SAVANNAH, Ga. - GeorgiaChron -- (SAVANNAH, Ga.) Approximately 800 students this summer have participated in the summer camps that the Savannah Philharmonic has partnered with, in various community center programs.

Two rounds of summer camp are already in the books, having treated students to the documented learning benefits that go along with musical education. Those camps included a partnership with Savannah Horizons, a summer enrichment experience that involved exposing students to stringed instruments and even electronic music. The Savphil also partnered with Georgia Tech at its Savannah facility for a session dubbed "Ceismic Camp," where students learned about sound waves, electronic components of music, and computer coding to produce their own electronic music.

The "Musical Safari" session will expose students to the full range of musical instruments available to them, many of which will be completely unfamiliar to youngsters. These sessions will help students understand their options as they choose a musical instrument to study, explained Amy Williams, executive director for SavPhil.

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"I remember when I was introduced to my instrument for the first time. It really opened up a whole world for me," Williams said.

Students who learn music tend to do better in language arts, math and science, she said, and research shows those students are more likely to graduate. But in addition to those concrete educational advantages, she said, "making music teaches young people a whole new way to experience joy in the world."

The summer camp partnership programming is a natural extension of the Savannah Philharmonic's programs with Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools throughout the school year. Among the many educational programs it offers is the Ben Tucker Musical Instrument Library, which maintains a collection of instruments for loan to ensure that students don't face financial barriers to learning the musical instrument of their choice.

The SavPhil's 2022-2023 season opens Nov. 12 at the Lucas Theatre for the subscription series, which runs through May 6 and is supplemented by several other concert series designed to take the SavPhil into the community as "the soundtrack of Savannah."