Fees & Deadlines
- Registration opens February 1, 2025
- Financial Aid Scholarships requests due by May 1
- Program preferences and self-evaluation forms must be completed on-line by June 1
- Scholarship notifications sent May 30 by email
- All fees due June 1
The program, housing, and meal plan fees are described in detail on the fees page.
Camp Dates
2025 Camp is Monday July 28 to Sunday August 3th.
The first event of camp is registration from 2pm-7pm on Monday, and the last event is the Creekside Farewell on Sunday from 9am-10am.
Faculty
MMR is proud to have a wonderful professional faculty, many of whom return to MMR year after year. Visit our Faculty Listing page to meet each faculty member.
Housing, Meals, Facilities, and Travel
MMR offers on-campus dormitory housing for campers, and campers are welcome to stay off-campus as well. MMR partners with nearby hotels to get discounted rates for campers wishing to stay off campus. Additionally, we have airline partners that offer a discount if you choose to fly into Walla Walla! Visit our information page about housing, travel, and discounts to learn more.
Things to Bring
- If you are an instrumentalist, bring your instrument and anything you need to transport it between buildings (case, cart)
- Music Stand that can break down for easy transport between buildings
- Water bottle
- If you are a percussionist, here is a list of mallets to bring.
MMR 2025 Repertoire
Large Ensemble Repertoire for this year’s MMR is not yet released, but will be here once it is announced! You will receive a folder with your music at check-in. Part assignments are based on policies indicated on the Large Ensemble page.
Sheet music for the string and symphony orchestras is public domain and is downloadable through imslp.org. Links to pieces that are available for download are listed below. String parts are not bowed. You will receive a bowed part the first day at check in.
Please be aware that the sheet music links are for referencing parts. Due to the level of work involved in part assignments, we are unable to tell you which part you will be playing until the day of check in.
Concert Band, Michael Burch-Pesses
- Coming soon!
Choir, Loren Pontén
- Coming soon!
String Orchestra, Sandi Schwarz
- Coming soon!
Symphony Orchestra, Nikolas Caoile
- Coming soon!
MMR 2025 Electives
The 2025 electives are not yet selected. This list is the 2024 electives to give you a sense of the typical electives offered.
Free Time
An unscheduled hour for relaxation or personal practice. Select the number of Free hours on the Afternoon Preference Form when you register.
Gentle Yoga, Lydia Van Dreel
This gentle yoga class will involve slow, mindful movement, relaxing, restorative poses and deep breathing. No experience necessary. Bring a yoga mat and loose, comfortable clothing!
Drum Circle, Patrick Roulet
You do not have to be a master drummer to succeed in this class. After learning the basic technique for hand drumming we will learn African and Latin drumming patterns. Through these patterns we practice our ensemble skills of listening, feeling the internal pulse and fitting our rhythm into the pattern. Past students have said that transferring what they learn in this class to their other instruments helps them in rehearsal and performance settings.
Brass Ensemble, William Berry
Open to all brass: uses standard, modern instruments.
Jazz Big Band, Jim Sisko
An ideal group for all who enjoy performing large ensemble jazz. The group features traditional big band instrumentation: saxophones, trumpets, trombones and rhythm section players — piano, bass and drums. Repertoire is drawn from a mix of unique arrangements of jazz standards and originals. Will include one evening rehearsal on Wednesday. The band performs at Saturday night following the Festival Banquet.
Afternoon Elective Orchestra, Roger Nelson
An afternoon ensemble for strings and classical brass, winds. Repertoire drawn from all eras. Lots of sight reading; low key performance. Very fun!
Saxophone Ensemble, Patrick Sheng
The saxophone ensemble rehearses and performs a variety of repertoire primarily from the classical and jazz idioms (but, as Cole Porter would say, we’re not afraid to dip our toes into the “anything goes” category). Instrumentation can vary from sax trio to sax choir, depending on camper instrumentation. All saxophonists of all levels are welcome!
Flute Choir, Faculty
Clarinet Choir, Faculty
Percussion Ensemble, Faculty
Jazz Improvisation, Jim Sisko
Open to instrumentalists and vocalists, this class will cover the basics of improvising: chord progressions, what scales to use with what chords, articulation styles, and how to develop a melody.
Practical Score Markings for Singers, Gary Canon
We’ve all sat through a rehearsal when the conductor mostly reviews material from previous weeks. With an improved system of marking your scores, you’ll be able to improve your self-reliance as a choral singer. Various methods will be discussed to quickly notate elements such as rhythm, pitch, language, dynamics, phrasing, and ensemble. Bring your Festival Chorus music and a sharpened pencil!
Not Messiah! – but Handel’s Other Great Choruses!, Kathryn Weld
We’ll visit a number of great Oratorios, like Handel’s own favorites “Theodora” and “Jephtha,” love-themed “Acis and Galatea” and a rollicking plague chorus or two! So much wonderful music to sing from these lesser known works! SATB, plus strings or other interested instrumentalists. voices are welcome! Final performance at Saturday Tea.
Broadway Revisited: A Short History of Broadway Benchmarks, Heather MacLaughlin-Garbes
Spend time diving into Golden Oldies and new contemporary musical theater songs! Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein along with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pasek and Paul, and more! This elective will highlight the history of some of Broadway’s benchmark shows and prepare selected songs to perform throughout the week. All interested singers are welcome!
Singing for Non-Singers, Nathan Shiu
Are you an instrumentalist who is curious about singing? Do you consider yourself a non-singer, or even scared of singing, but want to change that? Come join others who feel the same in a safe space to explore your voice. We’ll practice well-known folk and pop songs, rounds, and more! Presentation at the Saturday Sampler is not required.
Interweavings: A Tapestry of American Popular Music, Yvette Burdick
We’ll just scratch the surface of American popular music, but you’ll leave with a broader, deeper appreciation for the musical legacies that influenced every recording you hear. Sampling genres as diverse as Sousa marches, ragtime, jazz, country, blues, rock, and hip-hop, Yvette will lay out guidelines to help you identify characteristic features within each musician’s sound that lead you back to their roots – or forward to the musicians that came after them.