30 Jul 2024 UCA is home to the South’s longest running band camp

Posted at 9:57 PMh in Features by

By Rita Halter Thomas

Band students from all over Arkansas and Southern states converge on the University of Central Arkansas campus each summer to attend Destination Band Camp (formerly Dixie Band Camp), the oldest camp in the South and second oldest in the nation. Throughout its 87 years, the camp has earned a reputation as a week of excellent musical instruction that offers students an exceptional experience.

The DBC junior camp (for middle-schoolers) maxed-out with more than 950 students. Photos by Straley Owen.

Destination Band Camp (DBC) offers two camps, one for senior high students and one for junior high. This year, the senior camp attracted almost 600 students, and the junior camp maxed out at 950. “We actually hit 950 in early May and had to cut it off because of facility capacity,” said Jennifer Church, Head Band Director at Greenbrier High School and DBC Board Secretary. Church connected with DBC as a camper in the ’90s, worked at the camp during college, then as a band director, and now a board member.

In each week-long session, students audition for placement in a band using material tailored to their level of musicianship. There are ten bands in the junior high session (5th–8th grade) and six in the senior session. Before arriving, campers are provided audition materials in advance, the same material used for All-Region and/or All-State auditions. “By preparing to go to camp, it’s also helping them prepare for their upcoming auditions when they go back home to their schools,” Church said.

Trumpet players perform for fellow campers during their ensemble performance.

“This year we had somewhere around 30 All-State students that came to camp, so our top band for the high school level was phenomenal,” she said. “But that music is tailored to the level of instruction they’ve already had,” she added, emphasizing students are not thrown into a group too challenging for them.

One key to DBC’s success is always adjusting to remain relevant while also honoring age-old traditions focused on students and their future. One such unique tradition is the student leadership program. Students who attend camp each year from sixth grade can be nominated to be a part of the student leadership program once they enter 10th grade. Called “captains,” these students are then eligible for future camp scholarships. Students are nominated by their directors based on their past attendance and audition placement and then chosen by the board. “It’s a big honor for those students to get chosen,” Church said.

DBC works hard to bring in quality guests. This year, the United States Coast Guard Band struck a chord with students, not only with a phenomenal concert but also with its members hosting masterclasses for students in their area of musical discipline. And unlike other camps, DBC brings in conductors. This year it was Brian Balmages, a world-renowned composer and conductor with a lengthy list of noteworthy performances and accomplishments.

Creating the perfect measure of instruction bridged with fun social activities gives campers a meaningful, well-rounded and musically enriching camp experience. While students attend camp for fun and a little taste of freedom, band directors want their students to learn and be encouraged. There is no shortage of either.

Members of the high school first band complete their performance under the direction of well-known composer Brian Balmages.

Outside of music instruction, students enjoy activities such as movie night, a dance, a trip to the Cabot Aquatic Water Park, or DBC’s Got Talent, a showcase of unique talents such as jumping on a pogo stick while attempting to play the saxophone. Even the student-led daily meetings are full of fun and hysterics, while still conducting business and giving students information needed to navigate the day. 

 For band directors, seeing students find new motivation and encouragement is just as rewarding as knowing they are playing their instrument throughout the summer and learning from other directors. “I have had students, truly, that I would have lost had it not been for them going to DBC,” Church said. 

Junior campers perform for their peers at the Jazz Band concert under the direction of Nathan Anderson.

“The camp was established in 1937 with two directors, Scrubby Watson and Lee Wallick. It was at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, then moved to Arkansas State University at Jonesboro in 1965 before moving to UCA in 1988,” said Dr. Ricky Brooks, president of the DBC board.

Brooks and Church attribute the camp’s success to those who came before them, like President Emeritus Robin Nix, who served 50 years, and David Leonard, Steve Warner, Cathy Williams, and others, who forged the contract with UCA and continue to serve year after year. They also credited board members, the 120 or so band directors and staff it takes to run the camp, UCA Outreach, and a host of others, including UCA President Houston Davis, for the growth and success of the privately owned camp.

Students in the DBC senior camp, first band, rehearse in the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts under the direction of Dr. Michael Hancock.

Students are encouraged to register early for 2025. Registration opens on the DBC website in mid-January. Junior camp is June 9–14, and senior camp is June 15–21. Tuition and scholarship information, history and more are available at destinationbandcamp.com.