Summer Programs 2024

Summer Camp 2024

Russian Fairy Tales

Week 1: July 8-12, 2024
Week 2: July 15-19, 2024

Register before May 10th

$100 deposit due at the time of registration to secure your spot

Full payment due by June 8th

Join us for two fun weeks of summer camp (students can participate in one week or both). Students who participate in summer camp make friends with other children musicians. They motivate each other to practice with more accountability to learn to perfect their pieces and to show off how good they are to their peers!

Students at the camp will study pieces of music inspired by Russian fairy tales composed by Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, and others. Daily activities will include one-on-one lessons with our wonderful faculty members, music history lessons, art history, Russian folk costumes and artwork projects, group storytelling, a group lesson with the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, and more! 

The Nelly Berman School Music Camp is one of the best kept secrets in Philadelphia!

  • Price – $525 per week
  • Students will be separated into two age groups: (7-10 & 11-18)
  • After camp lessons are available and encouraged to prepare for the Friday concerts. (Not included in camp tuition). The summer camps have an extraordinary teacher-student ratio!

SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE

8:45 – 9:00 – Check-in
9:00 – 10:00 – Music History
10:15 – 11:15 – Storytelling and Folklore 
11:15 – 11:45 – Ice Cream Break
11:45 – 12:30 – Individual Practice and Lessons | Capture the Flag
12:30 – 1:15 – Lunch and Movies
1:30 – 2:30 – History of Russian Art | Folk Art Projects
2:30 – 3:30 – Individual Practice and Lessons
3:30 – 3:45 – Check-out

Friday: Presentation by Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet: Storytelling Through Movement
Concert for family and friends from 2:15-3:45 PM

“Prince Ivan seated himself astride the grey wolf, and it loped away, past the green forests, and the azure lakes. At last they came to a very high fortress. There the grey wolf told Ivan: “Listen to me, and remember what I say. Climb over the wall and do not be afraid’”

-The Tale of the Firebird

Students in the 11-17 age group will read the poetry of Alexander Pushkin, one of the most well known Russian authors of poetic folk tales. This will include Ruslan and Ludmilla, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and more. Many of these stories have inspired music and art, and students will explore these iterations.

Students in the 7-10 age group will read a wide variety of traditional Russian fairy tales, including The Tale of the Fisherman and the Little Fish, The Tale of the Firebird, The King of the Sea and Vasilisa the Wise, and more.

Videos from Past Summer Camps

Dr. Ariane Alexander Teaching Music History in Last Year’s Summer Camp 2022
Dr. Jean-Francois Teaching Composition Through Sibelius Software in Last Year’s Summer Camp 2022
Student Rehearsals Playlist
Friday End of Week Quiz Playlist
Master Classes Playlist

Summer Lessons

Summer lessons work a little differently than during the school year. Lessons are scheduled on a weekly basis around your vacations. If your teachers are unavailable, we will provide a substitute, which is also a wonderful opportunity for your child to get feedback from a new perspective, learn new repertoire, work on scales, technique, and theory. A $200 deposit is due by July 6th, and then an invoice for any remaining balance will be sent to you later in July.

“Take 5” – Five lessons to explore a new style or approach to music, including:

  • Try a new instrument of your choice this summer!
  • Broadway Tunes” – voice lessons focused on music theater, taught by Dr. Nathaniel McEwen and Marina Voznaya
  • Intro to Jazz” – jazz scales & chords on the piano, with Ethan Lee
  • “Music Theory & Music History” – group Zoom lessons taught by Dr. Ariane Alxander
  • Technique intensives for violin, cello & clarinet
  • Intensive supervised study with multiple in-person lessons a week
  • 10-Week Music History and Theory Course with Dr. Ariane Alexander