As the first of four free concerts of Mike Block String Camp’s all-star faculty was about to start, event staff were scrambling to set up rows of extra seats to accommodate the ever-growing number of people pouring into First Presbyterian Church.
Though it has taken six years, word has finally spread about the Vero Beach International Music Festival, a delightfully overblown name bestowed by cellist Mike Block on the free, fun concerts that showcase the diverse global styles of the music professionals that teach at the two-week camp.
All came to Vero via Block, who studied cello at the Cleveland Institute of Music, received his master’s from Juilliard and is an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Block first came to Vero Beach in 2009 by request of Vero attorney Catherine Johnston. Johnston’s daughter Bridget had attended a music clinic of Block’s and been so changed by the experience that Johnston commissioned Block to bring his music teaching to Vero.
Block’s clinic at Vero Beach High School was very successful and a dozen students followed him to his next workshop in Chicago. Johnston began working right away with Block to create an annual String Camp in Vero.
Among the regulars to the string camp concerts, performers are developing a real base of fans who watch their young lives move forward along with their music. Hanneke Cassel, a graduate of Berklee and U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, has become Block’s wife.
Lauren Rioux, owner of a music school in Portland, Maine, and a violinist who has toured with Darol Anger and his Republic of Strings, is now expecting a baby.
And when jazz violinist Zach Brock took the stage, he cautioned that young voices might call out during his performance. “It’s OK. They’re mine,” he said, as his wife rocked his baby to his music.
Block’s entourage of plucking powerhouses shares his passion for coaching and sharing with the students the multitude of musical styles and influences found around the world. Block, who directs Yo-yo Ma’s Global Music Project with the musical group Silk Road Ensemble, travels the world learning different styles of playing and meeting innovative, out-of-the-box performers.
Owner and creator of the Block Strap, a cello strap which enables cellists to stand while playing, Block was the first standing cellist to perform at Carnegie Hall; the New York Times says his performances are “half-dance, half-dare.” It is this daring sensibility which leads Block and his faculty to teach their students completely without sheet music, forcing their students to rely solely on training by ear.
The course catalog this year included hour-long workshops, electives and activities that cover a wide range of topics: how to make the most of your practice time; training your ear with multiple harmonies; Scottish fiddle playing; and learning how to break into the business of music. It also included barn dancing and hatha yoga.
“My first year at Mike Block String Camp, I kept thinking they would give us sheet music at the end of the day to take home and practice what we had learned but they never did!” laughs Laura Thomas, an intermediate-adult cellist who has attended the camp since its inaugural year. Thomas, one of 97 students enrolled this summer, lives in Gainesville and has studied cello for 23 years.
“The faculty is world-class, hands-on and utterly inspiring,” says Thomas. “I look forward to these workshops all year long.”
The student body ranges in ages from elementary students to seniors.
“My favorite time at camp is about halfway through the first week,” shares Nashville-based musician Kai Welch about being an educator at the camp. “That’s when you see students, regardless of age or ability, lose their inhibitions and you watch them begin to become their true, silly, creative selves and enjoy expressing it.”
The combination of improvisational coaching, ear-training, breaking down songs into increments and then creating songs and bands of their own has a profound effect on the students and teachers alike.
The Gunter family from Jensen Beach has three children attending this year: Ava, 11, plays violin; Brandon is a 13-year old cellist; their 14-year old sister, Brooke, also plays violin. All the Gunter kids have been classically trained so far.
“Their whole world has just exploded here this week,” says their mother, Karen Gunter.
Brandon admits he was intimidated at first, especially at the camp’s nightly “beach jams” at the Prestige hotel on Vero’s South Beach, where most of the out-of-towners stay.
“The first night when everyone was jamming, I kind of just kept quiet and off to the side,” he says. “But now it’s one of my favorite parts of camp. Now I love to improvise.”
Brooke, who has been classically trained in violin and is in the advanced high school level group, explained that she was wary of the unorthodox nature of the camp.
“I didn’t want to come here,” Brooke admits, explaining she liked the structure of her classical violin background. “But now that I’m here, I realize there’s so much more to learn.”
She says even though she is young in the high school group, “everyone is so encouraging and you learn so much from playing with one another.”
“I play with other violinists but I also study with students on mandolin, guitar, ukulele, cello and bass. I think no one feels left out here. You make amazing friends, and you experience so many different forms of music from around the world,” she says. “This has been the best week of my life.”
String camp students and faculty perform together a final time Friday at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church.
