Strings

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is pleased to offer one week of summer strings camps this year! SBDAC offers a fun and enriching, one-week summer camp experience for intermediate and advanced-level string players.  Students will be divided into three classes, with an opportunity to rehearse together each day in individual, small group, and whole group settings. Instructors will include Kara Griffith, SBDAC Education Director and a respected area performer and strings teacher, Lisa James, a popular Edison Park Creative Arts School violin instructor, and Stacia Spencer the Senior Lecturer in Violin & Viola Pedagogy at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.  A variety of guest instructors will also join in to add fun and inspiration throughout the week. We will meet daily at the gorgeous and historic Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center,  with the Friday concerts held in the beautiful Grand Atrium.  Join us at the coolest, most creative arts facility around for innovative learning & performance experiences for aspiring Southwest Florida string players! 

Requirements: Conductor or teacher written (or email) recommendation; One year ensemble experience ; Note reading experience

Families from out of town are offered a special rate from the Luminary Hotel located walking distance from the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Email angelahicks@sbdac.com to coordinate booking and inquire about local vacation activities to pair with camp. 

 July 15-19, 2024 (Ages 9 – 17)

$375 tuition 

Tuition is due at registration

Schedule: 9:00am- 4:00pm  

(Extended hours 8:00am- 5:30pm)

Extended hours $25/day

Limited partial assistance available. 

**Students responsable to pack their own lunches

MEET THE TEAM

Kara Griffith has been a prominent violin instructor in the area since 1988. She was the founder of the Edison Park Elementary violin program, and also a founder of Gulf Coast Music School, was the former Southwest Florida Symphony Education Director, and currently directs and teaches violin at the Davis School of Music in the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. She is currently a member of the Venice Symphony in Venice, Florida. She has been a violin section member of the Southwest Florida Symphony, the Naples Philharmonic, and Nautilus Chamber Music. She shares her passion for downtown and the historic SBDAC and loves to provide lessons in this beautiful downtown gem, bringing in even more families and young people who appreciate and value the arts in their homes and communities!

A Lee County native, violinist, teacher, director, and creator Lisa James has been the music and strings director at Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School since 2011. Her school is well-known for collaborative performances, creative productions and building community through music. Her passion is teaching young children how to play the violin. She has taught in Lee county for over 20 years, publicly and privately. She enjoys spending time with her family and is an avid wade fisherwomen.

Stacia Spencer is the Senior Lecturer in Violin & Viola Pedagogy at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, String Coordinator of the Northwestern Music Academy and Director of the Northwestern Virtuosi Strings. She has also served as   faculty member of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and the Summer String Academy. Ms. Spencer created “Teaching the Violin: Creating a Healthy Foundation”, the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) dedicated to teaching the early stages of violin pedagogy. Her students have won many competitions and have been featured on the nationally syndicated radio program “From the Top”.  They also have won positions in the competitive rosters of the Chicago Youth Orchestras and the Midwest Young Artists Orchestras, as well as admission at the most prestigious university programs of the United States. Ms. Spencer has an abiding interest in contemporary music. Ms. Spencer received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in viola performance from Indiana University Jacob’s School of Music.

***$375 tuition per week is due at registration. After registering here, you will receive an email response within a few days with a payment link included. Your camper’s spot is not confirmed until payment is received. BOTH this registration form and payment must be completed and submitted in order to reserve your spot.