---

Asbury Park youth who will begin fifth grade this year are invited to attend a free, week long summer music camp.

The Jazz Arts Project, a nonprofit organization, will run their 2013 Asbury Park Summer Music Camp for beginning instrumental music students at the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County starting Aug. 26.

Initiated in the summer of 2012, the program is designed as a head-start type of strategy to provide “very young students with the gift of learning to make music,” according to a press release from The Jazz Arts Project.

Now in its second year, the camp  will provide daily individual and group lessons in music theory and keyboard instruction. Students will take part in group band rehearsals, ensembles and workshops led by experienced music education and performance staff, the release said.

“Studies have consistently shown that participation in instrumental music enhances performance in academic studies and improves student attendance and graduation rates,” said Jazz Arts Project Artistic Director Joe Muccioli in the release.

Learning how to play an instrument also builds confidence, self worth, responsibility, social interaction skills, and a sense of community involvement, he said.

Course materials, sheet music and supplies are all provided to the students. Kids who cannot afford or who have not yet purchased an instrument are given one to use during the summer session, the release said. In addition to playing their instrument of choice, students will also have the ability to play an array of other instruments.

“The study of Music can truly change a life for the better,” Muccioli said.

The program is funded in part by a special grant by the NJ State Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program provided through Interfaith Neighbors of Asbury Park, as well as with the help of the Monmouth County Arts Council, the OceanFirst Foundation and support from private donors, according to the release.

Jazz Arts Project Inc. has been operating educational programs since 2006. As well, it presents 25 to 30 events in Monmouth County each year.

To register a student for this program, call Tanya Peterson at (732) 859-1833 or pick up a registration form at the Asbury Park unit of the Boys and Girls Club, located at 1201 Monroe Ave.

[Photo at top of students participating in last year’s summer music camp provided by Peter Laurance.]

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

---