USA East Music BULLETIN - FALL 2019 - ISSUE 3 | Page 14

STAR LAKE MUSICAMP 2019
By Selena Mendoza, Philadelphia Pioneer Corps, PA
AUGUST 10-18, 2019 — The opening
day at Star Lake is always exciting! The
process is fun and I’ve always enjoyed
it even when I’m so nervous! I had my
horn audition with Jason Collier and
then I went over to Dr. Dorothy Gates
for my Vocal audition. From there off
to my cabin and waited to see who
my counselor was and who was in the
cabin with me this year. After I did all
that I met up with some very good
friends and had lunch and then majors!
I auditioned into Tabernacle Chorus
with Gavin Whitehouse and the music
selection this year was amazing!!! I think
the highlight of chorus was everyone’s
favorite song “Soli Deo Gloria!” Band
was no different - Hilltop band had a
very solid horn section along with some
amazing players from the Eastern and
Southern Territories. My experience as
the First Horn in hilltop was an amazing
one! I was under the leadership of
Matthew Luhn and Anita Crocker Hunt
for my second year in hilltop!
The first full day was packed with a
lot of exciting things like electives and
getting to meet the special guests and
new friends!
Monday was memorable! Monday’s
evening program was the Persian fight
club (aka… the knight fight). There
were so many positives about Monday!
Tuesday.. everything was great
except reading band.. Reading band
is a little taste of playing top tier music
that was WAY out of my league, for
example; Odyssey. That piece of music
is a beautiful and exciting piece of
music but it was super challenging and
I’m going to be honest… I couldn’t play
it. I wasn’t there to play it all correctly
(even though that’s the ultimate goal)
the goal was to be challenged and
improve as a musician and that’s what
reading band did... challenge me and
helped me with Hilltops music for the
week.
Wednesday was pretty good, it was
hot and humid and made me and a
few others miserable during chorus.
The Hilltop backstop concert was
decent. My favorite thing about the
whole preview concert was hearing
everyone’s hard work through the
week and seeing how far everyone has
come so far!
and I’m not the only one who thought
Thursday was an amazing day! After
coming back to Star Lake, we had
a very powerful worship service
with Unbound. Doug Berry and the
wonderful guys in Unbound were
incredible!
Friday’s morning devotions with
Matt Hodgson were super amazing
just like the previous days. I always
feel incredibly blessed every morning
because Matt brings the Word alive
and fits it into our daily lives. Each day
of devotions gave me a new “Day of
Hope”. Soloist night was AMAZING!! Tia,
Chase, and Eric’s solos were absolutely
solid. The sacred dance was beautiful
and Caroline’s Arrangement of Vitae
Aeternum was absolutely gorgeous!
Everyone did an amazing and fantastic
job and I’m super proud of you all!!
SATURDAY! Saying Saturday was
just amazing was an understatement.
The chorus’s were a giant blessing. The
blessing that came from the bands
was spectacular and the Timbrels
were fancy like always. Everyone did a
fantastic job and I couldn’t be prouder
of a group of musicians that gathered
together from different parts of the
world!
Sunday’s worship was beautiful.
This is my sixth year attending Star Lake
Musicamp and I have to say, this year
was the most amazing, God-driven,
and spiritual experience I’ve ever
experienced. ■
Thursday was the trip to Dorney
Park! My group was amazing! We
went on nearly every roller coaster
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