JOIN US for a one-week camp for teens!
Real world artists will lead camp as students study jazz, pop, and rock styles in vocal and instrumental music.
Camp Week Includes:
-
Small and large group ensembles
-
Private lessons
-
Studio recording in a world class studio
-
Special break-out sessions in songwriting
-
Workshops in music technology, how to succeed in music, & more
-
Concert at the end of the week
​
​
Camp will explore important trends in the music industry.
Find out how you can be ready! All activities take place at St. Boniface Elementary School located at 201 N 19th St in Fort Smith.
​
This Camp is being provided by the Academic Enrichment for Gifted/Talented in Summer Grant through the Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
​
**As part of the AEGIS grant, this camp is only open to students who have not previously participated. **
Who is camp for?
Camp is open to all Arkansas students entering grades 7-12 who have an interest in singing or play a musical instrument. Instruments include: strings, guitar, winds, brass, & percussion. Students do not need to have any previous jazz experience. Instrumental students need to have at least one year of experience playing their instrument. This camp is provided by the AEGIS grant and is for students who have not previously participated.
How much does camp cost?
There is no cost to participate! This camp is being provided by the Academic Enrichment for Gifted/Talented in Summer Grant through the Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
how do i register?
Please complete the following information and email it to us at info@csafortsmith.org:
​
​
-
A minimum of one recommendation from a teacher, school counselor, or principal to be emailed to info@csafortsmith.org
-
A one-page student essay describing your interest in this camp and current activities in which you are involved
-
A 3-5-minute recording or video of student performance for the purpose of assessing the playing or singing level of the student. The video should include an excerpt of music from two different pieces of music with varying musical styles. The excerpts may be something that are performed in your school ensemble, studied in your private lesson, or an original composition that you have written. Your recording may be accompanied or unaccompanied. Before playing your selections, identify yourself, the name of your musical selections, and, in 30 seconds or less, tell us why you are interested in this camp. Email us a link to your recording at info@csafortsmith.org
​
Check Out Our Amazing Camp Instructors!
Don Bailey
Don Bailey is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Jazz Studies at UAFS. He joined the teaching staff in 1985. He helped to develop the curriculum for a Jazz Studies concentration associated with the Bachelor of Arts in Music degree. Bailey teaches all of the core jazz courses as well as music theory. Under his direction, the award-winning Jazz Catz (vocal jazz ensemble) continue to perform for sellout crowds of more than 1,000 people. Bailey is active as a clinician and adjudicator throughout Arkansas and Oklahoma. He developed the first comprehensive summer Jazz Band Camp in Arkansas, and he developed a Jazz Improv for Strings camp for orchestral strings—one of only a handful in the country. Both camps have grown under his direction and attract students from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. A native of New Jersey, Bailey received his formative music education performing as a freelance musician in New York and his home state. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Iowa Wesleyan College (Mount Pleasant) and his Master of Arts in Music degree from the University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls), where he was a teaching assistant in Jazz Studies under Dr. Bob Washut.
Terri Bailey
Terri Bailey is the staff accompanist for the UAFS Department of Music. Her duties include providing piano accompaniment for the University Chorale, Women's Chorus, Jazz Band and Jazz Catz, as well as for junior and senior recitals, studio classes, private lessons and weekly recitals. Bailey received a Bachelor of Music Education degree in Pipe Organ from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. For 10 years after graduating from college, Bailey taught elementary music and beginning band in the Iowa and Nebraska Public School systems. After moving to Fort Smith, she became a freelance musician and private piano instructor. She has accompanied in the Fort Smith Public Schools for 23 years.
Wendy Dane
Wendy Dane began performing violin & guitar at the early age of 12 in a variety band with her two brothers. Graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Music, she continued her education obtaining Kindergarten through Grade 12 Instrumental Music Certification. Wendy has completed Suzuki Association of the Americas registered teacher training for Violin Books 1-8. She has been referred to as a ‘Master Teacher’ by one of the East Coast’s leading advocates for childhood education. Wendy has initiated string programs in public and private schools, has taught students from preschool through college levels, and is in high demand as a guest clinician at various string workshops. As a freelance musician, Wendy performs numerous musical styles including classical, jazz, bluegrass and Celtic. Ms. Dane won her division of the Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Contest in 2000 and 2007. She maintains an active playing schedule. Moving from Wisconsin, Wendy and her husband Peter are excited to be living and working in Arkansas along with their three big dogs: D’Artagnon, Brownie-Red and Jeep-Wrangler.
Michael Hanna
Michael Hanna holds a MM in Saxophone Performance from Central Michigan University, where he served as teaching assistant to Professor John Nichol. He graduated summa cum laude with a BM in Saxophone Performance from the University of Arkansas in 2016, where he studied with Stanley Morris and Dr. Richard Salonen. Michael has performed with the Fort Smith Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, the Tulsa Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Fayetteville Jazz Collective. He has performed with the Arkansas Saxophones at two World Saxophone Congresses in St. Andrews and Strasbourg. An eclectic performer, Michael is also frequently heard in restaurants, hotels, festivals, and other venues in the Northwest Arkansas area. In 2015, Michael assisted in the production of a historical documentary on the Arkansan territory bandleader Alphonso Trent, transcribing and orchestrating works from his recorded legacy and performing on the soundtrack. Michael has private and group teaching experience ranging from the beginning to the collegiate level. He has worked with high schools throughout the NWA area, assisting with band camps, jazz clinics, and private instruction. At Central Michigan University, Michael taught undergraduate saxophone lessons, coached nationally competitive quartets, and taught beginning saxophone to music education majors. He has also served on the faculty of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Summer Jazz Camps since 2016. He currently teaches private lessons in Fort Smith, AR, through the Community School of the Arts; in Fayetteville, AR, through the University of Arkansas Community Music School; and in Bentonville, AR, through the Arkansas Music Conservatory.
David Holland
Guitarist David Holland hails from Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he works as a performer, teacher, and composer. He holds a B.A. in Jazz Studies from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith; and a M.M. in Guitar Performance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he studied jazz guitar with Dr. James Greeson and Mr. Ben Harris. He has also studied classical guitar with maestros Juan Mercadal and Rene Gonzalez at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. David teaches jazz and classical guitar as adjunct instructor at The University of Arkansas Fort Smith and at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. David performs regionally with his jazz trio The Unit, The Tabitha Graves Quartet, and his bluegrass band The Crumbs. David debuted as a classical composer in 2016 with a performance of his setting of Ruth Krauss’s children’s book, The Carrot Seed, for string quartet and narrator, presented by the Fort Smith Symphony’s Story Book Strings. In April 2018, The Crumbs appeared as guest artists with the Fort Smith Symphony, performing a score David orchestrated especially for Fort Smith’s bicentennial concert. He lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas with his wife Kara (a sculptor and painter) and daughter Kalliope (a Muse).
Chris Swicegood
Chris Swicegood is a native of Fort Smith who graduated from Southside high school. He attended UAFS studying jazz improv with Don and Terri Bailey and then found his way to Texas Christian University where he received his Undergraduate and Masters degrees in classical guitar performance (2005,2007). In Fort Worth, and later Madrid Spain, he was fortunate enough to study with guitarist/composer José Luis Merlin. His passion rock music led him to apprentice with notable sound engineer Henry Hirsch in New York at his analog Waterfront studios from 2008 to 2011. There he worked as both a session guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and as Henry’s assistant. Chris, and his duo with his wife, “Chris & Lolly” have released over a dozen recordings through their own publishing company LilasongsLLC.
Lolly Swicegood
Laurel Patrick Swicegood began her life in Musical Theatre performance in Community Theatre as well as school in the second grade. After graduating high school from Deer Creek in Oklahoma City she was awarded the Norton Scholarship to study at Texas Christian University. She graduated in 2007 with her BFA in musical theater performance. Lolly, as she’s known, has been fortunate to perform many theatre classics: “On The Town”, “Baby”, “Annie”, “Once upon a mattress”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Anything Goes” and “Cabaret” just to name a few. She also was able to study costume history, costuming, makeup and set design while in University. Lolly is also a Modern Artist specializing in Acrylic and vinyl on canvas. She has been fortunate to work and recorded in many recording studios including Waterfront Studios and Blackbird. Her true passion is performing blues, jazz and rock and roll with her best friend and husband Chris Swicegood. Together they write and perform globally in duo ‘Chris and Lolly’.
Bruce Fowler
Bruce Garnett Fowler was born and raised in Los Angeles California, where he received the bulk of his real world music education. He has been a full time musician for the past seventeen years in Fort Smith, Arkansas and the surrounding areas. Born with a passion for music, this love was cultivated at an early age before he started playing drums. He grew up in a household where you would hear anything from 60s soul to opera. As a result, he began to take private drum lessons at age 13. He possessed an intuitive understanding of music and music arrangements in modern genres. By age 16, Bruce was performing professionally in genres ranging from rock, soul, jazz, to classical in the greater Los Angeles area. By age 20, Bruce had formed and led his own band which recorded an album in 1976. Bruce was inspired to play drums by accomplished drummer, musician, composer, arranger, Grammy award winner, Andre Fischer whom Bruce knew personally. Fischer mentored Bruce for 5 years, gaining first-hand knowledge and experience in studio recording, live performance, and the understanding of business and professionalism as a musician and drummer. Notably, at age 20, Bruce had the opportunity to perform for and be personally critiqued by Marvin Gaye. Bruce's passion for music and drumming is obvious when watching and listening to him perform, and is equaled by his passion for teaching.