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The Philadelphia International Music Festival is a for-profit intensive classical music training program operating since 1997 in a summer music camp format for musicians ages 8 through 19, taught by principal players and other members of The Philadelphia Orchestra as well as university and conservatory faculty. Since 2020, it has expanded to offer year-round virtual programming and competitions on its online platform, PIMFOnline.

1.	Overview

The festival offers two sessions each summer where students from across the United States and from around the world can attend for one or both weeks. It is also structured to accommodate day campers who choose not to live on-campus.

The program began as the Strings International Music Festival, co-founded by Sandy Marcucci and Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The first camp consisted of 40 young musicians and took place on the Marcucci property in southern New Jersey.

It has grown to a 4-week in-person camp program hosting thousands of young musicians over the years from North America as well as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Macedonia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, St. Martin, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and elsewhere.

Students are divided by age into as many as four divisions with exceptions made for intermediate and advanced students as established by their auditions: the Junior Division (students 8 - 10 years of age), Young Artists (11-13 years of age), the Senior Division (14-19 years of age), and the College and Young Professionals Division (through age 25) known as Music House International.

In recent years the festival home has been the campus of Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs. The COVID-19 pandemic kept PIMF’s programming all-virtual in 2020, but still included a full symphony orchestra program. Bryn Mawr College’s ongoing closure to outside groups due to COVID-19 restrictions led to the festival’s relocation for 2021 to The Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania for in-person training. Hosting day campers as well as live-in students under stringent COVID-19 safety protocols, there were no COVID-19 infections among hundreds of attendees, faculty and staff over 4 weeks.

PIMF has also conducted satellite festival programs in Franklinville, New Jersey; Miami, Florida; and Groznjan, Croatia.

2.	Festival Programs

Young musicians spend their time in private lessons, daily orchestra rehearsals, daily music education courses, optional daily chamber music rehearsals, solo performance and competition opportunities, daily private practice time, faculty recitals and master classes featuring principal players and other members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Electives include conducting, theory, ear training, notation, music business and other topics. Field trips have included Beach Days in Ocean City, New Jersey and performances of The Philadelphia Orchestra at The Mann Center in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

a.	Symphony Orchestra is PIMF’s signature program. Offered at the Junior, Young Artist and Senior level. b.	Solo Performance Preparation. Offered to musicians ages 13 through 19.

c.	Piano Studies Program. Offered at a Junior level (ages 11-13) and a Senior level (ages 14-19.)

d.	Chamber Music Intensive. Open to instrumentalists ages 13 to 19.

e.	College Audition Preparation. Open to instrumentalists ages 13 to 19.

f.	Summer Solo Intensives, focused studio-setting training over 6 days, offered to musicians ages 17-25.

3.	Festival Competitions

a.	Concerto Competition. Musicians must be ready to perform with an orchestra if selected. It includes four age categories (subject to adjustment.)

b.	Duo Concerto Competition. Violinists and cellists compete for the opportunity to perform on stage with a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Festival.

c.	Cunningham Piano Competition. Open to all student in the Piano Studies program. Sponsored by the Cunningham Piano Company.

4.	PIMF Online

In March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States prompted closures across the nation in the midst of preparations for PIMF’s summer camp. Sandy Marcucci immediately redirected the team to build PIMFOnline, a virtual platform to keep young people in lockdown connected to their music, and to each other. On March 23, 2020, its first Master Class via Zoom brought young musicians from around the world and across time zones to their computer screens to watch and learn as Kimberly Fisher assessed and critiqued performances by violinists in the U.S. and China.

As COVID isolation dragged into the summer, PIMF conducted camp online – even its lauded symphony orchestra program – as well as Master Classes and clinics open to music fans everywhere.

PIMFOnline continues year-round with programming that attracts global participants.

PIMF Online Master Classes in 2020 and 2021 have been taught by the following members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic:

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Music Director

Lina Gonzales-Granados, Conducting Fellow

Erina Yashima, Assistant Conductor

Kensho Watanabe, Former Assistant Conductor

David Kim, Concertmaster

Marc Rovetti, Assistant Concertmaster

Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin

Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cello

Ricardo Morales, Principal Clarinet

Jeffrey Lang, Associate Principal Horn

Matthew Vaughn, Co-Principal Trombone

Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal Viola

Dara Morales, Assistant Principal Second Violin

Boris Allakhverdyan, Principal Clarinet, the Los Angeles Philharmonic

PIMF Online offers private online violin instruction with Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra, or Madison Day, Assistant Artistic Director of the Philadelphia International Music Festival in 60-minute segments on an individual basis or as part of a recurring weekly or monthly plan.

In 2020, PIMF Online offered complimentary Practice Intensives hosted by PIMF Assistant Artistic Director, Madison Day, designed exclusively for PIMF 2020 Solo Performance Preparation Program students. Structured along the lines of a conservatory studio class, students played for Ms. Day in front of a "live audience" of their peers and received both individual and group feedback on how to best prepare for future performances.

PIMF Online began hosting Virtual Concerto Competitions in Spring 2020 and the program continues, offering $25,000 in scholarships plus prestigious performance opportunities. Winners in each of four age divisions earn scholarships to PIMF and an invitation to perform in the PIMF Winners Circle Concert with other outstanding soloists, including several members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. The concert is scheduled for June 23, 2022, pending COVID-19 travel restrictions. Grand Prize Winners perform in a Private Recital in Philadelphia and are Featured Performers on the PIMF YouTube Channel. Division Winners may also receive opportunities to perform with local professional symphony orchestras. PIMF coordinates media coverage in local press for Division Winners and Grand Prize Winners along with social media and blog placement in PIMF channels.