Northwest Strings Camp: World Class, Close to Home

From budding musicians to those who have a lifetime of passion for music behind them, local musicians have an amazing musical opportunity coming up right here in Lewis County.

Northwest Strings Camp Aug. 1-4 at Bethel Church in Chehalis is a cooperative event between the Voetberg Family Academy and the School of the Arts. Students will have the opportunity to work with professional musicians and the community will have the opportunity to hear these musicians perform.

“This is a really cool opportunity for the community. That all these people are coming here is really awesome,” said Lilja Voetberg, one of the organizers as well as a teacher at the event.

This is the Voetberg family’s second year hosting the event, which was started locally about five years ago by the Booher family, which operates other similar camps in the Northwest. Voetberg said her family became acquainted with the Boohers through their camps and was eventually asked to take over organization of the Chehalis event.

“It’s been something our family has always wanted to do was put on a music camp because we had such positive experiences going to music camps,” Voetberg said.

Instructors at Northwest Strings Camps range in styles from boogie-woogie and swing to jazz, Texas, Celtic and bluegrass. And many of the instructors are world-renowned musicians, from National fiddle champions to Grammy Award winners. Instructors this year include: Fiddlers Luke Price, Justin Sherfey, Liddy (Voetberg) Hoover, Shelby Murdock, Sarah Meyers and Ivonne Hernandez; cellists Annie Voetberg and Jamie Conzatti; guitarists James Meyers, Elisha Voetberg, Dick Gimble and Chris Lewis; and pianists Floyd Domino, Brice (Voetberg) Hansen, Lilja Voetberg and Emily Gimble.

Grammy award winning pianist Domino, who has played with Asleep at the Wheel, Waylon Jennings, George Straight and Willie Nelson, to name a few, has been an instructor at Northwest Strings Camp since 1995. He said he first heard of the camp when he was playing at a concert in Oklahoma City in 1994 where he met the Booher family. He said since then it is an event he looks forward to all year long, especially to see old friends as well as to meet new ones.

“Every year has a different character. You have people of all learning styles, different skill sets and styles,” Domino said. “I learn a lot as a teacher from the beginners through the advanced students and it gives me an opportunity to be exposed to different ways of playing music.”

Last year’s camp had 85 students ages 5 to in their 80s. This year, organizers are hoping for about 100 students. Many of the campers who attend Northwest Strings Camp come from outside the area, so camping and three meals and two snacks each day are provided in the $300 per person registration fee. Campers can take $35 off their registration fee if they want to opt out of the dining plan.

Days begin with breakfast  at 8 a.m. and then classes begin at 9 a.m.  and run until dinnertime at 5:30 p.m. with an evening concert at 7 p.m. each night. There is a slightly less expensive registration option available for campers ages 8 and younger to stay for only half of the long day of instruction.

“We change up the schedule each day so all the students get to experience all of the teachers,” Voetberg explained.

Afternoons at the camp usually involve a band scramble where students get randomly split into bands and get to work out playing together. Voetberg said what impresses her the most is the relationships that grow during the experience, both between kids of similar ages as well as musicians of varying generations and between seasoned professionals and newcomers

“It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “The relationships between teachers and students is amazing. They love music and they love passing it down to the next generation.”

Whether you attend Northwest Strings Camp or not, Voetberg said she would recommend attending evening concerts during the camp. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2, there will be a camp instructor concert, featuring performances by Northwest Strings Camp instructors. At 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, the camp finale concert is held. This concert will feature performances by both instructors and students from the camp. Both shows are free, though donations will be accepted to cover the cost of instructors as well as scholarships for campers next year.

“It’s an awesome show,” Voetberg said. “It’s open to the public and I’d highly encourage people to come to it.”