Ady Hammock
news@greenepublishing.com
Held yearly, the Florida State University (FSU) Summer Music Camp (SMC) is a week-long camp for band students, inside and outside of the Tallahassee area. This camp is full of opportunities for students to improve their musicianship, learn new skills, perform for a crowd and meet new people. This year, three students, Ady Hammock, Max Jimenez and Layla Peavey, all members of the Madison County High School (MCHS) Band program, attended this camp.
Upon arriving to the FSU campus on Sunday, June 15, each student auditioned, performing two prepared pieces for a judge specializing in their respective instruments. These auditions went extremely well — each Madison student received first-chair placements in the bands they were assigned to.
Each one of the hundreds of campers who auditioned at SMC were sorted into one of three ensembles: Osceola, Renegade or Wind Symphony. These ensembles rehearsed separately, working note-by-note through the impressive pieces that were set to be played at 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 21.
Hammock was assigned to the Wind Symphony ensemble as the principal bass clarinet player. This was her second time attending FSU SMC.
Jimenez was placed into the Renegade band in his third year at SMC as first-chair tuba.
Peavey received first-chair flute in the middle band. This was her fourth time attending SMC.
The students stayed in a college dorm on the FSU campus, attended classes in the FSU College of Music classrooms and rehearsed vigorously for hours every day of the week leading up to the camp’s final performance.
There were also several non-band related activities the students participated in. There were many choices for night activities, including IMAX movies, visiting the Fun Station in Tallahassee, bowling and more. These events allowed for the students to reconnect with friends made in years past, as well as meet new people with shared interests. Everyone had something in common at SMC: music!
Sadly, two of the three Madison musicians were not able to partake in the SMC ensembles’ final performance. Jimenez and Peavey both had to go home sick during the week, although Jimenez was able to travel to Tallahassee on Saturday to support Hammock, as well as the many friends he’s made in past years at FSU SMC.
The performance was a major success. The Wind Symphony ensemble was the last to perform for the huge crowd in FSU’s Ruby Diamond Auditorium on Saturday, June 21 at 12 p.m. They performed three pieces, the first of which was Festive Overture by Shostakovich. In the second piece, a 14-minute work based upon the Big Bang Theory, titled Red Sky and composed by Anthony Barfield, the Wind Symphony accompanied an impressive solo by Dr. Hana Beloglavec, a trombone professor at FSU. Hammock was also featured in a short bass clarinet solo during the piece. The final piece performed by the Wind Symphony was titled Puzsta, by Jan Van der Roost. The piece was comprised of four high-spirited movements comparable to Hungarian and Slavonic folk songs.
Although all students didn’t stay the entire week, they each learned skills and techniques that will carry over, not only into their leadership positions for the 2025-2026 Marching Band season, but throughout their entire musical careers and their lives.