Camp Information - Wirth Center For The Performing Arts

“The Best Place on Earth”

Young Artist Piano Camp has been a home to countless wonderful students for over 30 years. Some go on to have fantastic musical careers performing or teaching. Others keep music as a form of self-expression as they make their way through life. No matter the result, Camp tends to change those who participate in unforgettable ways. We can’t promise that your young performer will fall in love with music, get inspired to practice, and make like-minded friends, but it’s happened over and over again.

Camp will be held July 11-18th, 2026 on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Faculty and students follow a similar basic schedule during the week. Meals will be served at Superior Dining Hall for breakfast through dinner. After breakfast, we have morning Musicianship Class, followed by smaller group Studio Classes. In the afternoon, depending on the day, we have practice time, private lessons, some free time for activities or rest, and our friendly Music Trivia Contest (Forum) as students team up to identify the music and life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After dinner we may have either an evening performance, games, special activities and events, or more practice time. Students will have a curfew and lights out time enforced by camp counselors. Saturday morning, we celebrate all of our musical devotion with a grand performance featuring every single camper!

This year we have some other special events as well. Most of these recitals and events will take place this year at the Marshall Performing Arts Center, while the location of the concerto performance with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra is yet to be announced.

Guest Artist Concert on Monday July 13th at 7:00PM

Guest Artist Reed Tetzloff will perform a concert for campers and faculty, open to the public

Guest Artist Master Class on Tuesday, July 14th at 1:00PM

Guest Artist Reed Tetzloff will host a Master Class where he instructs several students from camp in front of the rest of the campers and faculty.

Mozart Concerto Performance on Thursday, July 16th at 7:00PM

Up to 3 winners will be selected to perform a movement of Mozart’s K453 Piano Concerto with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra!
Concert is part of the LSCO concert series and tickets can be purchased at www.lakesuperiorchamberorchestra.com or anywhere LSCO concert tickets are sold.

Mozart Recital

Campers have the opportunity to perform a piece of Mozart’s music at one or two different recital times, to be determined.

Final Recital on Saturday, July 18th at 9:30AM, 11:00AM

Campers will perform a polished piece at the Final Recital

What types of things can I expect to find at camp?

Two 45 min lessons with an instructor
Daily 1 hour musicianship class (topics pertaining to the piano: repertoire, practicing, technique, music history, our featured composers, etc.)
Daily 1 hour studio class (structured like an in-studio master class)
Daily practicing 1-2 hrs per day
Composer Knowledge team competition
Performance by Guest Artist
Fun planned activities and free time for games and relaxing with peers
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Superior Dining Hall
All campers perform on the final morning of camp

At what level does a student need

to be able to play to attend camp?

Camp is designed to be appropriate for a student able to play a Bach Minuet all the way to the most advanced pieces, such as a Rachmaninoff Concerto. Camp is best for ages 10 – 18. Younger than 10 would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and would need to be discussed with the Program Director ahead of time.

Toward what developmental level does this camp seem most geared?

This camp will appeal to students who are able to engage while listening to an 45-minute to hour-long lecture about musicianship (practicing, music listening, technique, music history), listen to their peers playing complex pieces up to 10 minutes long and receiving feedback on these, playing composer-intense trivia in small teams (questions provided in advance so they can research), and practicing at least 1-2 hours a day.