Brittany Martin, a 15-year-old student at Central Arkansas Christian, relaxes when she plays the flute -- and that's not only when she's practicing an instrumental rendition of rapper Pharrell Williams' hit summer song "Happy" at the Lorenzo Smith Music Camp.
"It's a stress reliever for me," Martin said. "When I'm mad, I play and it makes me feel better."
Martin is one of about 30 students between grades six and 12 who enrolled in the three-week camp in Little Rock that bears the name of acclaimed musician and composer Lorenzo Smith.
Before he died in April at age 66, Smith worked for 15 years as a band director in Little Rock schools. He composed theme songs for several television shows and opened Center Stage Music in 2002 with his wife, Sandra, who now runs the music camp in his name.
He fought sarcoidosis, which is an inflammation of the lungs, for 30 years. But his lungs were especially strong from years of playing his beloved saxophone, Sandra Smith said.
Previously, Lorenzo and Sandra Smith led the camp -- run in partnership with the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center -- as the Mosaic Music Camp.
"The goal of this camp is to get students motivated and excited about music," said Sandra Smith, 65, a former Little Rock School District art teacher.
"There are more scholarships given in music than any other activity."
For three weeks this summer, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., students from different schools filter into an auditorium at the cultural center, which is declared cellphone-free.
They take their seats in a U-shaped formation -- wind instruments in front, drums in the back -- and prepare for hours of playing classical, contemporary and hip-hop music.
Students will perform about eight pieces on the final day of camp, Aug. 8, followed by a reception for family and friends.
This year, $5,000 in grants from Pulaski County, Little Rock and the Ivy Foundation of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority made the camp free for participants, Smith said.
A handful of students, including 13-year-old Dajua Hollis of Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School, had Lorenzo Smith as a teacher.
Dajua, a violinist since first grade, said Smith was an inspiration and role model.
"He would tell me things that nobody else taught me," she said.
"He taught me how to sit properly during a concert; other teachers never showed me that. He showed me how to tune my instrument, when other teachers did it for me. He didn't take less than what he expected of you."
Smith was known as a stickler by his students, but they respected him for it. That same mentality governs the camp.
When the camp's co-director, Henry Scott, raised the conducting baton, students jolted into playing position after slouching in their chairs.
Scott, the band director at Mabelvale Middle School, made students play the beginning to the classical piece "A Little Handel Suite" until they had it down perfectly.
"The notes are not slurred," he yelled over the sounds of flutes, clarinets, violins, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, French horns and drums.
The other co-director, Tony Lockhart, the band director at Dunbar Magnet Middle School, played his tuba along with the students.
Playing with the children is one of Lockhart's favorite parts of camp.
"Music is one of the most vital aspects of young people's lives," said Lockhart, who taught under Smith for a year at Dunbar.
"It helps them with relaxation and gives them peace of mind. It helps with forming their overall character and showing them that they can accomplish anything."
Metro on 07/28/2014