Musicians of all ages and abilities gathered in Oamaru for the love of music this month.
In its 19th year, the 2015 Waitaki Summer Music Camp attracted musicians from around the country for a chamber music programme between January 8 and 11, followed by an orchestral programme between January 12 and 17.
The camp wrapped up with a public performance at the Waitaki Boys' High School auditorium on Saturday night, where a crowd of about 100 people heard a programme that included Lilburn, Mendelssohn, MacCunn, Handel and Mussorgsky.
Musical director Assoc Prof Peter Adams, of the University of Otago, said the musicians tackled a lot of difficult music in a short period of time.
He told participants they should feel a great sense of accomplishment for what they had achieved.
Many of the camp participants played multiple instruments throughout the evening.
''We have this wonderful talented group of people,'' he said.
Prof Adams said they were indebted to the ''fantastic'' 2015 tutors: Sydney Manowitz (violin), Anne Loeser (violin), Susan Dollin (woodwind), Gregory Hill (brass), Gerald Oliver (viola), Robert Ibell (cello/double bass) and Ruth Brinkman (woodwind).
Each year the camp is held at Waitaki Boys' High School, where it started in 1997. Prof Adams was born in Oamaru.
He has conducted the Southern Sinfonia and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, as well as many other brass bands, and he particularly enjoys working with youth orchestras.
