BY NATHAN ALEXANDER and PHOEBE MORGAN.
AUDIENCES in Harrietville and Bright were treated to the symphonic fruits of last weekend's Harrietville music camp, which provided an equally impressive economic boost to the region.
Students travelled across the country to participate in the camp and honed their skills together to put on a pair of special performances.
The big band concert was held on campus at the Mountain View Retreat hall on the evening of Friday, January 17, where many of the students had been staying.
The showcase concert was hosted the next afternoon at the Bright Community Centre and featured performances from a full orchestra, a string orchestra, a concert band, a wind chorale, a choral group and a massed choir.
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"Both the big band performance and the Bright concert went really well," event organiser, Sally Dugan said.
"The camp this year was very successful overall; plus, the community benefits from an influx of tourist dollars.
"Accommodation in Harrietville is pretty well taken out by our students and all those who don’t stay on campus acquire their food locally, either in Harrietville or Bright.
"We bring close to $500,000 to the region and I should add that many of the north eastern wineries do a good trade whilst we’re here.
"Apart from that, we bring orchestral performances to the region which are not commonly available either in Harrietville or Bright.
"Right now we're in packing up and cleaning mode.
"Next year will be a big year; we're celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Harrietville Music Festival Camp.
"But we won't be thinking about that for quite a while."
William Krump, who specialises in the euphonium at the music camp (a type of tuba), started attending at the young age of five.
“My mum started taking me along to the music camp 13 years ago,” Mr Krump said after playing in the Bright concert.
“My mum is a tutor here; she has been teaching the French horn consistently since I was little.
“I play mainly euphonium here at the camp, but I also play the piano and the trumpet.
"I have always enjoyed coming here every year and I always look forward to it."
With student ages ranging from 18-upwards, the most senior player in the camp was Bryan Brewer, at 92 years old.
“I have been as healthy as ever for the last 10 years because of the camp," Mr Brewer said.
"After playing bass for so many years, my constant controlled breathing is making me healthier.
“I’ve been coming every year since 2000, aside from recent years when it's been cancelled.
“There have been up to 120 people here before, and they have all been very cooperative and supportive.
“A lot of people tell me I’ve got into the stage where we are too old to do these things!
“The comradery this year has been incredible; everybody wants everybody else to succeed.
“It might be down in numbers but it isn’t down in talent; it doesn’t matter what you do, the audience all applaud.
“There are people here who are real musicians.
“The tutors here are amazing; I’ve never had one that wasn’t great.
“They get you to play music you never knew you could do.”
