Campers' Little Helpers

A casual visitor to National Music Camp could be forgiven for thinking they had landed in a nest of recovering hedonists. The phrase ‘AAs’ rings out with regularity, generally in a tone of great admiration.

The AAs are in fact the tireless participants in the Arts Administration stream at NMC. They are the schedule-toting, phone-wielding army of efficiency who seem to know everything that is going on at NMC – anywhere, anytime. Need to find a tutorial room? Ask an AA. Trying to track down an elusive interview subject? Ask an AA. Music has magically appeared on a perfectly set stage before rehearsal? Thank an AA. Enjoying a full Sunday off? Then spare a thought for the tireless AAs.

Instead, they will be walking many kilometres a day between St Marks College and the Elder Conservatorium, not to mention around campus. They are more closely chained to a rigid timetable than almost anyone at camp. They work 16 hour days, if not more, and are the first participants up in the morning and the last to go to bed. On Saturday afternoon and evening, they will move three orchestras worth of chairs and stands. Twice. Then they will round up a raft of music and ‘bump out’ (the technical term for packing up).

Concert nights are where the AAs finally get to appear in public, albeit performing only a fraction of their duties. So please give a huge round of applause to the black-clad, super-efficient ghostly forms onstage in the interval and between pieces. They are the people who help to keep NMC running for the rest of us!

 

Anna Doukakis

Words About Music Participant