Mia Graber, Lara Kliewer and Adria Ebersole add random objects to the inside of the piano to create the special effects needed for their group composition.

Searching for clues about composer F.J. Haydn during the musical detective scavenger hunt.

The students found out the secret hiding places of the Haydn-trivia that included quirky and fun facts about the composer’s life.

Each student created a solo composition. Mia Graber titled her piece “Mia’s Rag.”

Lara Kliewer is jotting down the melody that will go over her twelve bar blues she calls, “Summer Blues.”

Transferring the notes we play onto music manuscript paper is sometimes difficult but always rewarding in the end. Adria Ebersole composed “The Lemonade Waltz.”

The group came up with two ensemble pieces; one was “How Sweet the Sound”, reminiscent of the Amazing Grace tune and also a prepared piano work that used synthesizer, autoharp, and prepared piano.

Trivia Fact: Composer F.J. Haydn has an asteroid named after him. SO . . . the students decided to dedicate their piece to Haydn. It is titled “Haydn: Asteroid #3941″. It was a huge success!

Performing “The Cup Piece” in near perfect synchronization.

Outer space effects were achieved by attaching plastic clips to various strings and using metal and plastic mint boxes, a small tambourine, and ping pong balls. They did this using the vintage brown baby grand piano!

The student composers got to see and hear Kaylee perform a piece by Jon Schmidt titled “All of Me.” As you can see, she has to use some interesting technique to play all the notes.

Cups and rhythms were used as a teamwork assignment that turned into a very fun part of camp. These students had excellent focus and did a fantastic job!