The Aaron Copland Music and Arts Program, referred to as "ACMAP" and pronounced ack-map, was run by Westchester County in the State of New York. ACMAP was held at Mountain Lakes Camp in Mountain Lakes Park, located in North Salem, New York. The six-week residential program was a combined educational and recreational experience for high school students, later opened to older elementary and middle school students. ACMAP students lived in cabins and also used relatively rustic facilities for their educational activities.
While ACMAP was not intended to be a pure "summer camp," all students were overnight residents and had camp-related duties such as cabin clean-up, area maintenance, and meal set-up and clean-up. Each cabin was inspected daily for cleanliness and safety and those scores were announced at meals. Students were expected to act and perform responsibly as members of the program community.
ACMAP was not officially affiliated with Aaron Copland, but Mr. Copland often visited. ACMAP students also paid annual visits to Mr. Copland's home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York for many years until his advancing age prohibited further encounters.
Although I am not sure of the actual dates, residential ACMAP was already running in the early 1970s, and the last time ACMAP was held was in 1991 or 1992.
ACMAP students applied to and were auditioned for placement in several different fine arts programs. The Major programs included instrumental music, piano, vocal music, theatre, dance and visual art. Minor programs included dance, improvisational acting, theatre scenery, minors through the major programs, and recreational minors such as swimming and lifeguard training.
Here is a selection of the major programs that were available when I attended in 1989 & 1990:
In addition to the residential programs, ACMAP students attended off-site experiences such as the Fiddle Fest at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a Broadway musical (in 1990, we went to see "Les Miserables"), or the free New York Philharmonic concert held on the grounds of Westchester Community College. Traditionally, at least one off-site performance was scheduled to both entertain the public and attract interest for the following year. In 1989 the Wind Ensemble, Orchestra and Chamber Strings performed in Katonah and at Kensico Dam Plaza, and in 1990 the Wind Ensemble and Orchestra performed at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in Ossining.
The Music of ACMAP
It is my estimation that the music we were playing in Orchestra was at least Level V-IV (NYSSMA) and usually higher - at a college or professional level. Each year that I attended we performed at least one complete Beethoven symphony and one short work by Aaron Copland. The Wind Ensemble performed a variety of music ranging from classical adaptations to college or professional level works from standard wind literature. The Vocal Performance majors sang selections from high opera (in a foreign language!) or among the more difficult Broadway pieces. Finally, Piano majors performed four-hand adaptations of major works to hone their solo and accompanying skills.
The Drama of ACMAP
The dramatic arts majors generally performed at least two short plays (drama or comedy) during the season and one larger musical at the end which combined the talents of the vocal majors and dancers. The dance majors usually performed at least one ensemble piece independent of the acting majors, and this piece was developed and choreographed during the season. Some of the visual arts majors assisted with creation of costumes and sets, and selected instrumental music majors also participated. Performances were usually held at the program site.
The Visual Art of ACMAP
Visual arts majors had some of their works displayed off-site during the camp season. Most often they worked on projects during the entire season and displayed their end product(s) on the last day of camp.