By Susan Shinn
St. John’s Lutheran Church
ALISBURY — Most churches are pretty quiet in the summertime, but the sounds of music echoed through the sanctuary building this week at St. John’s Lutheran Church during the Summer Strings Camp program.
Sponsored by the Salisbury Symphony, the camp had 29 students ages 8-16, playing violin, viola and cello. Some students had never played before; others have played for a year or two. All sounded terrific at their concluding concert on Friday afternoon, attended by a crowd of 75 parents, grandparents and siblings.
The Once Upon a Time Class — beginners no more after Monday morning — were led by instructor Carter Bradley of Greensboro. Seven young ladies, all violinists, christened themselves the Music Maniacs under the direction of Margaret Rehder of Winston-Salem. The Leprechauns of the Green Cello, an intermediate group, followed Anne Sellitti of Winston-Salem, who brought along her dark green cello for the week. Both Bradley and Sellitti play with the Salisbury Symphony, according to Susan Trivette, camp director and education director for the symphony. Assistants were Karen Franks and Carrie Webster.
The camp has its genesis in the 1970s and has been at St. John’s for the past three years, Trivette said. “We have had a very good week. It’s been a very congenial group. They’ve gotten along and they worked hard.”
Cellist Kevin Agner has played cello for about a year and a half — and has developed quite a passion for it. A member of St. John’s, he’s a rising sixth-grader at Erwin Middle School. “It was really fun,” he said of his week at camp. “We did challenging stuff and they taught me a lot.”