Escape into Music
by Eve Carr
Private as well as group music lessons from world-class teachers; unlimited time to practice without everyday distractions and interruptions; and a chance to play and perform with others – all in a peaceful, scenic environment that relaxes the inner musician.
The River City Band, from Vancouver, Washington, is a wonderful example of the spirit of sharing music, and this four-piece rock group has grown quite a reputation, thanks to its magnanimous approach to music making.
If you ever see the River City Band—Bill Larimer, Jerry Hatcher, “Bongo” Bill Schlansky, and new member Scott Olson—play live, you’ll probably end up playing with them, a shaker or tambourine in hand. If you know your way around a guitar, keyboard, or pair of congas, you won’t have to state your case too hard if you want to join them on stage.
It sounds like a dream for those of us with demanding schedules to work less and play more. At SummerKeys—located in quiet, quaint Lubec, at the tip of Downeast Maine—it’s definitely a dream come true.
Quaint & Quiet
From mid-June through August, in the relaxed and informal setting of this friendly fishing village, adult musicians enjoy a total immersion musical vacation. SummerKeys allows them to finally make music the priority in their lives.
At first look, the SummerKeys building looks like a typical, weatherworn, shingle-clad beach house, but music has transformed the inside. Peek into kitchen cabinets and you’ll find them stuffed not with rice or cereal, but with more sheet music than anyone could play in a lifetime. The lower floor has been partitioned off into practice rooms, each lined with egg-carton style acoustic batting.
Actually, the house is only one location for the camp. SummerKeys also uses space in three local churches, Lubec’s Mulholland Market on the waterfront, and a large restored barn, lovingly dubbed “Carnegie Hall.”
Despite its name and logo, SummerKeys is not just for pianists. It features outstanding instruction for a wide range of instruments, including classical and jazz piano, violin, cello, guitar, mandolin, clarinet, and baroque harpsichord, flute, and violin. Those who want to compose or sing also are welcomed.
While some instruction, such as piano, cello, and violin are offered practically all summer long, other workshops, such as piano duets and musical composition are offered less frequently. Prices average about $485 for a week, which includes private and group instruction, plus chamber sessions, if desired.
As You Are
You don’t have to audition to go to SummerKeys. Its motto is: “Come as you are and enjoy the study, the work, the camaraderie, and the beauty of the Maine coast.”
“I’d like people to know that the thrill of involvement in music is available to all of us. Music making is not just something to be enjoyed by a privileged few!” says SummerKeys Director Bruce Potterton, who founded the camp in the early 1990s.
“I wanted to create the musical paradise I had known as a young student working in New York. In those days, I’d use my two-week vacation to travel to Cape Cod, get a room near the water, rent a bike, and ride over to the Barstable Conservatory, where they’d rent me a practice room for four hours every day.”
Potterton has indeed created a musical paradise. Over the years, hundreds of students have enjoyed a positive musical learning experience in one of the most beautiful settings in America. An incredible number travel great distances and return year after year.
One reason for the success of SummerKeys is that Potterton carefully selects his instructors and insists that they not only be great performers, but kind, caring teachers, who know how to gently coax the musical ability out of adult amateurs.
Violinist Trond Saeverud is a perfect example of the high quality of instructors at SummerKeys. Along with numerous solo performances in Norway and Denmark, he also tours Japan, the US, and Europe, frequently as concertmaster. Yet, with all this worldwide acclaim, he knows how to share his musical knowledge with someone who has only recently started playing the violin.
Willing Risks
Saeverud instinctively knows when to urge students on and give them a challenge so they can reach new levels, as well as when to reassure and support them for what they have already achieved. “Everyone, even professional musicians, makes mistakes,” he reassures his students. “The important thing is not to make a big deal of it. Fake it and get back to the music as soon as possible. It’s better for you, for those playing with you, and for those listening to you.”
Dr. Mary Eyerer, a family physician from Newburgh, Maine, who plays flute and cello, is especially enthusiastic about the quality of the instruction at SummerKeys. She attended SummerKeys along with her talented daughter Anna, who plays the viola. “I like meeting my teachers who are artists of great stature—people I normally wouldn’t have a chance to get to know,” she says.
The music you play at SummerKeys is really up to you. You can bring your own or ask your instructor to recommend material from the library. Students who want to play together and perform at the final concert work on that music. The camaraderie of fellow students of all levels of proficiency provides a friendly, supportive learning environment, which makes even the practice sessions fun.
It’s especially enjoyable to be able to play at SummerKeys with other instrumentalists. With her busy medical schedule, it’s difficult for Eyerer to find fellow musicians—potential friends—to play with, as well as time to practice. At SummerKeys she finds both.
“The best things about SummerKeys,” explains Eyerer, “are the support of fellow amateurs and finding out that other people like me exist—people who are willing to risk looking foolish, and that’s part of the deal. To create beauty is also part of the deal. The cello people from my first week are doing a lot of e-mailing, and most plan to return for the same week next year.”
Downeast
The peaceful, picturesque town of Lubec is itself a major selling point for the SummerKeys experience. Located at the extreme eastern point of Maine, its stately Victorian houses and quiet streets make an evening stroll a very relaxing experience. If your partner isn’t a music maker, there’s plenty to interest him or her in Lubec, including birding, fishing, whale watching, golfing, and hiking. Approximately one hour away is the beautiful Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, a monument to one of the first European settlements in America.
Accommodations for a trip to SummerKeys include elegant bed and breakfasts, motels, furnished rooms, apartments, and house rentals. In town, dining options range from fine dining to delicious sandwiches, fish chowder, and, of course, lobster.
Lubec is not too far from the Canadian border. Visitors can drive across the International Bridge to Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada, to enjoy breakfast at a homey pastry shop or dinner at a lodge. For more information about SummerKeys, visit www.summerkeys.com.
