July 2021 by Douglas L.
Our daughter just returned from the 2 weeks intermediate camp. Here is a review from 2021.If you need a camp that drills students/kids and has top notch musicians from all over the world, this is not the camp for you. The administrators and staff openly admit this. If you want a camp (it is camping) where your child gets into the car and begs to go back next year, this is the camp for you. There are no master classes and there is no competition. Be honest with yourselves as to what you want for your children. We have been to both types of camps. Each has their benefits. As far as the drill instructor camp where they only do music, we were fortunate to meet our current teachers (violin and cello). Other than that, our kids hated it. If you attend one of these camps, I would suggest you ask in advance what activities they have planned for kids and what the food is like. If they have no activities planned, know your kids will be sitting in the dorm room a lot and you should plan accordingly. At Arrowbear, the kids learn to play together. They do not receive individual instruction. That is fine because we take private lessons every week. Our daughter had an absolute blast even in these COVID times. Every day, from sunup to sundown, the kids were kept busy with activities, including rehearsal. The food, surprisingly, was good. That was one of the first things we asked since she missed out on 6th grade camp. This is much better and we will have our other kids go to Arrowbear instead of 6th grade camp.There is nothing quite like seeing you child give big hugs to everyone at the end of camp. We even got big hugs which was kind of gross now that we look back on it (COVID and all). We were worried that our daughter would be picked on because of her disability (giant hearing aids) but she was not. Everyone loved her and she made great friends (not because of disability). As others posted, you will get dirty. Bring 1 set of nice clothes for the end performance (shoes too). The rest should be clothes you can trash. We will send our daughter back with her hiking boots. Some other tips.Drive is a real pain. Do not bring a giant SUV if you can avoid it. The road is very narrow.Rent an instrument if you can for 2 weeks. We let our daughter take her cello and saw other students banging their instruments on the concrete. We cringed. Next year, we will rent one for 2 weeks. Stock up on 1 bottle of bleach and 1 box of oxyclean. Go to costco and get it while they are at camp. You will need it.Bring snacks and put a little money on the account so you child can buy stuff. They will want a shirt/sweater and regular ice cream as it is hot. Bring sunblock and swimsuits.Bring bug repellent and bug repellent bracelets. Pack liquid soap. Do not bring fuzzy clothes or blankets. The stuff on the ground will stick to them and come home with your child.Have fun and remember you are camping.
