An enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd packed McAfee Hall at First Presbyterian Church last Wednesday evening for the first of three Vero Beach International Music Festival concerts featuring world-class Americana, Celtic, Indian, bluegrass, jazz and folk musicians. The audience was taken on a whirlwind musical journey showcasing the talents of the faculty of the 10th annual Mike Block String Camp.

Led by cellist and educator Mike Block, returning faculty included Block’s wife, Hanneke Cassel, a former U.S. National Scottish fiddle champion; versatile fiddler/violinist Darol Anger; raga folk-inspired violinist Trina Basu; Grammy Award-winning jazz violinist Zach Brock; Melissa Brun, cellist, vocalist and educator; multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Colin Cotter; Julliard-trained cellist Natalie Haas; two-time Grand National fiddle champion Kimber Ludiker; genre-bending fiddler/violinist Taylor Morris; multifaceted Carnatic fiddler/violinist Arun Ramamurthy; violinist and educator Lauren Rioux, bluegrass mandolin player Joe Walsh; and new this year, improvisational violinist Mazz Swift.

Another popular new addition to the camp was four-month-old Eilidh, Block and Cassel’s first child. “It’s been a big life change for us, but it’s pretty exciting that we’re able to bring her into this community already,” said Block.

The final concert Saturday afternoon – culminating with a down-home Barn Dance – highlighted camp participants, who ranged in age from about 7 to 70. Students hailed from all around the world, with many attending through scholarships, including a group of Gifford Youth Orchestra members.

“The exciting thing is that this is actually our biggest camp ever. We have 112 participants all here at the same time,” said Block.

The program format was changed last year to a collaborative track schedule, simultaneously holding in one week what used to be two programs held over two weeks.

Initial classes were divided by performance levels, and on Wednesday students separated into band groups for the first time. During Thursday’s Master Classes, combined levels began performing together in preparation for Saturday’s concert.

“So that’s really exciting because we’re able to keep the community all together,” said Block. “Those are actually really important moments for people to see the different ability levels.”

Their concerts have always been free, with contributions toward camp scholarships encouraged, and as word has spread over the years about their remarkable talents, audiences have swelled to capacity.

“And so it’s a really exciting thing for us,” said Block. Additionally, he said, the concerts give the faculty an opportunity to practice what they preach.

“Students see the teachers perform twice before they perform, so they really start to get a handle on what’s going to happen during their performance,” said Block. “I always feel that the students rise to a level in the performance that we haven’t even seen throughout the week.”

Natalia Watson a cellist, who graduated from Vero Beach High School in 2014, was one of Block’s first students. Now a senior at UCF in Orlando, she has graduated from camp student to administrative staff.

“We were the very, very first kids. Mike came to the high school for a class, taught us and blew our minds away. He told us to put away the stands; we were absolutely scandalized,” she recalls.

Appreciative of the exposure to unique and diverse styles, she added, “Before Mike came down I had never done anything but classical, but now my favorite genre is Appalachian Folk, and I know how to sing in several languages. There’s all kinds of really cool things. It’s the whole experience of visiting the world through music.”