Magic and Kindness at Violin Camp

"Music is the strongest form of magic."
― Marilyn Manson

This is the third year that we attend the O'Connor Method Camp, a violin camp inspired by Grammy Award-winning violinist and composer Mark O'Connor.  Every year, I have observed many moments of magic -- incredible music, amazing growth in the students, inspiring teachers ...  It is always a very special experience.

This year, as I look at the camp through the lens of kindness, I have found it to be a treasure-trove of kind acts.  Every day, I see parents being kind to one another and to other people's children.  The children are kind to each other and even to the adults.  Yesterday in class, as I struggled to play a piece on a different string, a child next to me leaned over and said, "Just pretend the A string is your E string."

Several times a day in the different classes, I observe kindness by the teachers to their students.  They coax hesitant students to perform and, in doing so, give students boosts of confidence in their abilities.  I am constantly struck by the gentleness of the teachers -- I have not heard a single one raise her or his voice.  And they have challenging classes -- students of different ages and levels playing instruments.

This evening, the camp choir -- a mix of adults and children -- sang "We Shall Overcome."  In the front were three little girls, the oldest one was all of 7 years old.  They held hands and sang, "Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall live in peace someday."  It was a moving performance and I am sure that my eyes were not the only teary ones in the auditorium.  That performance was made possible by the kindness of several teachers who not only taught, nudged and encouraged, but also believed in their students.  And in so doing, their students believed in themselves.

Research actually supports my observations of kindness at camp.  A 2012 University of Cambridge study indicated that playing music in groups on a regular basis greatly improves a child's capacity to empathize with others.  I suspect that is true with adults, too.

So it seems that not only will we leave violin camp with additional skills in the music department, but also we may be leaving with a greater sense of kindness.  There is true magic in the music.