South Jersey Summer Music Camp Readies For Final Concert of Season
By Cherri Gregg
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- A group of young musicians is making final preparations for their annual summer symphony concert on the campus of Rutgers University in Camden.
Sixty students who play string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments spent two intense weeks studying with professional musicians and having side-by-side rehearsals with their instructors.
"Last year was when I really thought to myself, 'Hey, I'm not a beginner anymore,' " recalls 17-year-old Marco Lopez, who has spent the past five years in Symphony in C's summer camp, studying cello.
This recent high school grad is headed to Rutgers in New Brunswick, and says the hard work has paid off.
"I want to major in mechanical engineering and I'm pretty sure that my string instrument has helped me along the way," he notes.
Symphony in C allows kids who can't afford it to attend the camp for free. Instructor Stephan Orn Aranson says the camp changes lives.
"Just the disciple of showing up every single day, working on the music, and just to see the progress of what you can do in a really short period of time," he says.
The camp culminates in the Summer Symphony Concert on Saturday.