Community Arts academy
gene marcus piano camp & Festival
Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo
founder and director
June 8-13, 2025
The Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival aims to inspire young pianists to reach their potential in piano study and performance and to strive for artistic excellence. Students are immersed in the art of playing the piano through workshops, masterclasses, and other group sessions as well as daily individual lessons, guided practice, and ensemble playing, with the goal of promoting excitement about the process of music making throughout the year. Daily evening activities include performances by guest artists and faculty in addition to a final student recital for all participants.
The camp is open to intermediate through advanced pianists in grades 8–12 (as of spring 2025) who are interested in improving their playing and performance. It includes both a residential and a commuter option; applications from students residing anywhere in the US or abroad are accepted.
All camp activities take place at the Purdue Fort Wayne Music Center, on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne. The attractive music building is home to the PFW School of Music and provides an ideal learning environment, including excellent rehearsal spaces, studios, and performance halls.
Recitals and masterclasses are held in Rhinehart Recital Hall, an acoustically superb performance venue. Ample practice facilities are available, including a number of rooms equipped with grand pianos.
Camp options
Our camp can accommodate your needs.
- Full residential camp: Includes all camp activities, five nights’ lodging (Sunday–Thursday nights), dinner Sunday–Thursday, and lunch Monday–Friday.
$550
- Commuter camp: Includes all camp activities, lunch Monday–Friday and dinner Sunday–Thursday.
$450
Piano camp students who choose the residential option will stay in Purdue University Fort Wayne campus housing during the camp week. They will be housed together under the supervision of a resident assistant at a ratio of no more than 10 students to one resident advisor. Resident assistant staff members are front-line personnel who serve as resource persons, facilitators and advisors for activities within the community. They are responsible for maintaining community standards and safety, performing administrative tasks, and developing a sense of community.
Purdue Fort Wayne student housing offers furnished suites that include sleeping, living and kitchen facilities. Upon registration, students will be sent a checklist of items to bring for the camp week. Residential campers will be sharing an apartment suite. This means that each student will have their own bedroom, but will be sharing a bathroom with another student.
All piano camp students will have snacks and two meals a day included in their fee. Meals are served in the Purdue Fort Wayne Music Center or the campus dining hall. Residential campers also will receive breakfast items to take to their campus apartments.
Piano camp students will be supervised at all times. The resident advisor will provide evening supervision from dinner through the start of the first morning activity, ensuring all students are accounted for and present at the conclusion of each camp day. The camp director and faculty/staff will supervise students throughout the camp day and at any evening activities that take place.
Merit-based Scholarships
Merit-based camp scholarships are available, covering 10% to 50% of tuition costs. Scholarships are competitive and determined by audition. To apply, fill out this form and include video recordings of two or more contrasting works (recorded within the past six months), with at least one being memorized. Earlier submissions receive priority consideration.
Note: Participants in the 2025 Gene Marcus Piano Competition who wish to be considered for a camp scholarship do not need to send a recording but should send a completed application.
Need-based Scholarships
We also have a small number of need-based scholarships available. If you are interested in a need-based scholarship, please contact CAA director Molly Papier at 260-481-6059 or mpapier@pfw.edu.
ReGISTRATION AND schedule
Register now!
Registration is a two-step process:
1. Pay for class. 2. Register student with Purdue's Minor Protection Portal.
Email mpapier@pfw.edu with questions.
2025 Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival Schedule
Sunday
- 3–5 p.m. | Check in at Purdue Fort Wayne Student Housing (for residential campers only)
- 5:30–7:30 p.m. | Welcome and opening performance by camp faculty, followed by orientation and dinner
Daily Schedule, Monday–Thursday
- 8–9 a.m. | Practice rooms available
- 9–11 a.m. | Masterclasses and interactive group sessions, individual lessons and guided practice (Note: Tuesday guest artist masterclass until 12 noon)
- 11 a.m.–noon | Individual lessons and guided practice (except Tuesday)
- Noon–1 p.m. | Lunch
- 1:15–3:15 p.m. | Individual lessons, keyboard musicianship classes, ensemble and guided practice
- 3:15 p.m. | Break
- 3:30–5 p.m. | Special sessions in piano-related topics (may include performance preparation, practice techniques, historical keyboard instruments and performance practice, etc.)
- 5–7:30 p.m. | Dinner and free time
- 7:30 p.m. | Recitals
Friday
- 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. | Schedule as above
- 3:30 p.m. | Nature walk (weather permitting), snack and recital preparation
- 5:00 p.m. | Final student recital
2025 Featured Guest Artist
TJ Lymenstull
Pianist Thomas Lymenstull has been heard on WFMT Chicago, the Voice of America, and National Public Radio, and has appeared with the Kronos Quartet and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Lymenstull was first prizewinner in the Joanna Hodges (now Virginia Waring) Piano Competition and the Fresno Philharmonic Rotary Young Artists Competitions, and was a prizewinner in several other national and international competitions.
Dr. Lymenstull has appeared as guest artist, masterclass teacher, or competition judge in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam, and in over 25 cities in China. In 2023 was the first American pianist after Covid to give masterclasses at the Shanghai and Sichuan conservatories and the Shenzhen Arts School. He has also appeared and performed at the Shanghai International Piano Festival, Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and Montecito Music Festival.
As Instructor of Piano at Interlochen Arts Academy, Lymenstull built a class of outstanding students from around the US and the world. His students have won national and international prizes in the US and China, and continued their studies at top conservatories and music schools in the US and abroad. This Fall he has retired from regular teaching at the Academy, but continues to perform and give guest masterclasses.
Dr. Lymenstull has degrees in piano from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Southern California, and studied both piano and conducting as a Fulbright Fellow in Vienna, Austria.
Camp faculty
Susan Dorion
Susan Dorion has lived in Fort Wayne for 22 years. Mrs. Dorion received her Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Michigan State University and her Master of Music in piano performance from New England Conservatory of Music.
Camp faculty
Christine Freeman
Christine Freeman has been a music teacher and accompanist in the Los Angeles and Fort Wayne areas for over 30 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from California State University at Northridge (CSUN) where she studied with artist in residence Jakob Gimpel and Françoise Regnat, and her Master of Music in piano performance from Butler University, where she studied with Panayis Lyras.
Camp faculty
Dr. Hamilton Tescarollo
Since his debut with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), pianist Hamilton Tescarollo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. Dr. Tescarollo serves as Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue Fort Wayne and as Instructor of Piano at Interlochen Arts Camp. He is the founding director of both the Gene Marcus Piano Competition and the Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival.
Camp faculty
Dr. Jonathan Young
Jonathan Young is an active pianist, composer, teacher, conductor, and accompanist. He recently earned a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance at the University of Kansas, studying with Dr. Steven Spooner. Career highlights include working as coach/accompanist at Opera in the Ozarks in Summer 2018, attending the Bel Canto Summer Academy in Germany as a collaborative pianist in 2016, and performing solo piano at Haydn’s Esterhazy Palace in Austria through the Classical Music Festival in 2013.
Sponsors
The Gene Marcus Piano Camp is funded in part by the Gene Marcus Endowment, which was created specifically for that purpose. The camp also is sponsored by the Purdue Fort Wayne School of Music and relies on additional contributions to make it possible. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please call at (260) 481-6059 or mpapier@pfw.edu. Opportunities include establishing a scholarship or contributing to the general operating budget of the camp. All donations are tax deductible and will be recognized in the camp brochure (unless specified otherwise by the donor).
Wilda "Gene" Marcus (1927–2005) was a lifelong piano teacher and enthusiastic supporter of all the arts. She held several degrees, including Bachelor of Music in Piano with Honors from Indiana University, Bloomington, 1950; and a Masters of Music in Piano with Distinction, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1951. She was a public school music teacher and later was associate faculty of piano at IPFW from 1968 to 1986. She taught privately and hundreds of piano students of all ages, accompanied many soloists, and was pianist in numerous ensembles throughout her 60-year career. Her extensive involvement at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre included rehearsal pianist and music director for numerous musicals. She was a former member of Morning Musical Society and patron of Fort Wayne Civic Theater. She was president of Northeast Indiana Music Teachers Association, a member of Sigma Alpha Iota (Music Honorary Society), and Patron of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. She was given the 1994 Teacher of the Year Award by the Indiana Music Teachers Association.