Using sport camps as a model, the Moorhead, Minnesota Public School orchestra staff developed a summer string camp that has grown into the largest summer orchestra day camp in the country. Starting small and dreaming big, this session will give teachers all the tools they need to develop a kid-centered and teacher-approved summer orchestra camp that your students will love, all while setting them up for success in the new school year.
Brian Cole
- Biographical Information
Brian Cole has been an orchestra teacher in the Moorhead, Minnesota public school district since 1995. Brian graduated from the University of South Dakota, received his Master’s of Music in orchestra conducting from the University of Northern Colorado and has received post-graduate credits from The Ohio State University. His hockey-jersey-clad orchestras have been invited to play at both state and national conventions including The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago and the American String Teachers National Convention. During his tenure, enrollment in Moorhead's orchestra program has grown from 210 to over 800. A frequent clinician, speaker, and guest conductor across the country, Mr. Cole has appeared at music conventions in more than 20 states. Recent engagements include conducting all state orchestras in Oregon, South Dakota and Georgia. Cole was named Minnesota's string teacher of the year in 2003 by MNSOTA and was given the Heidi Castleman Award from Chamber Music America in New York City. The Moorhead String Program also is a past recipient of MNSOTA's Meritorious String Program award. A football and track coach at his school, Cole is past chairman for ASTA's National High School Honors Orchestra.
Tanner Otto teaches 5th and 6th grade orchestra at Sycamore Community Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio. An avid violin and viola player, he started exploring improvisation and the genres of rock and pop music early at the age of 10 and continues to make eclectic styles a part of his curriculum. Tanner has taught and directed summer camps in Minnesota and Ohio: often teaching technique, beginning improvisation, movement, and alternative styles. As a strong advocate of technology in the classroom, Tanner has developed lesson plans that use GarageBand to help students practice, compose songs, and build their improvising skills. Last year Tanner shared these ideas while presenting at the 2018 Ohio Music Education Association conference in Columbus. Tanner is also excited to become a new composer for Alfred Music as his first compositions for string orchestra are published in April of 2019. Tanner holds an undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University.