Local Ensembles Help Send Students to Band Camp

Published 10/31/2024 via Door County Pulse.

For many student musicians, band camp is an opportunity to both practice and bond with other musically-minded individuals. 

Local ensembles the Peninsula Symphonic Band and the Swingin’ Door Big Band want to give more local middle and high school students the chance to do so. To that end, the two bands fundraise yearly for a summer band camp scholarship.

The amount of money given to each student varies, averaging around $200 per person according to Jason Palmer, who directs both bands. The recipient can then choose which band camp they would like to attend.

The Peninsula Symphonic Band is a 70+-member community concert band with open membership for local musicians, including those in high school. The Swingin’ Door Big Band is an offshoot of the symphonic band, its sound inspired by ‘30s and ‘40s jazz.

The big band formed in 2019. When revenue started coming in from shows the band was hired to play, the group had to decide what to do with the funds, as the organization is a nonprofit and all the performers are volunteers.

“We said, ‘well, what do you think we should do with this money?” Palmer said. The idea for the band-camp scholarship was soon hatched.

When students improve their skills with the help of instructors and peers at summer camp, they bring what they learned back to their school’s orchestra, Palmer said. This helps their classmates improve too.

“It just is an improvement all the way around,” Palmer said.

The ensembles awarded scholarships to the first two students in 2022. This summer, 10 students received scholarships.

Olive Wisniewski, a freshman french horn player at Gibraltar High School, has earned the scholarship multiple times, using the money to attend both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater band camp and the Birch Creek Summer Music Academy in Egg Harbor. These programs connected Wisniewski to a wider community of musicians and allowed her to challenge herself, she said.

“The camps I’ve gone to have been really just encouraging and motivational for me to keep playing, and to realize that I have a community of other people outside of Door County who also find love in this,” Wisniewski said.

She applied for the band-camp scholarship for the first time after learning about it from her former middle school band director, the now-retired Charlie Eckhart. The experience of earning the scholarship motivated her, too, she said.

“I felt pretty special and like I could continue with applying to different things, and I was really encouraged with that,” Wisniewski said. “I felt like going to camps in my future and that summer was going to be possible for me.”

The Peninsula Symphonic Band reaches out to local middle and high school band directors around the start of April to publicize the scholarship opportunity. Applications are due around the beginning of May.

Students must submit a 250-word essay on what they hope to learn at band camp, alongside a recommendation from their instrumental music director. Middle and high school students from all five Door County school districts are eligible to apply.

The scholarship recipients are invited to join the Peninsula Symphonic Band for one of their Monday-night rehearsals. This experience allows the students to see more of the music in their community, Palmer said.

“It’s really an exciting night,” he said. “They go ‘Wow, here’s a band that’s twice or more larger than my own school band. What’s that like?’”

Multiple high school students have joined the band as regular members after attending a rehearsal as a scholarship recipient, according to Palmer. Some even return during summer after going off to college.

Wisniewski is one of the students who stuck around, having been a part of the Peninsula Symphonic Band for the last five weeks. The group provides a way for her to practice her instrument outside of the high-school band, she said.

The Peninsula Symphonic Band and Swingin’ Door Big Band raise money for their scholarship program via concerts throughout the year. The bands have two upcoming joint events at which they will both perform. 

The first is a Veteran’s Day event on Thursday, Nov. 7, 7 pm at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 1756 Michigan St. in Sturgeon Bay. The second is a holiday concert on Saturday, Dec. 14, 4 pm at the Door County Gala, 1023 Egg Harbor Road.
More information about both events and ensembles can be found at peninsulasymphonicband.org.