As a teenager in the 1970s, Lori Guess packed up her oboe every summer for a music camp on a lake in Sidney, Maine. Now 71 and a retired defense attorney, she still goes, but to a separate adult program she has attended for years. Across the country, a growing number of adult musicians, many of them picking up instruments they put down decades ago, are finding their way to summer band camps designed just for them.
The social dimension is a big draw, particularly for retirees. Russ Grazier, artistic director of the New England camp, said ensemble participation for adults over 60 at a music center he leads has doubled to 300 people. Experts say returning to an instrument learned in childhood strengthens memory, focus, and mood, while also providing what Grazier called something “missing from a lot of people’s lives.”
Source: AP News
