Dorothy Gates, senior music producer for the Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory, speaks with SAConnects about her favorite Irish town, Cuban Salvationists, and how music can be a form of expression that transcends words. Since I was 13, I’ve been writing music*. One of my earliest musical memories was taking John Lennon songs and turning them …

We arrived at Star Lake Camp on Thursday evening ready for a long night of practice and putting together the final touches for our long anticipated trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania. We had been invited to join in a ten year celebration of the Corps at Worthington Woods, stopping by Aliquippa on the way to …

Vocal music in the Eastern Territory took a step forward when the Eastern Territorial Songsters, under the leadership of Gavin Whitehouse, hosted the first ever Singing Stars over Columbus Day Weekend at the Star Lake Lodge and Conference Center in Bloomingdale, N.J. Singing Stars was modeled after the Future All-Stars which, for years, has brought …

Star Lake Musicamp has long been one of the pillar events for the USA Eastern Territory and a place where people have come to improve their musical skills, spend time in fellowship and learning and growing in the word of God. This year Star Lake Musicamp (SLMC) turned 80 years old and the same expectations …

WHEN DID YOU START TO PLAY AND WHO TAUGHT YOU? One Christmas when I was three and a half my grandfather [Roland] gave me a battered Bandmaster cornet; this meant that I could copy my dad and brother playing the cornet. When I was seven, lessons began officially; my dad taught me cornet and Marjorie …

Salvation Army composer Andrew Mackereth and his wife, Stella, have been to U.S. music camps before, but this summer was their first trip to picturesque Star Lake. And you might say they liked what they saw. “I’ve been impressed with the quality of the facilities and the quality of the musicianship,” Andrew says. “I absolutely …

When Star Lake Musicamp rolls around each summer, Ian Wettlaufer looks forward to a week of honing his tuba skills and seeing old friends and acquaintances. “I come because is it all fun and a place to be with your family,” he says. “The Christian family is really important here. It’s a big aspect and …

Dan Wajda says his favorite part of playing with Summer Brass was the group’s trip to the Old Orchard Beach (OOB) Camp Meetings. The band performed each night at the busy Pier as vacationers stopped to watch, an experience that was “very special” for Wajda, who plays the cornet at the Schenectady, N.Y., Corps. “You …

Profile Night has been a staple event in the Greater New York (GNY) Division for thirty-six years and has celebrated composers from all parts of the world. Legends that have been featured in the past include Eric Ball, Ray Steadman-Allen, William Himes, Kenneth Downie and so many more. If you look at the list, it …