Trumpet player Dhalil Sadiq, 12, of Camden, will be back for his third season of Symphony Summer Camp, which begins Aug. 11.
"It's really a lot of fun," said Dhalil, who enjoys classical music, but also has a penchant for jazz. "I learn all kinds of things like harmonics, doing the scales, triads and developing my playing technique at an advanced level."
When Dhalil first enrolled at age 9, he was the youngest musician in the summer orchestra.
While initial efforts focused on giving inner city students opportunities, the camp's popularity has grown from an enrollment of 18 to more than 50, including students from Haddonfield, Voorhees, Marlton and other towns. The camp is largely underwritten by Camden-based Campbell Soup. Tuition is $600 for two weeks, with aid available.
"It's definitely challenging and intense," said camp director Paul Bryan, a faculty member at Temple's Boyer College of Music, who trained at the Curtis Institute. "But the idea really isn't so much to prepare our students to be professional musicians as much as it is to help them become more active players or maybe even just more active involved listeners."
Aside from individual coaching and working in small ensembles, Bryan, of Cherry Hill, attributes the camp's success to the interaction of students of various abilities.
"Sometimes the students who get the absolute most out of our camp are the ones with the least experience," Bryan said. "When they sit next to experienced musicians, they tend to play up to their level rather than visa versa. It's a real motivator."
Consistent with Symphony in C's commitment to inspiring young people to embrace music is the recent release of the group's first CD, the first classical recording made in Camden in several decades.
The Tortoise and the Hare and Other Tales, music by Daniel Dorff, features narration by CBS-3's Ukee Washington and Broadway actress, singer and Tony Award winner, Ann Crumb.
