Both the Ad Astra Music Festival in Russell and the High Plains Music Camp at Fort Hays kept students busy this summer during the dates of  June 28-July 1 and July 9-15 respectfully.

Students attending both camps chose to for different reasons, though most thought it would be a good opportunity to further their music education.

“It was a fun experience and you got to meet new people and learn new things,” junior Alex Hagerman said.

Hagerman attended the High Plains Music Camp with other orchestra and band students including, but not limited to, senior Trinity Callis and freshmen Thomas Drabkin and Marissa Raynesford.

“I always go,” Drabkin said. “This year the music was pretty difficult, so you had to actually work on it.”

Drabkin has attended five years and believes the best part is meeting new people while his least favorite is auditioning.

Activities from High Plains included taking different classes, auditioning, and an honors recital. For Ad Astra, it varied.

“We sang. We did yoga one day. We did get to know you activities and games,” sophomore Katelyn Engel said.

Engel attended with fellow concert students including seniors Erin Muirhead, Taya Randle, Dawson Rooney, Kayla Satomi, and Ryan Will; junior Hannah McGuire; sophomore Marshall Perryman, and freshmen Calista Isbell, Caitlin Leiker, and Gabe McGuire.

“Mr. Matlock told us about the camp and had us FaceTime with the director, and it seemed like it would be a really cool thing to do, so I decided to do it,” Hannah said. “I met a lot of really cool people from around Kansas.”

Both camps included performances after the music was learned, and for Callis, who went for orchestra, the performance included six other people.

“I got to play in an honors recital on Wednesday night, and it was really cool because I got to get to know a bunch of really good musicians,” Callis said. “I was really sad to leave because I got to know so many new people from out of town.”

19ibraun@usd489.com