The Ferguson Files: Mountains & Strings 2012

It's hard to believe we have been doing this for 12 years.

One thing is certain: It never gets old. Although, anyone not involved who views these pictures I post from year to year (...that all seem quite similar but with different t-shirt colors) might not get what the big deal is. I wish more people could understand how truly amazing this experience is for those involved. Most of all, I wish ALL of our friends and family could experience this with us.

It's too hard to put into words, but since we have been doing this for 12 years, I will list 12 things that we have come to count on every year.

1. A LOT of work preparing. Just getting students signed up with a balanced number of violins, violas, cellos, and basses, is huge. HUGE, I say! Not to mention arranging them all in quartets with others at their same level, and assigning music we think they can learn in a week that's not too easy, but not too challenging, but fun, etc. etc. It's tricky, to say the least.

2. Budgeting.

3. Planning, preparing for (as in practicing), and putting on concerts. We put on FOUR this year. In one week.

4. Bats. Thousands of them. They fly right past your head at night. Occasionally, one makes it into the dorm, or one of the other buildings. It makes life at camp exciting, to say the least...

5. Mosquitoes.

6. Stunningly beautiful scenery.

7. Good food. And, I mean GOOD. This includes a yummy dessert every night after dinner. Scones. Hot fudge sundaes. Fresh baked cookies. I mean, come on. Can you get any better?

8. Getting to know around 50 students from all around the United States ranging in age from 12 - 18. Talented. Fun. Hungry.

9. Music. Everywhere. From early morning private lessons, to large chamber orchestra rehearsals, to more intimate quartets, to fiddling, to late night chamber music reading sessions...well, you get the point. You can't walk through the park during this particular week in July without hearing it. Pure bliss. (Well, more-so towards then end of the week.) :)

10. Wonderful Leaders. I can't even express just. how. wonderful.

11. Hilarious skit night. You might be surprised at how funny these music nerds can be!

William made up a skit for himself and the younger kids, and he had the audience laughing so hard! It was super funny and creative. And, yes, it had to do with this banana peel. I may or may not get around to finding that video and posting it on here...

12. Students jumping in Henry's Fork after the final concert and wading to the island to sing their parts of an orchestra piece they've learned that week, and to play silly camp games. Even when it's raining. Yes folks, we drive them completely MAD by weeks end. But, luckily, they aren't our responsibility anymore at that point. Although I wasn't there to witness it for myself, I was told that this year they belted out the Mountains & Strings camp song that our awesome coach, Pat, wrote for us.

13. (Did you really think I would be able to stop at 12?)
Miracles. Every year, without fail. Makes every bit of work, every mosquito bite, every stressful moment and lack of sleep totally worth it in every way. I often catch myself walking through the park on some errand, and as I hear the music and take in the beauty that surrounds me, I say a silent prayer of thanks. My breath is taken away, and I am in awe when I realize the experiences that I get to be so intimately involved in during this one amazing week. I often wonder what I did to deserve it. Probably nothing. I guess I'm just lucky like that.

James, Sarah, and William had the time of their lives being outside, playing in dirt, and hangin' with some of the other coaches children.

Sugar and James. Still best buds.

There were also a couple "firsts" this year. We decided to hold what I called a "Leader's Retreat" before the actual camp. A few of us leaders went up the Thursday before to hang out, learn some chamber music together for a concert, and get ready for the students. It was awesome, and we hope to continue this new tradition in some form or other from now on.

One of the nights during this "Leader Retreat", we invited string players from our area (not necessarily affiliated with M&S) to come for a "One Night Music Stand". (Richard thought of that name, FYI.) There, we were all able to play chamber music with professionals, and enjoy something we love that we don't often get to do. It was especially cool to have Eric Grossmans' sister, Michele, there to play piano.

Another first: After 11 years of gambling with the weather, we decided to travel to Rexburg for the orchestra concert, so we could play indoors at the Rexburg Tabernacle. After 11 years, we had NEVER been forced to cancel a concert due to bad weather, and this is pretty miraculous when you consider that we have had at least three outdoor concerts at Harriman every year. We've had to delay a concert or two to wait for the rain to stop, but only by a few minutes. We did have to move Eric Grossman's solo concert on Wednesday indoors because of rain. And, a couple years ago, we had to move a fiddle concert into a building at Harriman because of bad weather, but we've never had to cancel.

(The orchestra fills up the Boys House for daily rehearsals.)

So, for some reason, we decided this was the year to bus the kids to Rexburg for the orchestra concert. Normally, this is our last concert on Saturday, but we changed the schedule around and put the fiddle concert as our final concert so we could still end the week up at Harriman. The concert on Friday in Rexburg turned out great. Eric performed the beautiful Ewazen Violin Concerto, and Jack Ashton conducted the orchestra in some other great music that they had rehearsed and prepared for throughout the week.

The weather turned out to be pretty good for that Friday concert in Rexburg.

But, the Saturday concert was a different story. Rain. Rain. Rain. And, LOTS of it. Saturday night, we HAD to move our fiddle concert indoors. It wasn't just rainy, but quite chilly as well. The weather had been relatively good for us all week...until Saturday. It was nasty! Just nasty.

Saturday is the day parents come. They come to see the students' quartet concerts during the day, eat dinner with us, and then watch the final concert that evening. Then we take a group picture, the students run into the river, and everyone goes home happy - well, a "sad-to-be-leaving" kind of happy.

(Here are Thomas and Marianne with their quartet after their Saturday afternoon performance.
They played Dvorak's "American" quartet - 1st movement.)

The indoor Folk, Fun, and Fiddle concert.

The famous Cello Choir led by Brian Ashton himself!

I'll be honest. I was totally bummed. The students were really good sports, however. They didn't seem to mind so much that it was raining. A group of them still ran out into the river afterwards. And, we even managed to snag a group picture. They still left happy.

It wasn't until the camp was all over that I made this realization: Had we planned the camp like we normally did with the orchestra concert on Saturday, gambling with the weather, we would have had to cancel it completely. We never could have fit the entire orchestra into a room at Harriman with the parents as well. No Ewazen Violin Concerto. No concert. Nothing. And, no chance to re-schedule for another day. Talk about anti-climactic!

The Lord was obviously watching out for us. In fact, He knew what the weather was going to be like WAY before the 10-day forecast. We know we were somehow guided to make that change this year - several months before July came rolling around.

(Although the rain didn't stop completely, it did let up just enough for us to go outside for our "goodbye's" and traditional group picture after the concert..)

Mark, Jenni, Sugar...just a few of the wonderful leaders I was talking about. I feel bad that I didn't get more photos of all the leaders, but the rain sort-of put a damper on picture-taking.