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They hail from northern California, Connecticut, Long Island, and Edmeston, N.Y., but it is here in Hamilton that four �Ա���Ƶ juniors will spend a month of their summer vacations, exhibiting their musical talents and performing as interns during the upcoming Chenango MusicFest.

Students Sophia D’Addio, John McGann, Natalie Reed, and Julie Siaki, appearing as the Chenango Players, will perform in nearly a dozen concerts leading up to and during the music festival, which runs from June 17-20.

Natalie Reed, Sophia D’Addio, John McGann and Julie Siaki (left to right) practice for their upcoming performances. (Photo by Katherine Trainor)

Laura Klugherz, �Ա���Ƶ professor of music, founded the Chenango MusicFest in 1997 “to highlight the town of Hamilton and the natural beauty of �Ա���Ƶ, and to act as a cultural center for the arts.”

Funded by �Ա���Ƶ, the festival not only brings together musicians from around the world but also serves to unite the university and community. Many of the concerts are held in venues in the village of Hamilton.

Klugherz, who has taught at �Ա���Ƶ for 16 years, offers the internships to her students each year to give them a taste of the world of the arts, for it simultaneously gives them the opportunity to study with professional artists and learn how to plan and coordinate events.

D’Addio, McGann, and Saiki are participating in the four-week paid internship for their second year; this is Reed’s first time.

“Chamber music hones every type of skill you can imagine diplomatic skills, leadership, and presentation skills. This internship is a great way for these students to dip into the arts world completely for a month, without having the pressures of school surrounding them,” said Klugherz.

In addition to the daily three-hour study sessions of chamber music that the students take part in every morning, D’Addio, McGann, Reed and Siaki spend their afternoons planning and advertising the festival. They also perform during lunchtimes and at the Saturday Farmer’s Market on the village green, and at “porch concerts” in the village.

“With the MusicFest, we have a lot more interaction with the town than we do during the school year, and it’s really a close community for us as students and as members of the village,” said D’Addio, who plays the viola and violin.

Coupled with the 10 concerts that the students will give is an opportunity to be coached by the visiting artists in classes held both at �Ա���Ƶ and in the village, where the public is invited to watch. The students study repertoire that is similar in style to that of the professionals.

“This is a great musical experience,” said cello-player McGann. “We have fantastic artists come to teach us and coach us and they have a lot to give us. We really learn a lot from them.”

At a recent practice, the four students were busy going through their musical paces.  They each said they weren’t planning to pursue music as a career after graduation, but they all agreed that music would always be a big part of the lives. Throughout the school year, they perform several concerts with the 23 other students in the �Ա���Ƶ Chamber Players.

Klugherz is excited by the opportunity the festival offers the four interns, visiting performers, and those who will attend this summer’s event, which has the theme of  “Serenades of Summer.”

In addition to the concerts in popular, classical and world music, there are a number of other festival events, such as puppet shows, a chicken barbecue, summer sweets contest, and a ballroom dance exhibition and dance party, to name a few.

“Every year we have people coming from Boston and New York City, as well as from California, Tennessee, Florida, and Mexico to enjoy the MusicFest,” said Klugherz. “It has become a fixture of the town life here and has made a sparkling mark on the world of summer music festivals.”

Katherine Trainor
Office of University Communications
315.228.7417