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Music and arts day camp celebrating a half-century of creativity
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Kay Stolarevsky, visiting the Founders Room at Chatham College, still teaches piano in her Squirrel Hill home. She remains an adviser to the camp that she founded with her late husband, Mihail Stolarevsky, in 1956.
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Mihail Stolarevsky noticed a dearth of string players in Pittsburgh when he arrived to play viola for the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1945, so 50 years ago this spring, he and his wife, Kay, opened the Chatham College Music and Art Day Camp.
It started as an experiment. Their goal was to provide proper training for young musicians of all kinds while allowing others to explore art forms. Since then, more than 20,000 young people have benefited from the couple's dream.
After Mihail passed away in 1974, his wife, Kay Stolarevsky, took over as director. She stepped down in 1991 but stays active in the camp today as an adviser. This summer nearly 300 children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade have flocked to the hilltop campus in Shadyside to dabble in hip-hop, create cartoons or learn the classics on a harp.
Noted alumni of the camp include actor Jeff Goldblum and brothers Daniel and Todd Phillips of the Orion String Quartet.
Tonight, the camp will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a reunion picnic for campers -- past and present -- and their families. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. on Chatham's campus and will feature music and dance performances. Guitarist Joe Negri, a longtime supporter of the camp, will also perform. More information is available on the Chatham College Web site or by calling 412-365-1148.
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First Published July 19, 2006 12:00 am
