VA Campus: West Falls – Session 1 Newsletter

Dear Camp Levine families,

What a joy it has been to be part of your campers’ summer!

As we explored our theme, Sights, Songs, and Sounds of the City, it has been incredible to watch our campers grow, create, and gain confidence in just a few short weeks. From Spirit Week and Games Day to our end-of-session performances, they truly brought the magic of Camp Levine to life through their creativity, enthusiasm, and hard work.

Thank you for trusting us with your children this summer and for giving them the opportunity to explore, learn, and express themselves through the arts. We hope they leave camp with wonderful memories, new friendships, and a lasting love of music and the arts.

We wish you and your family a wonderful rest of the summer, and we hope to see you again next year!

Best,

Jazmin Goodson, Director of Camp Levine.

Dear Session 1 Families, 

As Session 1 comes to a close, I want to thank you for allowing us to be part of your children’s summer. Over the past three weeks, it has been a joy to watch them grow as musicians, build new friendships, embrace challenges, and gain confidence in themselves. Their enthusiasm, curiosity, and hard work have made this an incredibly rewarding session for our entire faculty and staff. 

We know there are many ways to spend the summer, and we are truly grateful that you chose to spend part of yours with us at Levine. Thank you for trusting us with your children and for supporting their musical journey. We hope they leave with wonderful memories, new skills, and an excitement to continue making music. 

Have a wonderful rest of your summer, and please know that you will always have a place in the Levine community. 

Musically Yours, 

Paul

Session 1 has been full of great moments this year. I have loved getting to see campers become more comfortable with their groups, try things they may not have done before, and gain confidence as the session went on. 

 As the Teen Apprentice Coordinator, I also want to give a special shout out to our wonderful Teen Apprentices for their hard work this session. They helped with group transitions, supported campers and teachers, and brought a lot of energy and care to their groups. 

 The campers brought so much personality to camp, whether playing games with their groups, or getting excited about music and art projects.  

Thank you to our families for being part of Camp Levine this summer. I hope your campers have enjoyed their time with us this summer and continue to explore music and the arts. 

Here’s to a great session 1, 

Lily 

One of the best traditions at Camp Levine is our Morning Sing. We gather together as a whole camp each morning to sing, 1st to 6th graders. We are accompanied by our world class instrumental teachers, lovingly known as “The Band.” This year, our theme was Sights, Songs, and Sounds of the CITY. The campers learned a variety of songs around that theme, as well as our Camp Levine Song and Camp Levine Chant. You will hear some of these on our recording. The songs included: Downtown, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, The City Blues, Goin’ to Boston, and To Stop the Train. It was so much fun singing with the campers, apprentices and staff each morning. 

Friendship Heights (1st/2nd) – It has been a pleasure working with the Friendship Heights group in Music+ this session! We have explored several cities and musical styles through song, games and instrument playing. Students shared their creativity by making choreography for songs and improvising on the xylophones. During our recorded performance, you will see each camper perform two songs – Engine, Engine and I Have a Car.  Other favorite games from this session were Wee Willie Winkie (a singing game) and London Bridge. 

Silver Springs (3rd) – The Silver Springs group was full of fine musicians this session. Our focus songs during Music+ were Great Big House in New Orleans and Lil’ Liza Jane. For each song, the campers learned to sing the melody, created choreography as a group, and learned xylophone parts to accompany it. This group also had fun playing games like Poison Pattern and Lemonade (a clapping playground game).  

Shady Grove (3rd/4th) – The Shady Groves are a very talented and hard-working group of campers. They quickly learn pieces and are wonderful young performers. We can’t wait for you to see our recording. This group traveled to different cities while learning a non-pitched percussion piece called Global Passport. Next, we changed the words to the old nursery rhyme From Wibbleton to Wobbleton to From Baltimore to Washington. As a group, the campers created a melody for the lyrics. You will see half the group performing that melody on xylophones while the other half performs a harmony part on metallophones. This was not easy, but the Shady Groves truly rose to the challenge. This group had fun with movement activities throughout camp, including Sculptor, The Shape Game, and Memory.  

Crystal City The Crystal City group were a joy to have in Music+. They were so much fun to work with and created some fantastic music together. The campers created their own percussion piece entitled City which represents a day in the city – waking up, becoming busy, then going back to sleep. We discussed what common things each city has (traffic, skyscrapers, theaters, etc) and turned those into rhythms. The group then chose a percussion instrument on which to play each rhythm. The Crystal City group also learned a bucket drumming piece called Strange Asparagus. Bucket drumming is often done on city streets as a form of busking. In our performance, we interspersed the bucket drumming piece in our City percussion piece. The group is full of talented singers, instrumentalists, dancers and composers! 

At Camp Levine’s Trumpet Class, students embarked on an exciting journey to master the fundamentals of trumpet playing! They learned essential skills like proper posture, breathing techniques, embouchure, tone production, articulation, and music reading. Throughout the program, they showcased their new talents by learning and performing classic band songs, boosting their confidence, musical prowess, and teamwork—all in a lively, supportive environment. 

Thanks, 

Mr. Donny  

Throughout the week, piano campers explored the sights, songs, and sounds of the city through creative music making, rhythm activities, and piano ensemble playing. Students created their own musical ideas through rhythm clapping and improvisation, and explored how the sounds of a city can be represented through music. 

Campers learned about New Orleans jazz, including its swing rhythms and marching band influences, and performed songs such as “When the Saints Go Marching In.” They also developed keyboard geography, basic piano technique, and music reading skills while learning and performing together as an ensemble. 

Students explored note reading by assigning colors to different notes and marking them in their music. Through group activities and collaborative music making, campers practiced listening, teamwork, and creativity while building confidence at the piano. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and musical growth throughout the week. 

The Guitar focus group quickly mastered “Road to Boston.”  The groups mastered the C chord, G chord, and a minor chord. They are able to play the entire of melody of the piece and also provide chordal accompaniment.   The guitar sampler groups are familiar with the music of Francisco Tarrega, Pat Methany, Leo Brouwer, and J.S. Bach.  They learned the strings of the guitar, how to push down the strings with their left hand, and how to strum.  They enjoyed playing through a short melody called “Bugler’s Tune.”  The focus groups are looking forward to the debut performance of “Road to Boston” in the video recording this week. 

The campers were kept busy in art class this summer! We started with an exploration of graffiti tags and shows. Then we moved on to creating lanterns inspired by market districts across the country. Campers worked collaboratively to complete our building backdrops for the final performance. They also worked on creating their very own metro maps and moveable city skylines. Inspired by New Orleans in the play, campers worked with pipe cleaner and popsicle sticks to create some swamp gators. Lastly, we ended with some classic camp fun in the form of yarn and gimp keychains and friendship bracelets. The campers got to work with tissue paper, glue, markers, pipe cleaner, yarn, gimp, and scissors as we work on recreating some of the magic of the city. Thank you for a great session!   

Our campers have enjoyed an exciting summer filled with fun, active games that kept everyone moving, laughing, and working together. From Ga-Ga Ball, jump rope competitions, soccer, beach volleyball, Blob Dodgeball, Around the World, and Trashcan Basketball to favorites like Hula Hoop Musical Chairs, Night at the Museum/Ghosts in the Graveyard, and a variety of card games, there has been something for everyone to enjoy. 

Beyond the games themselves, one of the greatest joys has been getting to know each camper and watching their unique personalities shine. Throughout the summer, many campers stepped outside their comfort zones, built new friendships, and grew in confidence. It has been wonderful to see them encourage one another, demonstrate teamwork and good sportsmanship, and celebrate each other’s successes. The memories, laughter, and connections made during our time together have truly been the highlight of the summer. 

All campers attended Vocal/Choral class every afternoon. All groups learned six songs for the Musical Theater Performance. To match our City Theme, our play visits cities across the country to discover the roots of American music. Songs include: Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans (Jazz/New Orleans); Nashville Cats (Country/Nashville); Hound Dog (Rock ‘n’ Roll/Memphis); Sardines (Go-Go/Washington, DC); and Jump (Hip-Hop/Bronx). The finale is the classic Dancing in the Streets. All the campers learned an impressive amount of music in a short amount of time. The campers also liked to play chorus/drama games at the end of each class, including Bippity Bippity Bop and Pass the Beat Around the Room. 

Drama has been very interactive and fun!  Students had a blast playing theater games such as Zip Zap Zop and Elevator, while using their voices and body to transform into a variety of characters.  It is amazing to see campers act, sing, and dance in the short play, The Musical Express, an original production that incorporates the creative ideas of the campers!  It is impressive that your children have put this together in less than 3 weeks! 

This session in dance class has been an absolute blast. Campers have been learning to move and groove both on their own and as a group. We learned dances spanning several American music genres from jazz to hip-hop. Campers also enjoyed getting to add their own twists, watch the final performance for a peak into their favorite dance moves during solo breaks. Groups loved getting into some classic line dances to end the day and keep the moves going. Thank you for a great session of jumping, shimmying, and sliding! 

This year Shady Grove has had an amazing time at camp! This year, they really enjoyed doing the Cotton Eye Joy (yes, the whole thing) and paying Ghosts in the Graveyard. We’ve had a great time in drama learning our parts as gators or Elvis impersonators. We can’t wait for you to see our show! 

The Silver Spring campers really enjoyed playing concentration and discussing soccer in their free time. Drama and dance were the campers’ favorite classes to attend this year.  

Friendship Heights has had so much fun this session! They love hands-on crafts in art like making alligators and friendship bracelets. They love games like Ghosts in the Graveyard, Wee Willie Winkie, and kickball. Recently they’ve become obsessed with the game Pikachu. They bring lots of energy and creativity to each class and are always excited to try something new. It’s been wonderful to see their friendship grow throughout the session. 

Crystal City is a group filled with energy and liveliness. They participate and try their best in every class, making sure to collaborate and help each other, whether it’s playing ghost in the graveyard whenever there’s time in class or giving creative ideas to make their play. Throughout these three weeks, Crystal City has shown how to be great friends, communicate with one another, and most importantly have fun! This is a hard-working bunch that manages to problem solve and keep Camp Levine a fun musical place for all. It was very exciting to see how much our campers have grown since the start of the session, and hope to see them again in the future