We are excited to announce that the Immersed In Music staff met online last week to evaluate and expand both what we offer and the way in which we work with our students. The current Covid-19 pandemic has inspired a great deal of experimentation and creative thinking on the part of many organizations. IIM, in particular, has been using the last three months as an opportunity to explore new teaching techniques and imagine new goals in our ongoing effort to meet the changing needs of all of our students.
We have come up with a wide array of new opportunities to support our students in pursuing their musical interests. These new plans include programs that will be implemented this summer, as well as long term changes that will roll out for this coming September.
For the immediate future, IIM teachers have decided to continue the online band meetings. These hour-long Google Meets will be available on a weekly basis at no additional cost to any 2019-2020 students who want to be involved.
These sessions may include such topics as songwriting, critical listening, charting, electronic beats, and critiquing music videos. All of these options will be available online for two separate four-week mini-classes, grouped either by existing bands or, if not all band members want to continue, by age related groupings.
In addition to these ongoing meetings/mini-classes, we are modifying our paid summer programs. We’re removing several of the summer camps and adapting the others in order to meet the guidelines of the current situation.
For instance, Bucket Drumming 101 may be able to operate outside or in a large open indoor space, with students wearing masks and adhering to strict social distancing, while still playing rhythms together. Wade is still exploring options for this. Instead of a Fundamental Drumming camp, he is in the process of organizing a 4-day, one hour per day individual drum lesson in its place.
Jay’s Recording at Home – Garage Bands and Basement Tapes will become a half-day, week long online experience, still with lots of hands-on learning. He is flexible on which week of the summer he will be available and may be able to tailor timing to individual needs.
Instead of a Karaoke Camp, Camela will offer an online vocal workshop that will be a combination of vocal exercises and individual singing. The camp will be 90 minutes per day for one week.
Instructors are committed to keeping all these as affordable as possible, knowing that many families are facing financial uncertainty. For cost and additional information on all these “camps,” please go to the 2020 Summer Camp page on our website (immersedinmusic.com). Please contact us if you are interested in a particular camp, but can’t afford the published price.
As mentioned above, the staff will be working throughout the summer to finalize plans for a greatly expanded music curriculum to be unveiled in late summer. We continue to be very excited by the energy, creativity, and commitment that we see being generated both within our IIM staff, as well as by all the ideas flowing from our incredibly talented student body!