Community Arts academy
gene marcus piano camp & Festival
Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo
founder and director
June 8-13, 2025
The Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival aims to inspire young pianists to reach their potential in piano study and performance and to strive for artistic excellence. Students are immersed in the art of playing the piano through workshops, masterclasses, and other group sessions as well as daily individual lessons, guided practice, and ensemble playing, with the goal of promoting excitement about the process of music making throughout the year. Daily evening activities include performances by guest artists and faculty in addition to a final student recital for all participants.
The camp is open to intermediate through advanced pianists in grades 8–12 (as of spring 2025) who are interested in improving their playing and performance. It includes both a residential and a commuter option; applications from students residing anywhere in the US or abroad are accepted.
All camp activities take place at the Purdue Fort Wayne Music Center, on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne. The attractive music building is home to the PFW School of Music and provides an ideal learning environment, including excellent rehearsal spaces, studios, and performance halls.
Recitals and masterclasses are held in Rhinehart Recital Hall, an acoustically superb performance venue. Ample practice facilities are available, including a number of rooms equipped with grand pianos.
Camp options
Our camp can accommodate your needs.
- Full residential camp: Includes all camp activities, five nights’ lodging (Sunday–Thursday nights), dinner Sunday–Thursday, and lunch Monday–Friday.
$550
- Commuter camp: Includes all camp activities, lunch Monday–Friday and dinner Sunday–Thursday.
$450
Piano camp students who choose the residential option will stay in Purdue University Fort Wayne campus housing during the camp week. They will be housed together under the supervision of a resident assistant at a ratio of no more than 10 students to one resident advisor. Resident assistant staff members are front-line personnel who serve as resource persons, facilitators and advisors for activities within the community. They are responsible for maintaining community standards and safety, performing administrative tasks, and developing a sense of community.
Purdue Fort Wayne student housing offers furnished suites that include sleeping, living and kitchen facilities. Upon registration, students will be sent a checklist of items to bring for the camp week. Residential campers will be sharing an apartment suite. This means that each student will have their own bedroom, but will be sharing a bathroom with another student.
All piano camp students will have a light breakfast, snacks, and two meals a day included in their fee. Meals are served in the Purdue Fort Wayne Music Center or the campus dining hall.
Piano camp students will be supervised at all times. The resident advisor will provide supervision from dinner time through breakfast and will make sure all students are present at the end of the camp day. The camp director and faculty/staff will supervise students throughout the camp day and at any evening activities that take place.
Merit-based Scholarships
Merit-based camp scholarships are available, covering 10% to 50% of tuition costs. Scholarships are competitive and determined by audition. To apply, submit a completed registration form along with video recordings of two or more contrasting works (recorded within the past six months), with at least one being memorized, no later than Friday, April 25, 2025. Earlier submissions receive priority consideration. Send YouTube or other links of your recordings to [email protected].
Note: Participants in the 2025 Gene Marcus Piano Competition who wish to be considered for a camp scholarship do not need to send a recording but should send a completed application.
Need-based Scholarships
We also have a small number of need-based scholarships available. If you are interested in a need-based scholarship, please contact CAA director Molly Papier at 260-481-6059 or [email protected]. Download the Scholarship Guidelines and Request Forms here:
ReGISTRATION AND schedule
Registration coming soon.
Email [email protected] with questions.
2025 Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival Schedule
Sunday
- 3–5 p.m. | Check in at Purdue Fort Wayne Student Housing (for residential campers only)
- 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Welcome and opening performance by camp faculty, followed by orientation and dinner
Daily Schedule, Monday–Thursday
- 8–9 a.m. | Practice rooms available
- 9–11 a.m. | Masterclasses and interactive group sessions, individual lessons and guided practice (Note: Tuesday guest artist masterclass until 12 noon)
- 11 a.m.–noon | Individual lessons and guided practice (except Tuesday)
- Noon–1 p.m. | Lunch
- 1:15–3:15 p.m. | Individual lessons, keyboard musicianship classes, ensemble and guided practice
- 3:15 p.m. | Break
- 3:30–5 p.m. | Special sessions in piano-related topics (may include performance preparation, practice techniques, historical keyboard instruments and performance practice, etc.)
- 5–7:30 p.m. | Dinner and free time
- 7:30 p.m. | Recitals
Friday
- 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | Schedule as above
- 3:30 p.m. | Nature walk (weather permitting), snack and recital preparation
- 5:00 p.m. | Final student recital
2024 MASTERClass PRESENTER
Marvin Blickenstaff
Marvin Blickenstaff is known among piano teachers throughout the country for his publications, lecturing, masterclasses, and performances. He received performance and academic honors at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (B.M.) and Indiana University (M.M) and studied at the Frankfurt (Germany) Hochschule für Musik. He was named a Fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and received the Music Teachers National Association's highest honor, the Achievement Award. In both Indiana and Pennsylvania he has been named Teacher of the Year. Blickenstaff lives in the greater Philadelphia area where he teaches in his home studio and at The New School for Music Study in Princeton.
2024 PRESENTER
Dennis Alexander
Dennis Alexander is a pianist, composer, and clinician. Alexander is one of North America's most prolific and popular composers of educational piano music for students at all levels. Alexander has developed an international reputation as one of the world's most popular educational composers for piano. He began his career as a composer in 1986 and retired from University of Montana in May 1996 where he taught piano and piano pedagogy for 24 years. In addition to serving on the faculties of Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge, he taught piano privately. Alexander currently lives in Albuquerque, NM where he maintains an active composing and touring schedule. Full bio here.
"I have always gravitated towards pieces that had beautiful melodies and gorgeous harmonies. These kinds of pieces often speak to our soul..."
2024 Solo Recitalist
David Lai
Jiajun (David) Lai is a doctoral piano student at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, studying with Norman Krieger.
Blind from birth, Lai started lessons at age four in his hometown of Hangzhou, China. In 2005, with the assistance of the late Chinese pianist and pedagogue Guangren Zhou, he moved to Beijing and began studying with pianist Dongli Mao. In 2019, he graduated from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music with a B. A. degree in Piano Performance under Professor Zhou. In 2021, he earned an M. M. degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under Michael Chertock.
In 2018, Lai attended the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival and was also featured at the WQXR Young Artists Showcase. He won second place and was honored as “audience’s favorite” at the Boulder Bach Festival World Bach Competition in 2020. During fall semester of 2021, he won first place in the Mozart Concerto Competition at the Jacobs School and performed with the symphony orchestra. In 2022, he won first place at the Brevard Music Festival Piano Solo Competition.
When he is not at the piano bench, Lai enjoys Broadway shows, film soundtracks, and occasionally fiddles with technology. Lai envisions breaking barriers by sharing music through his performance and instruction.
2024 presenter
Paola Savvidou
Paola Savvidou, DMA, NCTM, is a pianist, pedagogue, and wellness advocate. On a daily basis she wears many hats serving as Wellness Program Manager and Lecturer III at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance while also running her own piano studio called Music Lotus in Ann Arbor, MI. In her current role as Program Manager for the Wellness Program she develops partnerships within the University of Michigan health services and beyond to provide education, injury-preventive services and recovery support for students, faculty and staff.
As a proponent of healthy-living for musicians, she utilizes a holistic approach that incorporates mindfulness and well-being practices in her teaching. She frequently presents related research work at prominent conferences including the MTNA National Conference, the International Society for Music Education Conference, the European Association for Schools of Music Conference, College Music Society’s International Conference, and the European Piano Teachers Association. Her work has won Article of the Year through the Music Teachers National Association three times; in 2015 for her article "In Search of the 'Perfect' Musical Performance," in 2016 for her interdisciplinary research article "Assessing Injury Risk in Pianists: Using Objective Measures to Promote Self-Awareness," and in 2021 for the article “Breathe and Move: Effects of a Twelve-Week Yoga Curriculum on Pre-Collegiate and Collegiate Pianists," co-authored with Drs. Christopher Madden and Elaina Burns. She co-authored At the Piano with Yoga with Haley Myers; a collection of duets for beginning piano students coupled with yoga poses. Dr. Savvidou’s book entitled Teaching the Whole Musician: A Guide to Supporting Music Students' Wellness was published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
In Spring 2015 she received the prestigious Purple Chalk Teaching Award by the College of Arts & Science Student Council at the University of Missouri. In 2024, she was honored to receive the LaVaughn Palma-Davis Award for a Wellness Committee through University of Michigan’s MHealthy for her work in promoting well-being among faculty and staff at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion "Belonging Award" for building a community of inclusivity and support for all students within the performing arts.
Dr. Savvidou frequently adjudicates piano events such as the Michigan Music Teachers Association Student Achievement Testing, National Guild of Piano Teachers, and Federation of Music Clubs. She serves as Chair of the Editorial Board for the MTNA e-Journal and as a member of the Wellness Committee for the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy.
She is a trained kids yoga teacher with Rainbow Kids Yoga, holds a BM from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, graduate degrees (MM and DMA) in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Wellness Counseling Certificate from Cornell University.
Camp faculty
Susan Dorion
Susan Dorion has lived in Fort Wayne for 22 years. Mrs. Dorion received her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Michigan State University and her Master of Music in piano performance from New England Conservatory of Music.
Camp faculty
Christine Freeman
Christine Freeman has been a music teacher and accompanist in the Los Angeles and Fort Wayne areas for over 30 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from California State University at Northridge (CSUN) where she studied with artist in residence Jakob Gimpel and Françoise Regnat, and her Master of Music in piano performance from Butler University, where she studied with Panayis Lyras.
Camp faculty
Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo
Since his debut with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), pianist Hamilton Tescarollo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. Dr. Tescarollo serves as Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue Fort Wayne and as Instructor of Piano at Interlochen Arts Camp. He is the founding director of both the Gene Marcus Piano Competition and the Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival.
Camp faculty
Dr. Jonathan Young
Jonathan Young is an active pianist, composer, teacher, conductor, and accompanist. He recently earned a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance at the University of Kansas, studying with Dr. Steven Spooner. Career highlights include working as coach/accompanist at Opera in the Ozarks in Summer 2018, attending the Bel Canto Summer Academy in Germany as a collaborative pianist in 2016, and performing solo piano at Haydn’s Esterhazy Palace in Austria through the Classical Music Festival in 2013.
Sponsors
The Gene Marcus Piano Camp is funded in part by the Gene Marcus Endowment, which was created specifically for that purpose. The camp also is sponsored by the Purdue Fort Wayne School of Music and relies on additional contributions to make it possible. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please call at (260) 481-6059 or [email protected]. Opportunities include establishing a scholarship or contributing to the general operating budget of the camp. All donations are tax deductible and will be recognized in the camp brochure (unless specified otherwise by the donor).
Wilda "Gene" Marcus (1927–2005) was a lifelong piano teacher and enthusiastic supporter of all the arts. She held several degrees, including Bachelor of Music in Piano with Honors from Indiana University, Bloomington, 1950; and a Masters of Music in Piano with Distinction, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1951. She was a public school music teacher and later was associate faculty of piano at IPFW from 1968 to 1986. She taught privately and hundreds of piano students of all ages, accompanied many soloists, and was pianist in numerous ensembles throughout her 60-year career. Her extensive involvement at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre included rehearsal pianist and music director for numerous musicals. She was a former member of Morning Musical Society and patron of Fort Wayne Civic Theater. She was president of Northeast Indiana Music Teachers Association, a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (Music Honorary Society), and Patron of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She was given the 1994 Teacher of the Year Award by the Indiana Music Teachers Association.