheduled Hour)
~ Lunch ~
1-2World Music
2:30Afternoon Activities (e.g. hiking, swimming)
~ Dinner ~
7:30Evening Concerts
STRINGS PROGRAM
Students will have a daily schedule consisting of three of the following courses:
-Lesson or Masterclass
-Orchestra
-Chamber Music
-Suzuki Group Class
-World Music
Approximate Class levels:
Orchestra – RCM Gr.5/Suzuki book 4 and above
Chamber Music - RCM Gr.5/Suzuki book 4 and above
World Music – Suzuki books 1-3
Suzuki Group Class – Suzuki books 1-3
Program placement will be determined by the director in consultation with parents and teachers.
PERFORMANCES
The faculty will perform early in the week in concerts designed to inspire students and parents alike with a wide range of selections from many genres. The students will be showcased at the end of the week with solo, chamber, and large ensemble performances.
Instrument, music with piano accompaniment, music stand, bedding, towels, toiletries, sunscreen, bug repellent, sunglasses, hats, comfortable shoes, swimming suit, flashlight, water bottle, a warm layer of clothing for the evenings, outdoor games, passport and travel documents for going to the US.
What if I have a dietary restriction?
Please notify us upon submitting your registration.
Can I substitute a class for chamber music?
Rick will decide on a case-by-case basis, please notify upon registration.
Can I make housing requests or have a private cabin?
We are unable to offer private cabins based on the facilities. Housing requests can be made following registration.
Do I need to bring performing attire?
No, students will wear their campT-shirts while performing.
Violinist Rick Dorfer currently resides in White Rock, B.C., where he is quickly establishing himself as a performer, adjudicator, and pedagogue. Rick is a member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and also enjoys a variety of freelance opportunities, including recording sessions and new music performances. As an educator, Rick maintains an extensive teaching studio in White Rock, conducts the Surrey Symphony Society’s Junior Strings Orchestra, and coordinates the Surrey Symphony’s new Chamber Music Program. Rick has also recently adjudicated a number of music festivals and given many masterclasses throughout the region. Rick enjoys directing the Music, Meadows, and Mountains Retreat, a summer strings program located on beautiful Orcas Island, Washington.
Emily Terrell - Director
Emily Terrell has always divided her time between science and music, although she has yet to develop a serious interest in the science of music. Emily grew up in the small rural town of Sandpoint, Idaho where her musical training began in the Fiddler’s Hatchery under Carolyn Hatch. As she advanced, her violin studies took her further and further from home, which often resulted in more time spent in the car than at the violin lesson! Luckily, by the time gas prices skyrocketed, Emily had embarked on her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington in Seattle where she had the luxury of walking to her weekly lessons with violin professor Ron Patterson. In 2006, she graduated cum laude with full college honors in violin performance, neurobiology, and biochemistry. In the meantime, Emily decided to hone her academic focus to better reflect her developing interest in food science and wine making. Thus, she moved to Canada in order to attend the University of British Columbia where she is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Food Science with an emphasis in Wine Biotechnology.Ever the proponent of combining music with other professional and personal interests, Emily continues to play with the university symphony and regularly leads sectionals for the Surrey Junior Strings orchestra, in addition to serving as co-director of the Music, Meadows, and Mountains Retreat.
Trish Clair-Peck
Trish Clair-Peck currently teaches Suzuki violin at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music, where she also directs the thriving Nanaimo Fiddlers program. She is also a frequent instructor at fiddle camps in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Trish has a degree in violin performance from the University of Western Ontario, where she also did graduate work in musicology. She studied violin with Gwen Thompson, Robert Skelton, Paul Kling, Yaroslav Karlovsky (viola), and Pablo Deimecke, and has completed Suzuki teacher training with Elayne Ras, Carol Smith and Ann Montzka-Smelser.
Trish is busy as a classical and folk performer on both violin and viola. She is a founding member of the Tan Trio, a new music ensemble featuring Nicole Arendt (marimba, percussion) and Chris Helman (saxophones), and she performs regularly with the Sonora String Quartet alongside Karl Rainer, James Mark, and Hannah Wilson. In 2007 Trish released a CD of traditional and original fiddle music entitled Dawson’s Tumble, which was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award.
Barbara Nickel
Barbara Nickel has participated in the Valley of the MoonScottishFiddlingSchool in Santa Cruz, California, where she studied with fiddlers such as Buddy McMaster (CapeBreton), Alasdair Fraser (Scotland), and James Kelly (Ireland); she’s also studied with Gordon Stobbe (Canada) at PacificFiddleCollege and other fiddle workshops.
Barbara was the director of the Western Fiddlers at the LangleyCommunityMusicSchool, where she taught Suzuki violin for many years. She received her Suzuki training most notably from Dr. Lon Sherer at Goshen College (Goshen, IN), where she received her B.A. in Music, William Starr (Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute), and Michele Higa George (Guelph Suzuki Institute), and has taught in the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John’s (NF) and at the Atlantic Canada Suzuki Institute. She currently teaches in her home studio in Yarrow, B.C.
Barbara holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and is an award-winning children’s author and poet; her latest novel for children, Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach (Penguin Canada, 2005), was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, won the B.C. Book Prize, and is scheduled for publication in Korea. She recently used her novels in collaboration with Vancouver’s Pacific Baroque Orchestra in a program of words and music called “Stories and Strings: Bach, Mozart, and Friends”.
Manti Poon
After moving to Vancouver in 1993, Manti Poon furthered his studies on viola performance with Professor David Harding at the University of British Columbia as a full scholarship student. Since then he has become a much sought-after musician in British Columbia as a soloist, orchestral musician and chamber music collaborator. Apart from holding the position of principal violist with the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra and the Canada West Chamber Orchestra, he also performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the North Shore Sinfonia, to name a few. Mr. Poon is one of the founding members of the Classical String Quartet and also performs regularly with the Melange Chamber Ensemble as both violinist and violist. Starting fall 2004, Mr. Poon has been appointed faculty instructor at Douglas College, BC. He performs on a fantastic copy of a 1600 Giovanni Paolo Maggini contralto viola by Viseltear and Young, New York.
Maureen Yuen
Maureen Yuen completed her Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Violin Performance at the University of British Columbia at the age of 21.Her primary teachers were Andrew Dawes, Nancy Di Novo and Gerald Stanick.She has also worked with members of the Emerson, Fine Arts, Orford, St. Lawrence, and Tokyo string quartets.As a founding member of the English Bay String Quartet, Ms. Yuen has toured North America, and has also performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Italy and Norway.She has played with the Victoria Symphony, Wichita Symphony, National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Western New York Chamber Orchestra.She is also a member of the Bellingham Festival Orchestra, whose recordings can often be heard on NPR’s Performance Today.Currently, Ms. Yuen is on faculty at the School of Music at the State University of New York at Fredonia where she maintains a full studio of undergraduate and graduate violin students and several chamber music ensembles.Her active schedule includes solo and chamber music recitals and masterclasses throughout North America.She is a string adjudicator with Kiwanis Music Festivals in Canada and a member of the College of Examiners of the Royal Conservatory of Music.
