Workshops & Camps
Each fall, the OU School of Music hosts All-State Masterclasses. This free event is designed to help high school students with the final round of All-State Band and All-State Orchestra Auditions. However, all students are welcome to attend.
Next event: Saturday, November 16, 2024
Though this event comes two weeks after the first round, all students are welcome to attend.
Join us for a day of brass music on campus at the University of Oklahoma School of Music! We will welcome world-renowned trumpeter, Ashley Hall, in to offer a recital, masterclass, and solo with the Frontier Brass Band. In addition to Ashley’s talent’s we will also feature Oklahoma’s premiere brass ensemble, the Frontier Brass Band.
Next event: Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2025
The Conducting and Teaching Workshop is an annual 3 day summer workshop for conductors, hosted by OU faculty and featuring a guest clinician.
The workshop focuses on conducting technique, rehearsal pedagogy, administrative skills, and teaching skills. There are two ways for conductors to participate in this workshop: as an observer, or as a conducting participant.
Conducting participants will conduct the OU Summer Chamber Winds daily, with ample time on the podium. The repertoire includes some of the finest works for chamber wind ensemble. In addition to conducting this ensemble, participants will receive feedback and coaching on their conducting, attend master-classes, clinic sessions, and panel discussions.
The Great Plains Saxophone Workshop is a multi-day workshop open to high school through graduate level saxophonists. Students can participate as a commuter or as a resident.
At the GPSW, participants will engage in a variety of musical and social activities designed to better solo and ensemble skills, stimulate creative musical thought, and foster a saxophone community in the region.
Daily activities include large saxophone ensemble rehearsals where students play alongside faculty, saxophone quartet coachings, performance and pedagogy master classes, and topics classes. Students will be able to study all-state music, contemporary techniques, repertoire, chamber music, and jazz with world-class saxophonists. Students also have the opportunity to have a private lesson and to perform in the student honors recital (optional).
The University of Oklahoma offers Kodály levels 1-3 certification through credit courses and summer workshops.
The summer Kodály workshops are available to the general public, as well as to current students of the School of Music. The Kodály levels offered and the locations of the workshop(s) vary from year to year. Some workshops are offered at the Norman campus, and some are offered at the Tulsa campus.
Bass Bash is an annual four-day summer camp for middle and high school double bass students. The camp alternates locations each summer between The University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University.
A typical day includes: warm up and technique classes, workshops on OK All-State audition material, a jazz class, and a solo class, in which students may perform prepared solos for their peers with a professional accompanist. Additionally, each student will receive a private lesson with one of the instructors. Chamber music is also a particular emphasis of the Bass Bash, so students are divided into different groups to rehearse bass ensembles to be performed at a final concert.
Breakfast and lunch take place on campus and evening meals will be at different local restaurants. There will also be evening activities that both resident and commuter students can participate in. Past activities have included a talent show, movie night, and bowling. Each student will receive an OK Bass Bash t-shirt.
The faculty of the Oklahoma Bash Bash includes highly qualified public school teachers and university professors. They all have professional orchestra experience and have studied with teachers from across the country.
For more information, see the Bass Bash website.
OU Bass Day is a one-day event (9:00am - 5:00pm) organized by Dr. Anthony Stoops, Professor of Double Bass at the University of Oklahoma. This event features performance opportunities and instruction by faculty from the University of Oklahoma and beyond. OU Bass Day is open to players of all ages and skill levels. Students preparing for all-state auditions will receive masterclasses on audition materials and will have the option to participate in a mock audition. The cost to participate is $20, which includes a pizza lunch.
Children experience a dynamic introduction to piano playing through a year-long comprehensive curriculum, taught by OU students and faculty. The program includes weekly group classes and one-on-one lessons to explore all aspects of keyboarding including music fundamentals, creativity, performance, listening, and collaboration. Children will learn through activities and games in a state-of-the-art group piano classroom, and demonstrate their progress in showcase recitals.
The OU Percussion Camp is a marching percussion training course for 8th - 12th grade students (8th grade with at least one year of experience). Students will work with some of the top state and nationally renowned percussion instructors.
The student's preferred choice of marching percussion will be available to play at camp: snare drum, bass drum, tenors, and front ensemble. Students will be grouped into ensembles based on experience and ability level, and will have the opportunity to play in sections (drumline and front ensemble) or in a full percussion ensemble setting.
In addition to quality percussion instruction, students will also receive an OU Percussion Camp t-shirt, certificate of completion, name badge, and the potential to win special prizes graciously provided by Edmond Music. Edmond Music will have a booth available in the afternoon for students or parents looking to purchase sticks/mallets for the upcoming marching season.
OU Piano Experience Day is a day-long event, hosted annually by OU piano faculty each fall semester. The camp is open to upper-intermediate through advanced, high school-age pianists who have studied piano for at least four years. Participants will receive a private lesson from a piano faculty member and enjoy a day filled with musical activities, including a faculty recital, a duet sight-reading workshop, a keyboard literature session, and a studio class featuring performances by OU undergraduate and graduate students.
The University of Oklahoma School of Music invites all students who have a passion and interest in instruments, particularly the violin, to Violin Day, a free event.
The event will include concerts by students from the OU School of Music and the Crouse Graduate String Quartet, show-and-tell booths about string instruments presented by our undergraduate string students, mini-lectures on efficient practice techniques and string ensemble playing by Dr. Yena Lee and doctoral students, a series of masterclasses for solo, chamber music, and pre-All State audition preparation, and will conclude with a mini-concert by participants who wish to perform. This concert is free to attend and open to the public.
Students, teachers, and parents are most welcome. There are no registration fees, and lunch will be provided at no cost to participants and attending parents or guardians. You may choose to participate in the entire event or select specific sessions to attend.
We hope you will take advantage of this free opportunity to study with OU faculty and graduate students.
Each spring, the OU Trumpet Studio and brass area hosts a workshop featuring clinics with the current trumpet professor, Dr. Douglas Lindsey as well as a guest clinician. This workshop is open to all ages so if you are looking to grow your skills and learn more about the trumpet this workshop is the perfect place for you!
The University of Oklahoma Jazz Program in collaboration with Jazz in June is excited to announce the newest jazz education experience in Oklahoma, the "Summer Jazz Collective" Project, or SJC!
This experience includes a five-day camp at the University of Oklahoma where participants work with OU faculty and the Jazz in June headliners! The camp involves rehearsals, sectionals, masterclasses, a jam session, and VIP seating at the Jazz in June festival. The camp then concludes with the SJC band performing the opening set for the festival headliner on the final night of Jazz in June.
The Summer String Academy is an annual intensive summer workshop focused on the study and performance of solo and chamber music repertoire for violin, viola, cello and piano. The Academy is open to Violinists, Violists, and Cellists.
Also offered is the newly added half-day string orchestra program. Intermediate and beginner-level students are encouraged to register for this program, as well as anyone else who is unable to participate in the full day program.
In 2024, we will begin a new annual event for trombones, tubas, and euphoniums:
December TBD, 2024 - Annual Low Brass Holiday Spectacular
The Women’s Choral Leadership Workshop is an annual workshop designed to empower female singers (primarily sophomores and juniors) to be leaders in their choirs.
The number of participants from each school is limited to a balanced octet (SSSSAAAA) or quartet (SSAA) of section leaders or future section leaders. The goal of the WCLW is to equip and motivate young ladies to grow as musicians, develop as singers, and blossom as choral artists.
The cost to participate is $130 per quartet ($260 per octet). Lunch and t-shirts are included in the cost.
Young Men's Vocal Workshop is a one-day choral festival that takes place in the fall semester at the University of Oklahoma.
Since 2006, the OU School of Music has welcomed sixth through twelfth grade boys from across the state to the Norman campus for inspiring and enriching music making. The Young Men’s Vocal Workshop, otherwise known as Real Men Sing, is led by OU choral faculty members and distinguished guest conductors.
Each year, hundreds of young men attend, representing dozens of high schools, junior high & middle schools, and elementary & intermediate schools. Participants in the Young Men’s Vocal Workshop not only rehearse and perform together, but also they enjoy performances by the OU Men’s Glee Club, OU faculty soloists, and current OU voice students.
