By Alissa Paolella
Long before it became a summer destination for young musicians from across the country, Friends Music Camp was established as a music program grounded in community life, shaped by Quaker values and designed to support young people both musically and socially.
In 1980, friends Peg Champney and Jean Putnam, members of the Yellow Springs Friends Meeting, created Friends Music Camp as a program rooted in Quaker principles without being formally religious. Since its inception, the camp has prioritized cooperation over competition, pairing daily music instruction with shared meals, group activities and periods of quiet reflection, according to the camp’s website.
The camp, which has been inactive since the pandemic lockdown, is poised to return July 5–19 at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana. The tuition cost is $2,400 per camper, and scholarships are available. The camp welcomes young people ages 10–17 from all backgrounds to make music, learn and grow together in a supportive community rooted in kindness, empathy and inclusion, the camp’s website says.
Carol Simmons, a longtime Yellow Springs resident, current board member and Yellow Springs News village desk editor, said the camp was never intended to focus solely on technical achievement.
“Music is central, but it was never the whole point,” Simmons said. “The goal was to create a community that supported young people as whole human beings.”
Simmons became involved with Friends Music Camp after her own children attended. She later joined the board as a representative of the Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, the regional Quaker organization that has long supported the camp.
“It was transformative for my kids,” she said. Simmons said hearing about similar experiences from other families helped motivate her to support the camp’s long-term continuation.
One of those former campers is Suzanne Hodgkins, Champney’s granddaughter, who now lives just outside of Yellow Springs and attended Friends Music Camp from 1998 to 2005. She said the camp played a significant role in her childhood, particularly during a period when she was experiencing bullying at school.
“If I hadn’t had Friends Music Camp, I don’t know who I would have become,” Hodgkins said. “It showed me that a truly accepting community is possible.”
Hodgkins first attended at age 10, studying piano before later switching her primary instrument to voice. Like all campers, she participated in the all-camp chorus — a structure, Simmons said, that supported the camp’s focus on unity and community building. Personal growth took precedence over rivalry.
“There was no sense of competition,” Simmons said. “Everybody performed. Everybody contributed.”
One consistent element of the camp day was “collection,” a period of silent reflection modeled after Quaker meetings. Simmons said those gatherings reflected the camp’s emphasis on presence and shared responsibility.
“It was about slowing down and being present with one another,” she said.
Hodgkins recalled those moments as especially meaningful.
“During collection, I could feel a palpable divine spirit of love in the room with us,” she said. “It was amazingly powerful for me.”
The same principles shaped how campers interacted outside of music instruction. Activities such as canoe trips, outdoor games and shared responsibilities were structured around consent, respect and accountability.
Over the course of a typical day, campers participate in instrument or voice lessons, ensemble rehearsals and the all-camp chorus. Campers share meals in a communal setting, followed by afternoon activities such as outdoor recreation, service projects or small-group workshops. Quiet periods and reflection sessions, like collection, are interspersed throughout the day to encourage mindfulness and strengthen the sense of community.
Though Friends Music Camp has been held at several locations over the years, its ties to Yellow Springs have remained strong. Annual benefit concerts brought campers and staff back to town, and many alumni later returned as teachers, counselors and volunteers. Simmons said the number of former campers who continued their involvement reflects the program’s influence.
After aging out of the program, Hodgkins spent summers in Yellow Springs while in college, working at the Yellow Springs News in the same bookkeeping role her grandmother once held.
“I didn’t grow up here full time,” Hodgkins said, “but Friends Music Camp is one of the reasons Yellow Springs always felt like home.”
As Friends Music Camp prepares to return this summer, organizers describe the revived program as an opportunity for students to step away from constant digital engagement and spend time in a shared, in-person community.
“If there was ever a time the world needed Friends Music Camp, it’s now,” Simmons said.
While many alumni have gone on to professional music careers, Simmons emphasized that the camp has never defined success solely by musical outcomes.
“Some kids become musicians. Some don’t,” she said. “What matters is that music remains part of their lives — and that they leave knowing they belong.”
For Hodgkins, that lesson has endured.
“I learned that acceptance isn’t just a word or an ideal,” she said, “but that an accepting community really is possible. That is game-changing.”
More information about Friends Music Camp, including its history, mission and current programming, is available at friendsmusiccamp.org, through the camp’s Facebook page or by emailing friendsmusiccamp@gmail.com. Registration is open for students ages 10–17, with early enrollment encouraged.
*Alissa Paolella is a local resident and freelance writer for the News.