Keisuke Hoashi. Oneonta Daily Star Newspaper.

Among my legion of responsibilities as the Voice of the New York Summer Music Festival was the privilege of getting interviewed from time to time about the great kids we had playing all kinds of music at the camp. Here is a 2010 article from the local rag, the Oneonta Daily Star:

Hundreds to tune in for music festival

Posted: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 3:30 am

ONEONTA _ Hundreds of students and faculty will share listening, performance and other music-making ideas this summer.

And students, faculty and guest artists at the New York Summer Music Festival will be appearing in free concerts at the StateUniversity College at Oneonta through Aug. 8. Dana Leong, a composer who plays electric cello and trombone, opened the visiting artist recital series with jazz pieces Monday night.

About 200 students are registered for each of the three two-week sessions, which is about double the number of five years ago, Keisuke Hoashi, director of communications and cofounder of the festival, said. With faculty and staff, about 300 people are involved in music-making, representing 24 countries and 37 states, he said.

Patrick and Barbara Burdick of Oneonta stepped briskly into the Hunt Union Ballroom to join the audience Monday night. Patrick Burdick said they have been attending the festival concerts for several years.

“The talent among the performers, the guest artists, the faculty and the students is very top rate and very worthwhile,” he said. And the quality seems to improve each year, he said.

Hoashi said the festival has 50 classes or ensembles daily and presents about 40 concerts, Hoashi said. Visiting artist and faculty recitals are in Goodrich Theater at SUNY Oneonta, he said, and most start at 8 p.m. The festival presents many musical styles and genres.

A 250-voice All-NYSMF Choir is slated to sing the national anthem for the Oneonta Outlaws at Damaschke Field at 6 p.m. Sunday, the Fourth of July. A schedule of other recitals and concerts is listed on posters and is available online at www.calendar.yahoo.com/nysmf.

The festival started Monday, and several students applauded the opportunities it offers to perform, hear professional artists, study with learned faculty, share ideas about music and meet musicians from other states and nations.

“Last year, it was such a great experience, I came back,” Daniela Shorser, 16, an alto saxophone player from Westchester County, said.

Students range in age from 11 to 25 and stay in dormitories on the SUNY Oneonta campus. Tuition, room and three meals cost $1,600 for a two-week session. Faculty are from Juilliard, Curtis, the Manhattan School of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and other groups.

“We work closely with the faculty,” Emily Eckart, 20, a festival counselor and a French horn player studying music at Harvard University, said. “It’s really great for us as young musicians to learn about teaching.”

Emi Kagawa, a professional pianist in New York City who teaches at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, said she has been on the NYSMF faculty for five years. The current session has 44 piano students, she said, and the guest artists are “incredible.”

“Every year, it’s very, very exciting,” she said.

“It’s great,” echoed Alejandro Aviles, a professional jazz saxophone player from New York City who is in his 11th year on the festival faculty. “The kids are very talented here _ we’re able to do good music.”

###

Keisuke Hoashi. Writer. Camp Business Magazine.

An article I wrote for Camp Business Magazine on the importance of establishing a Camp Internet Policy at a summer camp – not for the kids, but for the counselors and other employees!

Here is the full text:

Create A Camp Internet Policy

For younger members of a camp counseling staff, the World Wide Web has been an endless, virtual wonderland in which they have spent their entire childhoods. For them, computers are a fun, safe, and familiar technology.

They may not realize, however, the Internet is not a protected playground, where they may do whatever they please. In reality, it is just like the real world, where a careless word or action can have serious personal, financial, and professional consequences.

It is in a camp’s best interest to train staff members in ways to safely navigate the real online world. By taking one hour to teach counselors the “hows” and “whys” of keeping their own online personas clean, they will be cooperating in the ongoing task of keeping the camp’s Internet presence spotless.

Counselors should begin their training by learning the two most fundamental truths of the Internet:

Everything is public. Once something is posted online, everybody in the world can see it. Nothing is truly “private” in cyberspace.

Everything is permanent. It is impossible to completely remove something from the Internet. Once it’s up, it’s up forever, even if the original is deleted. One cannot “take it back.”

Just the implications of these two pieces of information should be enough to make anyone think before they post.

The following two scenarios will help staff members apply this knowledge in a more concrete way.

Scenario 1: George is an 18-year-old high-school senior applying for a counseling job at the ABC Summer Camp to supervise young children. The camp’s personnel director does a routine Google search on George and finds a three-year-old Twitter account with Tweets making jokes about his classmates, his teachers, and people of other races.

Scenario 2: Ellen is a 20-year-old counselor at Camp ABC. She “friends” three of her underage campers on Facebook. One of the camper’s parents clicks on their daughter’s new camp friend’s profile and sees multiple photos and videos of Ellen smoking, drinking, and posing suggestively, as well as Wall posts filled with expletives and poor grammar.

As part of the counselors’ training, ask them what they think happened next to George and Ellen. In the resulting discussion, be sure to point out that George and Ellen had the power to prevent their past online postings from coming back to haunt them–if only they had understood those two basic truths about the Internet.

After showing staff members why they need to exercise caution in their personal lives online, use the camp’s Internet Usage policy to begin more formal training.

Hand out printed copies of the camp’s Internet policy. It should be short, no longer than one page, and include the following three items:

Definition of “inappropriate” usage. A general definition follows: “Any text, photo, audio, or video about the camp that could be considered controversial or questionable by the camp administration, campers, or campers’ parents.” An easier way to remember, though, is the classic “Mother Test”: before posting something, ask yourself, “Would I want my mother to see this?”

Notification of monitoring and enforcement. Inform staff members upfront that while they are working for the camp, all of their online accounts are subject to monitoring. Tell them how they will be notified of any violations, and give them the opportunity to correct their mistakes.

Notification of consequences. Reveal all consequences for violations, and list what type or number of violations will result in penalties (including reassignment, demotion, or outright dismissal).

Rather than dumping an exhaustive list of “appropriate” and “inappropriate” examples onto staff members, teach them instead how to see the difference on their own. Ask everyone to take out their smartphones and find an example of an online post that spectacularly fails the “Mother Test.” Lead a short discussion on why each failed posting is “inappropriate.”

By teaching the counseling staff the rules and techniques to protect themselves online, you have also succeeded in training them to be excellent representatives of the camp on the Internet.

Keisuke Hoashi was the Director of Communications for the New York Summer Music Festival in Oneonta, New York from 2006-2013.

Keisuke Hoashi. Interviewed on WSKG Radio Binghamton NY.

In July 2009, while serving as teacher, administrator, Director of Communications, and a zillion other jobs at the New York Summer Music Festival, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Bill Snyder on WSKG, National Public Radio in Binghamton, NY.

In case the interview falls of the Internet, here it is here, too!

Keisuke Hoashi. “Brilliant Teacher and Writer.”

Perhaps the greatest compliment ever received. Thanks for remembering me so memorably two years after our amazing collaboration, Ben Boecker!

New Song Live Now!

Hello world!

There’s a new song on my website, as promised, the final addition to the set of songs that will comprise my application to the BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop in New York City.  It’s a comedy song, and it’s called “Reality TV.”

Originally, the song was written for a one-act musical at the New York Summer Music Festival.  It was a big collaboration, involving student writers, counselor writers, multiple pianists, a drummer, and the brilliant teacher and writer Keisuke Hoashi, still currently at NYSMF.  This song, however, was entirely my own, with original music and lyrics.

I took some time and updated the lyrics, since I’ve grown a bit along since writing it back 2 years ago, and I now am proud to present to you, “Reality TV,” sung by my super-awesome and double-talented friend Emily Marsland.  Also, this recording was recorded by Michael Wittels, another super-awesome and double-talented friend.

If the link above doesn’t work, go to: http://www.benboecker.yolasite.com/music

Signing Off,

Ben

Keisuke Hoashi. Writer. Music Camp Director.

Keisuke was interviewed for this article “Summer Camp 101” while he was the Co-Founder and Director of Communications for the New York Summer Music Festival in Oneonta, NY. This article was published in “SBO Magazine” (School Band and Orchestra) and “The Stage: D’Addario’s Musician Hub” in 2011.

As the days get longer and the mercury gradually climbs, thoughts of summer and the opportunities time outside of the classroom affords seep into the minds of teachers and students alike. The summer season presents many unique educational offerings for music students, particularly in the forms of camps, clinics, and workshops. While these programs are nearly infinite in their variety, many offer extraordinary musical returns for the time and money spent.

In order to provide a better idea of what to look for in a summer camp or workshop, what to be wary of, and a few of the major selling points, SBO turned to a few of these programs’ directors and administrators, who graciously offered their thoughts on summer
camp fundamentals.

What basic elements should prospective attendees and their parents look for when selecting a summer music program?

Keisuke Hoashi: Students and parents should ask what would be right for the student. For example, does the student want a place to practice undisturbed for six hours a day, or do they want to perform in six different ensembles, playing six different types of music? Do they want an intensive conservatory-like atmosphere, or a casual traditional summer camp environment? Prospective attendees and parents should look for a summer program that accurately reflects the student’s capabilities and interests.

Jamey Aebersold: Attendees should look for good faculty and strong teaching in all classes and activities. Ability level instruction in the various classes: aim the musical information at the level of the attendees whether it be in combos, theory classes, or master classes. Musicians who can teach and play have a more realistic view of what it takes to learn to improvise. To hear words from a teacher and then actually hear them play and demonstrate ideas is the best way to get information across.

Mark Walker: Parents and students should look for a camp that not only meets their needs, but is also a good “fit.” Some students thrive in a large setting and some in smaller settings. They should look for a range of educational activities as well as leisure activities that are wholesome and well supervised. Finally, they should determine if the camp has some kind of final performance or concert, what it is, and when it takes place. Some camps have this final performance and some do not, depending on the camp’s focus.

Neely Vasher: Summer music programs should provide a variety of elements to the students that attend — students should have the opportunity to learn and grow as well as play and have fun.

Tami Drury-Smith: Attendees should consider the venue’s resources, access to professional musicians, and fun when choosing an educational workshop. Parents should consider the level of expertise of the clinicians and how students will benefit from the teacher’s background.

Gary Smith: Security — this includes the processes for handling emergencies, medical issues, 24-hour supervision of students, and security in the dorms and classes.

Quality of Instruction — how qualified and reputable are the instructors? What is the student-teacher ratio? Have the instructors been trained to follow specified goals and teach with a positive approach? Is there extra help for students who might be struggling? Are the instructors approachable and helpful? Do they communicate effectively with the students and offer them encouragement?

Reputation of the Company — how long have they been in business? Do they have positive endorsements from previous participants? Are the administrators reliable and known for their integrity? Do they have experience in music and education?

Price — is the price appropriate to the quality of the instruction, board and room and length of time?

Facilities — are the living quarters clean and secure? Is the food nutritious and plentiful? Are the class facilities appropriate for the activities? Is there a rain backup for outside classes?

Recreation — is there adequate free time with organized and supervised activities? Are there opportunities for the students to have some fun and socialize with each other?

Repeat business — top quality music camps usually have lot of returning students. Schools tend to support camps that turn out a good product which, in turn, benefits their schools.

Transportation — are there practical methods of transportation to the camps? If students will travel great distances, is the camp special and worthy of the time and additional costs to get to? The camp organization needs to have a method to assist those students transport
from airports, train and bus stations, et cetera to the campgrounds.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid?

MW: We see a few students every year that have a difficult time at camp because they either had an incorrect conception of what the camp was about, or their expectations did not match what the camp provides. In that light, I would say that parents and students should do what they can to check out the program in advance in order to calibrate their expectations with the reality of what is being offered. In other words, the camper and parents should tailor their expectations to the camp. Also, don’t bring too much
“stuff.” Each year, I see people bring televisions, refrigerators, video games, groceries, et cetera. The campers are so busy with daytime and evening activities that they cannot use the items they brought, and it creates a problem with checking in and out.

GS: Watch out for camps that do not advertise all costs involved — the advertised price may not include some required additional expenses. Also, make sure the refund policy is fair. Avoid camps that will not refund deposits, or even in some cases, the full fee. There is no need for this type of policy. Most cancellations are for very important reasons and prospective attendees should not be penalized.

KH: Avoid basing a decision on nonmusical considerations alone. These include price, location, facilities, and so on. Also, be careful not to allow “names” or “prestige” or “glitz” to potentially blind you to what is actually being offered by any particular summer program, versus considering whether that program actually contains what would be best for the student. Visit the program’s Web site, e-mail the directors, ask questions, and see what kind of response you get. Do you like what you hear? Do you like the tone of the person emailing or speaking to you?

NV: I am not sure I would consider them “pitfalls,” but there are summer music programs that have different variables to consider. Parents and students should be familiar with as many options as possible and consider cost, required skill level, and the general camp environment. Summer camps can be very costly, but there are camps available that offer scholarships for students. Camps that require travel or playing an instrument or ones that have a very disciplined focus may require special consideration

Does your organization group students by age or ability, and why?

GS: Our program offers four levels for all instruction. If you put students in a class where they are not challenged, they become bored, lose motivation, and develop a negative
attitude. If you place them in a class where the material is too difficult, they become frustrated and discouraged. If they are placed in the proper class level they will want to come back the next year for more advanced training.

KH: Every student at NYSMF does a placement audition when they arrive, which determines which ensembles they will perform with and in what seating. However, we don’t split them like “Top eight trumpeters go into ‘Philharmonic Symphonic Sinfonia Wind Ensemble’ and bottom eight go into ‘Kindergarten Band.’” Depending on what our faculty members see in a student, an intermediate player may find themselves sitting on the same stand as the top student performer, or playing alongside a professional-level faculty member.

NYSMF students are roughly grouped by ability. The top players, however, can easily be the youngest kids there. We had a 13-year-old female trumpeter who holds her own with our best faculty players, and a 14-year-old violinist who seriously challenges the concert master to stay on his toes. So we never let a student’s age alone determine their seating.

MW: We do not group our students by age or ability, with the exception of the music theory courses. The instructors are chosen with the expectation that they can effectively teach to a wide variety of ages and abilities at once.

NV: The Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation Noise! camp is grouped by age. We focus on high school age students because so many existing music education programs reach elementary and middle schools. At the high school level, performance studies like orchestra, band, and choral groups are the focus in most schools. We enhance these efforts by emphasizing the importance of the transition into the working world — by immersing teens into the music business.

Where do you draw the line balancing “fun” and “learning” for attendees?

GS: At Smith Walbridge, we train our instructors to make hard work lots of fun. It is unbelievable how hard students will work when they are having fun and learning. The result is a camp bonding experience that perpetuates an incredible work ethic. The evenings include free time for the students to swim, play tennis or basketball, participate in a skit / talent night, attend an optional mixer with a D.J. or travel to a recreational park. All of this is supervised. The work time per day is about 8 hours and the play time is about 3 hours.

MW: We try to intertwine “fun” and “learning” into all the activities available for the students. At our camp, a student signs up for a specific class, say Colorguard, or Concert Band/Music Theory, and they stay with that group during the entire camp. The whole day and early evening is taken up by the courses. Each section is divided into fundamentals, group work, individual work, and rehearsal for the performance. Our instructors are good at making the “learning” fun for the students. The extra-curricular activities are offered in the evening after the last class session of the day, and all campers take part in the activity.

JA: We don’t draw a line. Everything we offer is educational and fun, though we don’t have outside activities like swimming, et cetera. With so much to learn and only so many hours in the week, we decided long ago to keep the emphasis on learning to play music for the entire week the students are with us. They can do other activities during the 51 weeks left in the year. We feel our workshops are special and we like to keep the flame burning high from the first day to the final student concert at the end of the week. This seems to work as we get many returning students each year.

Does your camp have direct affiliations with local schools? Do you recruit local music teachers? How do you select staff?

GS: We run many different clinics. Each one has a different set of instructors who specialize and have a national reputation in one area. Many of them come from drum corps, college programs, high school programs, or dance schools. We look for clinicians who have not only achieved success in the area in which we want for instruction, but love working with young people in a positive way. Our administrators evaluate the instructors during the clinics.

In addition we do follow up surveys with the students and directors to help us decide which instructors will stay on for future clinics. There is not a lot of turnover in our staff since they have been carefully selected and tend to have longevity in their loyalty to our clinics.

KH: NYSMF does not have any formal affiliation with any school. However, our faculty, staff, and students include many top arts and music schools, including the Manhattan School of Music and LaGuardia, and they of course provide a wonderful connection to these schools.

Because NYSMF is a worldwide summer program, we search all around the planet for our staff. Many of our counseling staff comes from our past student body — campers who apply for positions as they qualify in age and experience. Our administration reviews each candidate’s qualifications carefully, including listening to their audition CD and requiring several short personal essays, before deciding on which to invite to join us. Other sources of staff include faculty recommendations and out-of-the-blue applications from interested young college musicians

MW: We do not have direct affiliation with local secondary schools. We select staff who we are personally familiar with, usually Troy University alumni (but not always) and ask them directly. We have no application process for staff.

NV: The Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation and Noise! are not directly affiliated with any local schools, however, we engage band and choir directors and music teachers from all over the country when promoting our camp to students.

In addition, we recruit qualified staff to help with the camp, including teachers. At Noise! we like to have counselors that are experienced in the music industry and/or music education. Local music teachers are perfect candidates for Noise! counselors.

JA: We don’t have direct affiliations with any school. Many of our nearly 70 teachers have been with us for 10 to 30 years. We select staff by their teaching and playing credentials.

What part does exposure to professional musicians play in your summer curriculum?

GS: Since our clinics are mostly orientated to marching band-related activities, our instructors our usually free lancers, drum corps participants, high school or college band directors, college band drum majors or music majors, or specialized clinicians. Our head clinicians tend to be nationally recognized.

KH: Exposure to professionals is an essential part of NYSMF’s program. We have at least a dozen professional visiting artists every summer, all of whom are successful pro musicians performing in major orchestras, as top sidemen or running their own festivals. They give free master classes and exclusive recitals for our students, showing them just how good a musician can be, and hopefully inspire our young charges to even greater efforts and achievements.

Every single member of our faculty is as qualified as our visiting artists. Many are real live examples of former music campers that have “made it,” and we make sure our students understand that every one of NYSMF’s faculty could be off somewhere making tons of money during the summer, but instead they have made the conscious decision to come to NYSMF and work with these kids. The chance to see such masters every day is genuinely helpful to young players.

MW: Students have the opportunity for limited one-on-one and group study with professional performing musicians and University faculty during the camp. However, it’s not a major focus for most of the campers with the exception of those enrolled in the Concert Band/Music Theory classes.

NV: At Noise!, students are exposed a wide variety of professionals. We bring in music industry professionals such as record label executives, recording studio producers, entertainment lawyers, radio station DJs and more. The students also hear from business professionals about the importance of networking, how to put together a resume, key skills to a great interview  and diversity within the business world. The students aren’t necessarily exposed to professional musicians, but they are given the knowledge and skills to become professionals themselves.

TDS: Each of the workshops at Disney helps students learn about careers in music from a professional musician, and this interaction is the foundation of the workshop experience. Music directors have told us they love the interaction with a professional musician in the workshops. By learning the professional mindset and priorities of a working musician, students can take a new approach to their daily rehearsals. It also provides first hand insight of the demands of pursuing a career in performing.

What aspect of summer music programs do you find to be most beneficial to students? Why?

GS: In all of our programs, the focus is to develop skills and knowledge related to the particular clinic the students are attending. We do not profess any philosophies or push any one style of performance because we want the students to be able to go back to their band programs and assist their directors effectively without any conflicts of style or approach. We heavily stress fundamentals at all levels and teach them in a manner so the students can take what they learn and adapt it to the various styles they use back home.

KH: What we find most beneficial to our students is the environment we create here; it’s a chance to be among so many other people who truly understand them, student peers and faculty coaches alike. High school musicians are sometimes derided by their peers as “band geeks,” “orch dorks,” et cetera. At a summer music program like NYSMF, everyone is a band geek, so they are free to be simply talented young musicians and to throw themselves completely into the music. Plus, our attendees are in an environment where their skills are recognized, appreciated, and even rewarded.

Summer music camps give young musicians a place to completely call their own. To a teenager, that’s a uniquely wonderful thing to share.

MW: We give the students a chance to continue to work on and improve whatever their major focus happens to be, whether it is colorguard, drum major, concert band, or any of several other subjects. Also, the students have an opportunity to get away from home for a week, interact with other students from around the region, and develop skills that they will take back to their home band programs.

NV: The most beneficial aspect of summer music programs is the real-world applications the students gain from spending time with experienced professionals and from being completely surrounded by peers who share their passion.

TDS: For students who plan on a career in music, our workshops provide the foundation for the skills they will need to be successful in the industry. For all students, the workshops provide skills to improve how they work together as a performing ensemble. All group leave the workshops with a new respect for rehearsing, building their skills, and listening to each other to create a memorable performance.

Any workshop that offers experiential learning to engage the student’s participation is always more successful than one directional instruction.

JA: Our camp provides opportunities to play jazz and be coached in combos, theory, and master classes. Our evening faculty concerts alone are worth the price of admission. Plus there is a student concert at the end of each weeklong session.

Jamey Aebersold, in addition to being a prolific performer, educator, and author of the Play-A-Long series, is the founder and director of Jamey Aebersold’s Summer Jazz Workshops. These acclaimed weeklong programs are filled with classes, rehearsals, seminars, and concerts. Participants get master classes on their instruments, ear-training sessions, free concerts by the all-star faculty each night, jazz theory classes and more.

Tami Drury-Smith is manager of operations for Disney Performing Arts & Education Programs and oversees the operation of Disney Magic Music Days, Disney Performing Arts Workshops, and the Disney Youth Education Series (YES) programs. Disney offers year round music clinics through the Disney Performing Arts Workshops. These include Disney Featured Performer, Disney’s Performance Fundamentals, Jazz It Up!, and You’re Instrumental!

Keisuke Hoashi is New York Summer Music Festival’s co-founder and director of communications. Mr. Hoashi attended the Crane School of Music as a trumpeter and went on to earn an MS in Technical Communications from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before becoming a professional actor in Los Angeles, Calif. He currently has more than 60 TV commercials and over 100 more stage, screen, and TV credits on his resume. The NYSMF is a six-week summer music festival that provides a uniquely challenging, supportive, and fun environment for young musicians from ages 10 through 25.

Gary Smith is emeritus associate director of Bands and Marching Band director at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is also the president of the Smith Walbridge Camps, Inc., which offers summer camps/clinics and workshops for drum majors, marching band students, band directors, colorguard (flag and rifle), winter guard, mace/signal baton, marching band student leadership, sponsors and marching percussion.

Dr. Mark Walker is associate director of bands and coordinator of Graduate Music Education at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. Additionally, he is the executive director of the “Sound of the South” Summer Music/Leadership Camp — a program designed to give students who are in grades 8-12 the opportunity to develop and hone skills in a variety of areas of importance to band programs, as well as to develop leadership qualities so essential to the effective band program — Directors’ Clinic, and the Southeastern United States Middle School Clinic and Honor Bands.

Neely Vasher is the Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation business manager. She received her masters in Education from Louisiana State University. The Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation is dedicated to supporting and redefining music education. They have several programs designed to empower students through music, one of which is Noise!, a two-week
music business camp for teens interested in joining of the music industry.

Brought to you by SBO Magazine

Keisuke Runs the Reunion for the New York State Music Camp (NYSMC) in Oneonta, NY!

I will be in beautiful little ONEONTA, NEW YORK, to run this millenium’s second annual kinda official reunion for THE NEW YORK STATE MUSIC CAMP.

Lots of details but you probably only want to know the dates so that you can try to break into my home and steal every last chunk of outdated technology with which it is filled.

Based on what I know about tech – and it’s a goodly amount – you will likely clear almost $50 for all the gear in my home.  Ain’t no Imitation Game goin’ on in MY place! Nyahnyahnyahhhh!

Image thanks to http://io9.com/the-history-of-early-computing-machines-from-ancient-t-549202742
No, that is NOT what my living room looks like.  This image comes from here, and I am grateful to them for putting it up: http://io9.com/the-history-of-early-computing-machines-from-ancient-t-549202742