Registration Now Open For Hinton Bass Summer Camp For Teens
During the program, students will live, study and take part in multiple performances on Drew's campus.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center will produce the Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass, an exceptional summer music education program for teen musicians (ages 14 through 18) from July 19-25, 2026.
The camp is named for Milt Hinton (1910-2000), a prolific jazz bassist, studio musician and photographer whose career intersected with many of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Unique among music camps, the Institute is designed to support upright and electric bass players of all levels for a week of expert classes, performances, ensemble work, studio sessions, lectures, workshops and more.
The Institute has been produced biennially since 2014. Originally staged at Oberlin University in Ohio, the camp joined forces with NJPAC in 2024. This summer, for its second season in New Jersey, the Institute will be produced by NJPAC and will be in residence at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, where the bucolic campus grounds and modern facilities create an ideal space for young artists to grow and advance their musicianship.
“We are honored to host the prestigious Milt Hinton Institute for Studio Bass throughout Drew University and in our award-winning Concert Hall,” said Dr. Hilary L. Link, President of Drew University. “Hosting young musicians on our campus, where they will discover their artistic potential, aligns with Drew's commitment to the arts and educating the whole person."
During the program, students will live, study and take part in multiple performances on Drew's campus. A concert by Institute students on July 22, 2026, will be open to the public.
Peter Dominguez, acclaimed bassist and Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, serves as the Institute's Artistic Director. “We look forward to fostering a new generation of accomplished and versatile bassists,” said Dominguez, whose own career was advanced when he became one of the first winners of a Hinton Scholarship Competition in 1981. “The Institute aims to nurture creativity, collaboration, and confidence in children through the joy of making music together.”
An extraordinary faculty of professional bassists from across the music world — including Ben Williams, Beth Robins, Bill Crow, Billy Hart, Carly Maldonado, Jennifer Vincent, Edward Perez, Emma Dayhuff, Jeremy Smith, John Kennedy, Luis Perdomo, Marcus McLaurine, Mimi Jones, Sam Suggs, and William Hobbs— will focus camp instruction on bass performance techniques and all-bass ensemble playing in a range of musical genres including classical, Latin and jazz. Notable guest artists from the region are expected to visit with campers as well.
An addition to this summer's camp experience is the loan of Scott LaFaro's Prescott bass to the Institute, thanks to the generosity of the International Society of Bassists. Students will have the rare opportunity to rehearse and perform with this iconic instrument. Built in 1825 by the renowned American luthier Abraham Prescott, the double bass was once owned by the great jazz bassist Scott LaFaro, a native of Newark.
David Berger and Holly Maxson of the Berger Family Foundation, lifelong friends of Hinton's and longtime Arts Center supporters, are once again the lead sponsors of the Institute for Studio Bass. “Having Scott LaFaro's bass at the 2026 Institute will have a profound effect on the young bassists who attend. It offers them a rare opportunity to play an exceptional and valuable instrument that belonged to a jazz legend, but it also gives them a personal way to connect with jazz history and culture,” said David Berger.
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