Bay State String Camp Celebrates Twenty Years

The Bay State String Camp in Hanson, Massachusetts has been providing an educational experience for students and teachers for twenty years now. Held at Camp Kiwanee for one week in early July each summer, the camp offers pre-college musicians an opportunity to participate in group and private lessons, chamber music, and orchestra. At the same time, string teachers from all over the world are trained in the approach and methods of George Bornoff.

This year, string teachers came from Korea, Finland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and West Virginia to learn about Bornoff's pedagogy, including such key principles as:

• Five finger/tonal patterns and seven bowing variants
• Skill solidification
• Group/solo technique
• Lesson plans and pacing
• Meaningful repetition, creative review, and friendly competition.

Bornoff teachers prefer homogeneous instrumental groups and introduce students to all bowings and finger patterns within the first five hours of instruction. They then spend the next several years refining these techniques.

The faculty at the Bay State String Camp/Bornoff Workshop (from left to right standing): Mel Martin, Jayna McLaughlin, Jennie Chan, Arlene Greene, JoAnn Brown, Brenda Chambers, Paul Sullivan; kneeling are Mickey Cameron and Charlene Monte.
 

Jennie Chan demonstrates the importance of manual assistance in the Bornoff method. Here she is assisting a student in learning vibrato.

Camp director Jennie Chan with two campers.