Elite performers from Baltimore region leading master class, chamber music concert

When Lansdowne High School senior Danielle Sinclair gets the chance, she attends Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts and pays close attention to the strings section.
Sinclair, a violin player, appreciates just how talented those performers are.
So when Sinclair found out that she could get instruction from some of them, she took advantage of the opportunity.
For the third consecutive year, noteworthy classical musicians from the Baltimore region will conduct a master class at the McDaniel College Orchestra Camp.
After the Wednesday session, the musicians will perform the first concert in the 2013-14 Chamber Music on the Hill series. It will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday at WMC Alumni Hall on campus at McDaniel College and is open to the public.
The concert will feature Jeffrey Sharkey, the director of The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He will be joined by cellist Alison Wells, a Peabody faculty member, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Jonathan Carney.
Julie Marie Savignon, the associate concertmaster of the Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra and violist Jessica Sharkey will also perform.
Their performance will include Robert Schumann's "Piano Quintet" and Johannes Brahms' "Piano and Violin Sonata in G Major."
"In collaboration with the camp, to be able to have a concert with world-class musicians, to be able to play right here in Westminster, is a unique opportunity," Chamber Music on the Hill organizer John Holbert said. "I think the camp students recognize that. And I think our concert-going audience recognizes that as well."
Sinclair is in her fourth year as a student at the McDaniel Orchestra Camp, which expanded to two weeks this summer for the first time. The orchestra and piano studies portion of the camp is being held this week. Next week will be devoted to chamber music and collaborative piano studies.
Sinclair will be at McDaniel for both weeks and said she is looking forward to another master class with the professional musicians.
"I remember they told us there's always a way in how you can improve how you are playing the style of music," she said.
Each student got specific advice on their playing styles. The musicians arrived for last year's master class in casual dress.
The instructors made a connection with the students, one that carried on into the evening concert attended by the orchestra camp students.
"The students were so engaged in the concert because they knew the performers," camp director Lynn Fleming said.
She is expecting that to happen once again next week. Sinclair, who plans to major in music in college, is looking forward for the chance to learn more and hear just what is possible if she continues dedicating herself to her musical studies.
"I don't know how they get them to come here for this camp, but it's just amazing," Sinclair said. "Then you get to hear them play chamber music. You don't hardly ever hear them do that because they are always in the BSO or in another giant orchestra."