Fifteen Little Falls students received scholarships from Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund, which allowed them to attend music camp this summer. While at camp, they met students from other schools. Pictured are Little Falls students (from left) Cayden Rudolph, Trey (Travarius) Switters, Madelyn Romaine, Emily Kulus and Payson Kundinger, who was from another school.
Sheila McCoy Morrison County Record
Staff Writer
Fifteen Little Falls students received scholarships from Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund, which allowed them to attend music camp this summer. While at camp, they met students from other schools. Pictured are Little Falls students (from left) Cayden Rudolph, Trey (Travarius) Switters, Madelyn Romaine, Emily Kulus and Payson Kundinger, who was from another school.
Thanks to Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund, several Little Falls Community Middle School (LFCMS) and Little Falls Community High School (LFCHS) students had the opportunity to attend band camp, all paid for by scholarships. Founding Director Patricia Pinckney, whose parents Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney inspired the fund’s name, said Playing It Forward worked with LFCHS Band Director Todd Pederson and LFCMS Band Director Ryan Tenold to award scholarships to 15 deserving students. As part of the SPOTLIGHT program, students were required to audition to qualify for scholarships to attend the weeklong Bemidji MusiCamp at Bemidji State University, Pinckney said. Rachel Henze, who will be in ninth grade this fall, said her band teacher told her she had been selected to receive a scholarship. “I was very happy when I got the news I had been accepted,” she said. Henze said her favorite memory from attending camp was when all the camp counselors came out and played a song at the end of the talent show. Henze, who has been playing the clarinet for three years, said attending music camp helped her improve her skills working with people she didn’t know, while also learning new music and picking it up more quickly. “There were people from other schools there and I enjoyed meeting all of them,” she said. “It was very interesting playing with people from multiple different bands because you don’t know how they do things and how they learn music. When you play with your own band, you know how everything works and what pace you go at, which is not the case with strangers. It changed my view on music and how it can bring lots of people together even if it isn’t for a very long time.” Henze said she is very thankful to Playing It Forward for the scholarship and the experience. “I wouldn’t have been able to make all the memories and meet all these people if it wasn’t for the scholarship,” she said. Emma Gatts, who will be in eighth grade this fall, said she was thrilled when she learned she had received the scholarship. It was an opportunity she did not want to miss. “My favorite part of camp was the talent show. People were singing, dancing, playing music and doing comedy shows. Also, we did a run relay race, running between buildings with a baton handoff using a banana,” she said. One aspect of camp Gatts really enjoyed was experiencing other types of music, instruments and styles. With students from other schools at the camp, she said it was interesting to figure out how other people play under different conductors. “It allowed me to experience jazz band and now I would like to learn saxophone, too,” she said. Like many other students, Gatts is thankful to Playing It Forward and its foundation. “I would like to say that I was so proud to receive the scholarship and thank you so much for allowing me and countless other people to have the experience of band camp. I would love to experience it again,” she said. Amanda Romaine, mother of Madelyn Romaine, said her daughter enjoyed the Bemidji MusiCamp so much that she wants to go again. “We are grateful for Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund bringing this forward as an opportunity for our daughter. She plans to go as many years as possible. The individual lessons have helped her improve. She really cannot say enough good things about the experience,” Romaine said. Henze and Gatts encourage others to apply for the scholarship and attend the Bemidji MusiCamp. “I would definitely encourage other people to go because I made such amazing memories at camp and everyone there is so supportive and kind,” Henze said. “I hope the people I met and became friends with will be in my life for a long time, because they are absolutely amazing people.” Tenold said attending music camp benefits students in several ways. If nothing else, it’s an excellent way for students to see other kids their age loving to play an instrument. “Children always want to feel included and band camp is time spent with other kids their age, who love to play an instrument, too,” he said. “They feel included and connected. That helps them feel that being in band as part of their life is a good thing. It develops the mindset that this is something they want to keep doing, because it is something they can do with others.” Going to music camp also helps students prepare for the upcoming school year’s performances. Tenold said many teachers notice that when students come back at the start of the year, they have forgotten some of the things they learned before. “It is totally normal and happens every year. Camps help students by keeping their skills up over the summer,” he said. Tenold said band camp teaches more than just music skills. For many students, it is their first time going away to camp. “They become a little more independent and confident,” he said. “Musically, of course, they learn from the instructors at the camp, but I know they also learn from the other children there. Kids can often feel more comfortable asking another kid a question or for help, and in that environment it is easier for them to do that.” Tenold said he has seen confidence grow in most students who attend music camp, which in turn often makes them more willing to help classmates during class. For those unable to attend, Tenold said the biggest thing they miss is the camp experience itself. “I feel it is a unique experience and there is really nothing like it. Doing something you love with other people who share that love, and spending a week doing it — it’s priceless,” he said. The Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund was established several years ago. Grounded in the Pinckneys’ belief that all children in Little Falls should have the opportunity to explore music, the fund continues to do just that. Kenneth Pinckney was well known in the Little Falls community for his love of music and people. He became the Little Falls Public Schools’ instrumental music director in 1939 and was very active during World War II in leading and organizing a community orchestra and a VFW Drum and Bugle Corps. He also directed summer band and concerts in the park, established the first pep band and was one of the original members of the Heartland Symphony. Patricia Pinckney said she realized her dream of sending students to a summer band camp in 2022 and spoke with Director Dwight Nelson about her vision. He suggested the Bemidji MusiCamp, which was founded in 1948. That same year, Playing It Forward began offering camp scholarships. The initial focus was on middle school students, and if they are interested in returning to BMC, Playing It Forward continues to support them with awards, Pinckney said. This summer’s camp programs for seventh- and eighth-grade students were held July 13-19 at Bemidji State University. A month earlier, the Shell Lake Jazz Camp ran June 15-20 at the Shell Lake Arts Center in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. From July 19-Aug. 2, the All-State Band was held at Concordia College in Moorhead. Pinckney said Pederson coordinates all three of the fund’s SPOTLIGHT programs. “He makes it all happen,” she said.
Thanks to Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund, several Little Falls Community Middle School (LFCMS) and Little Falls Community High School (LFCHS) students had the opportunity to attend band camp, all paid for by scholarships.
Founding Director Patricia Pinckney, whose parents Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney inspired the fund’s name, said Playing It Forward worked with LFCHS Band Director Todd Pederson and LFCMS Band Director Ryan Tenold to award scholarships to 15 deserving students. As part of the SPOTLIGHT program, students were required to audition to qualify for scholarships to attend the weeklong Bemidji MusiCamp at Bemidji State University, Pinckney said.
Rachel Henze, who will be in ninth grade this fall, said her band teacher told her she had been selected to receive a scholarship.
“I was very happy when I got the news I had been accepted,” she said.
Henze said her favorite memory from attending camp was when all the camp counselors came out and played a song at the end of the talent show.
Henze, who has been playing the clarinet for three years, said attending music camp helped her improve her skills working with people she didn’t know, while also learning new music and picking it up more quickly.
“There were people from other schools there and I enjoyed meeting all of them,” she said. “It was very interesting playing with people from multiple different bands because you don’t know how they do things and how they learn music. When you play with your own band, you know how everything works and what pace you go at, which is not the case with strangers. It changed my view on music and how it can bring lots of people together even if it isn’t for a very long time.”
Henze said she is very thankful to Playing It Forward for the scholarship and the experience.
“I wouldn’t have been able to make all the memories and meet all these people if it wasn’t for the scholarship,” she said.
Emma Gatts, who will be in eighth grade this fall, said she was thrilled when she learned she had received the scholarship. It was an opportunity she did not want to miss.
“My favorite part of camp was the talent show. People were singing, dancing, playing music and doing comedy shows. Also, we did a run relay race, running between buildings with a baton handoff using a banana,” she said.
One aspect of camp Gatts really enjoyed was experiencing other types of music, instruments and styles. With students from other schools at the camp, she said it was interesting to figure out how other people play under different conductors.
“It allowed me to experience jazz band and now I would like to learn saxophone, too,” she said.
Like many other students, Gatts is thankful to Playing It Forward and its foundation.
“I would like to say that I was so proud to receive the scholarship and thank you so much for allowing me and countless other people to have the experience of band camp. I would love to experience it again,” she said.
Amanda Romaine, mother of Madelyn Romaine, said her daughter enjoyed the Bemidji MusiCamp so much that she wants to go again.
“We are grateful for Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund bringing this forward as an opportunity for our daughter. She plans to go as many years as possible. The individual lessons have helped her improve. She really cannot say enough good things about the experience,” Romaine said.
Henze and Gatts encourage others to apply for the scholarship and attend the Bemidji MusiCamp.
“I would definitely encourage other people to go because I made such amazing memories at camp and everyone there is so supportive and kind,” Henze said. “I hope the people I met and became friends with will be in my life for a long time, because they are absolutely amazing people.”
Tenold said attending music camp benefits students in several ways. If nothing else, it’s an excellent way for students to see other kids their age loving to play an instrument.
“Children always want to feel included and band camp is time spent with other kids their age, who love to play an instrument, too,” he said. “They feel included and connected. That helps them feel that being in band as part of their life is a good thing. It develops the mindset that this is something they want to keep doing, because it is something they can do with others.”
Going to music camp also helps students prepare for the upcoming school year’s performances. Tenold said many teachers notice that when students come back at the start of the year, they have forgotten some of the things they learned before.
“It is totally normal and happens every year. Camps help students by keeping their skills up over the summer,” he said.
Tenold said band camp teaches more than just music skills. For many students, it is their first time going away to camp.
“They become a little more independent and confident,” he said. “Musically, of course, they learn from the instructors at the camp, but I know they also learn from the other children there. Kids can often feel more comfortable asking another kid a question or for help, and in that environment it is easier for them to do that.”
Tenold said he has seen confidence grow in most students who attend music camp, which in turn often makes them more willing to help classmates during class.
For those unable to attend, Tenold said the biggest thing they miss is the camp experience itself.
“I feel it is a unique experience and there is really nothing like it. Doing something you love with other people who share that love, and spending a week doing it — it’s priceless,” he said.
The Playing It Forward: The Kenneth and Evelyn Pinckney Young Musicians’ Fund was established several years ago. Grounded in the Pinckneys’ belief that all children in Little Falls should have the opportunity to explore music, the fund continues to do just that.
Kenneth Pinckney was well known in the Little Falls community for his love of music and people. He became the Little Falls Public Schools’ instrumental music director in 1939 and was very active during World War II in leading and organizing a community orchestra and a VFW Drum and Bugle Corps. He also directed summer band and concerts in the park, established the first pep band and was one of the original members of the Heartland Symphony.
Patricia Pinckney said she realized her dream of sending students to a summer band camp in 2022 and spoke with Director Dwight Nelson about her vision. He suggested the Bemidji MusiCamp, which was founded in 1948. That same year, Playing It Forward began offering camp scholarships.
The initial focus was on middle school students, and if they are interested in returning to BMC, Playing It Forward continues to support them with awards, Pinckney said.
This summer’s camp programs for seventh- and eighth-grade students were held July 13-19 at Bemidji State University. A month earlier, the Shell Lake Jazz Camp ran June 15-20 at the Shell Lake Arts Center in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. From July 19-Aug. 2, the All-State Band was held at Concordia College in Moorhead.
Pinckney said Pederson coordinates all three of the fund’s SPOTLIGHT programs.
“He makes it all happen,” she said.
Staff Writer
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