Bennington Chamber Music Families - Recently Updated Pages

Youth Concerts

egcohen — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:23:35 CST

There have been Youth Concerts every year at the Conference since at least 1992, usually in weeks 2 and 3 (the classic kid-heavy weeks).The concert traditionally occurs shortly after the Saturday Participant Concert, and plays to a packed and enthusiastically supportive audience.

Organized (and usually MCed) by Faculty Cellist Maxine Neuman, the concerts feature students at all levels; though piano, strings, and flute have been the most common instruments, performances have also included pieces for trumpet, voice, saxophone, and ballet. Concerts typically involve both solos and ensemble works, which latter have included duets, piano trios, string quartets, and concertos for soloist and string orchestra.

Some performances have been carefully premeditated, with ensemble repertoire determined and prepared months in advance of the Conference; others have been entirely spontaneous, and most fall somewhere in between. In general, performers meet once or twice during the week to play through the program, find out what needs practice, and get ensemble coaching from Maxine and other parents.

Check out our archives for the 2003, 2007, and 2008 Youth Concerts.

2008 Photographs

egcohen — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 17:54:33 CST

Claire 2008
Jim 2008
Bill 2008

Welcome

egcohen — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:44:07 CST

Despite the indubitable challenges of balancing music and family life at the Conference, over the years many parents—and their children—have come to view Bennington as an indispensable family vacation. The College and its surroundings offer a variety of diversions for children of all ages, and the campus itself provides a safe, stimulating, and picturesque staging ground for activities of all sorts. Most important, children at the Conference thrive in the company of their peers, and in those weeks where a critical mass of children attend, the party never stops. Children at Bennington can also participate in the musical life of the community by performing in the Children's Concerts, and as they grow more proficient, by merging gradually into the general Conference programming.

This wiki aims to facilitate, document, and celebrate the experience of children at the Chamber Music Conference. We hope it will be used to remember the last summer and plan for the next, to give prospective CMC attendees the opportunity to learn and inquire about its family life, and to preserve institutional wisdom for future generations of kids at Bennington. Feel free to add whatever you feel is necessary to this wiki to make it fulfill your needs for the Conference and the needs of any prospective families.

Share your perspective to make this site more interesting and complete. Add your own album to the photo archives, and supply captions to existing photos. Give your opinions of the resources available on and off-campus--and add your own. Describe your favorite CMC game. And please use our message forum (if you've registered, you can keep up on updates by clicking on "watch this thread" under "more tools" at the top).

NEW: We've got some new photo albums up for 2008! Check them out here. Feel free to add captions, explanations, and corrections; and to add your own 2008 Bennington photo album.

CMC Homepage

Music Opportunities for Children

ElisabethCohen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:49:00 CST

Youth Concerts

Young Participants

Green Mountain Music Camp

Resources

ElisabethCohen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:47:30 CST

Childcare

Local Babysitters

Early Childhood Center

Add your own review of these resources by adding a bullet-point list under the resource described, inserting your comment, and attributing it.

On-Campus Facilities

ElisabethCohen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:44:37 CST

The campus of Bennington College has huge fields for tag and frisbee, and hollow bushes for hiding and housekeeping. It has crannies to be explored, fruit and flowers to be picked, narrow paths to be followed through woods and high grass into hidden gardens and glades. It has a pond where herons nest and frogs croak in chorus every evening.

The Conference dorms are large, mostly empty during the daytime, and well-suited to elaborate games of hide and seek. They have spacious living rooms with comfortable cushions and tables, suitable for board games, serious conversations, and casual goofing off.

Atop this unpremediated abundance, Bennington College also has some facilities that are actually designed with recreation in mind:

Game Room: Open around the clock. Includes ping-pong, pool, air-hockey, arcade games, etc.
Movies: There used to be a small theater in the Barn, in which we watched our own videos on a big screen. This facility has not been used by Bennington kids in some years, and it's not clear whether or not it still exists/ is still available. There is a TV with facility for watching movies in the first floor of Commons.
Early Childhood Center Playground: A small but enjoyable playground associated with the Early Childhood Center. Available when ECC is not in session (i.e. afternoons and evenings)
Computer Center: Open 1-5, Monday-Friday.

Archives: Highlights and Pictures

ElisabethCohen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:16:24 CST

List your favorite games from Bennington here
Here you can view archived concert programs
Check out our photo galleries
---

Pre-2007
2007
2008

Concert Program Archives

ElisabethCohen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:15:41 CST

2003
2007

Favorite Games

sarasoma — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:43:09 CST

1, 2, 3, Roundup!

Crossover between Hide & Seek and Tag. The "It" counts to 50 and everyone hides. The It not only has to find people, he has to catch them once he's found them (finally tagging them and saying "1, 2, 3 Roundup"). When someone has been tagged he becomes another It. We used to like to play this game in Wooley, Swan, and the grass-area around it (the mirror image dorms of Leigh and McCullough). This afforded enough space for some pretty ingenious hiding places.
AKA "Roundup 1, 2, 3". Not sure how usage divides...

Mafia

Since we were playing this game in a huge group of kids with widely varied ages, a serious game was pretty rare. Instead, everyone would make up jobs in the town (upon which accusations and defenses often rested) and the game would be moderated newscaster-style.

Super-Secret Undercover Mission behind the back of Public Enemy #1 a.k.a Sanctuary of the Swan

You don't expect us to spill the beans online, do you? But if you ask David or Sarah or David or Elisabeth or Emma, they might tell you if you can prove you're trustworthy.

The Wacky Races

Adam used to organize an elaborate series of races (three-legged, cartwheel, spinning, etc.) in Common's field one evening every year. Handicaps by age made this contest especially interesting.

Beachball Volleyball

Played by kids, their parents, and anyone else who came along and wanted to play in the field in front of Commons. We played with unlimited serves for players under 7, and unlimited touches for everyone. Beachballs are much more friendly than regular volleyballs.

Penny Poker

Long poker tournaments played from a large pool of pennies collected up in advance and divided equally among players for each game.

The Mole

The group works together to complete challenges (scavenger hunts, protecting water balloons, 52-card pick up while blindfolded) but also must figure out which individual amongst them is sabotaging their efforts.

Add your favorite Bennington game to continue the list!

Off-Campus Trips

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:21:45 CST

Adams Farm: ~45 minute drive from campus (27 Miles). About $13/adult; $8/child 2-12. Activities include: pony ride, goat milking, bottle-feed lambs and piglets, cuddle with the bunnies, sheep herding demonstration.
Ashville Game Farm and Exotic Zoo: ~45 minute drive from campus. Daily rate for adults: $9; for children under 12: $7. Open 10-5 every day.
Bennington Fish Hatchery. ~15 minute drive from campus (on South Stream Rd, Bennington). Hours: 8-3:30 every day.
Bromley Mountain Thrill Zone: ~45 minute drive from campus (30 miles). All-day pass: $29 (can also pay by ride). Open 10:30-5 every day. Known for its alpine slide, but other attractions include zip line, massive trampolines, climbing wall, giant swing, mini-golf.
Dairy Bar (sells ice cream) ~1 Mile from campus (217 Northside Dr , Bennington, VT).
Lake Paran: 15 minute walk/short drive from campus. Daily rate for adults: $3.50; under 18: $1. Open 11-7 every day.
Mt. Equinox Hiking
Shaftsbury State Park: 10 miles north of Bennington. Daily rate for adults: $3; 3-14 years: $2 Open 10-8 every day. Playground especially popular.
- My favorite! -Marc
Sunset Playland: ~10 minute drive (1487 Harwood Hill Road). $6 for miniature golf; $6 for go-carts. Open until 7:30 every day.
Bennington Fish Culture Station:Bennington, VT, (802) 447-2844. The facility's interesting and informative activities and visitor center make it an attraction for visitors of all ages. Visitors can interact with the fish and possibly get a glimpse of a great blue heron, osprey, otters or mink. The station is located two miles from downtown Bennington on South Stream Road. (From VT govt website.)

Young Participants

egcohen — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:53:44 CST

In recent years, some half-dozen of the Conference's children (most of them alumni of the Youth Concerts) have gone on as teenagers to participate in the general musical life of the conference. Typically these second-generation participants begin by playing in occasional freelance groups with adults, thus gaining experience with the music and musicians of the conference on an informal and ad-hoc basis while remaining socially integrated with the community of kids. In late high school, they begin signing up to be coached, often starting out with a single coached group in the first year. The rate at which they then take on a heavier coaching load varies from person to person—some quickly embrace the schedule of a full-time participant, while others prefer to take the transition to adulthood more slowly. In either case, second-generation participants receive support during this transition from many directions: from their parents, from the adults of the community, from the younger of the first-generation participants (into which the "former kids" merge in a seamless continuum), and, of course, from one another.
Want to bring or come as a second-generation participant? Check the discussion forum to find out which weeks other second-generation participants are coming next year.

Childcare

egcohen — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:52:48 CST

Bennington parents have employed a range (and often a combination) of strategies for arranging supervision for their kids. Most (although not all) people who bring their children have also brought their spouses. In families with small children and two musician parents, the parents sometimes arrange each to be coached part time, so that they can each spend some time playing their instruments and some time playing with their children. Some parents have brought full-time babysitters with them; others prefer to hire local babysitters, whether full-time, part-time to give the parents a break, or for specific occasions such as concerts. The Early Childhood Center can also provide childcare in the mornings during weeks 1 and 2.

In practice, these logistical challenges are substantially mitigated by the ability of parents to pool resources. Since children at Bennington generally prefer to spend most of their time together, a single active care-taker often suffices for a group of children who mostly entertain each other. In the child-heavy weeks, parents are usually able to organize and undertake activities as a team, to take turns watching one another's children, and to pool for babysitters. Moreover, the safe and stimulating atmosphere of Bennington College allows older children to play and explore on campus with minimal supervision (though of course their parents remain responsible for them). At various times, groups of older children have collaborated to babysit younger ones.

Parents curious about bringing their kids to Bennington are encouraged to visit the Discussion Forum to pose their questions to experienced Bennington parents.

Claire's Archives

ElisabethCohen — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:50:37 CDT

Local Babysitters

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:08:41 CDT

For information about local babysitters, email Elisabeth at elisabethhelencohen dot gmail dot com.

Eve's Photos

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:02:32 CDT

2007

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:57:28 CDT

Somebody should write here about interesting things that happened this last year.
Everybody should also add his pictures to a picture gallery.

Photo Galleries:
Emma's '07 Photos
Bill's Photos
Claire's '07 Photos

Other Highlights:
2007 Youth Concert Program

Pre-2007

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:56:59 CDT

Photo Galleries:
Adam's Photos
Eve's Photos
Claire's Pre-2007 Photos

Other Highlights:
Favorite Games
2003 Youth Concert Program

2007 Youth Concert Program

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:42:23 CDT

Chamber Music Conference
and Composers’ Forum of the East, Inc.

2007 Youth Concert #1

Imani Congdon, violin

Jessica Greb, piano

Ariana Rubin, piano

Elena Rubin, flute & piano

Matthew Stubbs, piano

1 Jeremiah Clarke – The King’s March Kate Perry & Imani Congdon, violins
2 J. S. Bach – Minuet in G Jessica Greb & Steve Holleran, piano
3 P. I. Tchaikovsky – The Sick Doll Ariana Rubin, piano
4 Carl Czerny – Exercise #39 Ariana Rubin, piano
5 G. F. Handel – Bourrée Elena Rubin, flute & Imani Congdon, violin
6 J. B. de Boismortier – Gaiement Elena Rubin, flute &Renée Jolles, violins
7 Antonin Dvorak – Humoresque Imani Congdon & Matthew Stubbs, piano
8 F. Chopin – Polonaise in g minor Elena Rubin, piano
9 M. Ravel – Oiseaux tristes Matthew Stubbs, piano
10 Samuel Barber – Ballade Matthew Stubbs, piano

Claire's '07 Pictures

ElisabethCohen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:06:36 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Bill's Pictures

ElisabethCohen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:10:44 CDT

Disclaimer: These aren't pictures of kids per se. They're pictures that feature second-generation participants acting in their capacities as adults. However, when seen alongside some of Emma's 2007 pictures (which feature many of the same people acting in their capacities as kids) these photographs serve to illustrate something about the nature of the transition between childhood and adulthood at Bennington.

David and Albert Mark and Paula Emma and Maxine
Emma, Shirley, and Herb
Elizabeth, Don, and Elisabeth
Schubert Octet
Madrigals

Kids turn out for the Saturday Night party: Ariana, Elena, Elena, Dillan.