Mark O'Connor's UCLA String Institute (6/29) Now Has Some Openings

Rare Chance For Musicians To Learn From The World's Top String Players In Every Genre
 
"A feast for the ears, mind, & soul"-- violinist and instructor Sara Caswell on Mark O'Connor's String Camps

Aspiring and professional West Coast string players still have a chance to register for multi-Grammy-Award-winning composer and violinist Mark O'Connor's String Institute at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music. The weeklong music program (June 29 - July 3) brings together some the world's top violinists, violists, cellists, and bassists for an extraordinary week of instruction and performance in folk, jazz, classical, klezmer and world music traditions.

O'Connor developed his own virtuosic skills by imposing a similar curriculum on himself. As a teen, he studied with Texas fiddle champion Benny Thomasson, then apprenticed under legendary Gypsy jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Mark O'Connor's String Institute is open to adults as well as high school students; the music school offers two units of UCLA credit to undergraduate participants. UCLA ethnomusicology, music, and musicology majors may apply to the Herb Alpert School of Music Student Opportunity Fund for a grant to subsidize the fee for these institutes.

Registration is available at UCLA's Summer Sessions website:
http://www.summer.ucla.edu/institutes/Strings/overview.htm

Born 15 years ago in the hills of Tennessee and later expanded to Southern California and now New York, O'Connor's camps have given thousands of students the chance to try out new musical styles and techniques under expert guidance, play informally with their peers in jam sessions, hear performances by their teachers and fellow students in the evenings, and more - truly a life-changing program.

Many current professional musicians were former students at the O'Connor camps, including:

* Natalie McMaster
* Members of Nickel Creek
* Members of Crooked Still
* Members of The Infamous String Dusters
* Andy Leftwich (member of the Ricky Skaggs Band)
* Casey Driessen (plays with Bela Fleck)

A partial list of master artists/instructors at Mark O'Connor's String Institute at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music is below. Mark O'Connor is Artistic Director.

* Rebecca Albers (Viola)
* Rachel Barton Pine (Classical Violin)
* John Blake (Jazz Violin)
* Mike Block (Cello)
* Sara Caswell (Jazz Violin)
* Tashina Clarridge (Old-Time and Texas Fiddling)
* Antonio Lysy (Cello)
* Mark O'Connor (American Classical Violin)
* Yale Strom (Klezmer)
* April Verch (Canadian Fiddling)

More about the faculty:
http://www.summer.ucla.edu/institutes/Strings/faculty.htm

The program fee for the String Institute is $825; residential plans are available.
 
For more information on Mark O'Connor, please contact Nancie S. Martin [nsmartin@shorefire.com] or Andy Silva [asilva@shorefire.com] at Shore Fire Media, 718-522-7171