Fans of traditional straight ahead jazz that soothes the soul always find what they're looking for when the kids from Birch Creek Music Camp play together. Year after year the different groups comprising the Jazz Ambassadors validate how serious musicians who don't know each other can quickly become a combo and weave gorgeous harmonies and enchanting melodies. The group depicted here, its members hailing from all over the country, was no exception. On this particular day they played a gig at Lakeside Park in Jacksonport. Of course, they're the cream of the crop back home, and at Birch Creek they get to study and jam with some of the finest jazz musicians in the nation. After just a few days of intense practice, their sound is cohesive, disciplined, balanced, and can easily be called ear candy!
Birch Creek Music Performance Center, where camp is conducted, is a wonderful establishment and anchors Door County nationally in the realm of Performing Arts. At the camp there's a student-teacher ratio of about
two-to-one. Many faculty members
return to the delightful rural campus outside Egg Harbor each and every year
to explore and refine their craft, while sharing it with talented youth.This way students get close attention from accomplished music
educators and music performers.
The kids also get a taste of the life of a professional performing musician, since they practice on their own, rehearse as a group, then go out and do gigs all over the county. The Ambassador Jazz Group plays various venues on the Peninsula during their stint in midsummer. Concerts of this nature are free, as are the student sessions presented in the gazebo on the campus just prior to the concerts in the Dutton Concert Barn. These latter performances (admission fee) are headed up by and usually feature their mentors, who really show their stuff!
Find out where and when the Ambassadors are playing around the Peninsula. Or bring a picnic basket to the evening student session at Birch Creek and relax. There are plenty of benches surrounding the gazebo.
Highly recommended, especially if you love jazz.
Click on any photo to enlarge.
