Goshen College Piano Camp
Camp Dates: June 14-18 (day camp–stay tuned for details about a potential residential option!)
Registration Deadline: Friday May 8
Tuition: $275 (scholarship available for Reduced/Free Lunch)
Registration Fee: $25 (waived if registering by Friday April 3!)
Age: rising 4th grade through 2026 HS grads
Prerequisite: Current and 2+ years of private piano instruction required
Required Repertoire: Students will bring a polished solo piece to perform
Lunch and snacks are provided!
Calling all piano players! Looking for a summer camp to hone your skills, learn some fantastic piano duets, perform in Goshen College’s Rieth Recital Hall and Elkhart’s beautiful Ruthmere historical home, and make friends with other musicians? Then the 2025 Goshen College Piano Camp is the place for you! Come join us Sunday June 14 through Thursday June 18 for a day camp at the Goshen College Music Center. The camp is hosted by the Goshen College Music Department and the GC Community School of the Arts, and all events on campus will be free and open to the public.
The 2026 Goshen College Piano Camp kicks off on Sunday June 15 with a Faculty Recital, featuring Dr Matthew Hill, and Drs Luke and Mary Rose Norell. Students will have the amazing opportunity to work with Guest Artist Faculty member Dr Elena Cholakova of Emory University, who will present student masterclasses and a lecture-performance demonstration for students. On Tuesday June 16, Strings Guest Artist Dr Solomia Soroka will present a recital. Students will come to camp prepared with a solo piece to perform, but will also be sent a piano duet to learn in advance and perform over the course of the camp. Student performances include a final duet recital in Rieth Recital Hall (June 18), daily masterclass performances for Guest Artist Elena Cholakova or camp faculty, and a special field-trip performance at the incredible Ruthmere historical home in Elkhart (June 17).
Each morning, students will take part in music courses (Music History and Conducting–new for 2026!), have practice sessions, come together for a group discussion session on a piano-related topic, and engage in social activities around campus. The afternoons will consist of studio classes, solo and duet practice time, and special events, such as the Guest masterclass, Guest artist recital, Ruthmere recital and final camp recital.
Tuition is $275, with financial aid available for those who qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch, and a coupon for returning 2025 campers. Lunch in the GC cafeteria and snacks are provided. The Registration fee is $25, but will be waived if registering on or before May 1. The Registration deadline is Monday June 2. Eligibility is rising 4th grade through 2025 high school graduates, with a prerequisite of two years of playing experience and note-reading ability..
Game Room, Ruthmere Mansion located at 302 E. Beardsley Ave., Elkhart, IN .
Guest Artist Faculty - Dr. Elena Cholakova, piano
Bulgarian pianist Elena Cholakova regularly performs in important musical venues in Eastern and Western Europe, South America and the United States. She has given solo recitals at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary, Bulgaria Hall and Sofia Conservatory in Sofia, Bulgaria, Aosta Concert Hall in Aosta, Italy, Fellbach Musicschulle in Fellbach, Germany, Fazioli Salon in Chicago, IL, and more. She has toured the south-east United States as a member of the American Chamber Music Society. Her performances have been broadcasted live on NPR, Atlanta’s – WABE, Chicago’s classical music radio station WFMT, Bulgarian TV and radio stations.
Cholakova’s recent performances include appearances at the acclaimed Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, Weiwuying National Center for the arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Compensar Avenido 68 in Bogota, Colombia, Kaufman Music Center in NY, Bulgaria Concert Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria. Recognizing the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers in the arts, Cholakova has commissioned an album of all new music written by female identifying composers. The project unfolds as series of collaborations and culminating in a recording of the pieces being commissioned.
Other notable collaborations include Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” with conductor Robert Spano in a multi-media production hailed as “one of the most important collaborations of the year”. As a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players, Cholakova has performed in the International Chamber Music Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico as well as Atlanta’s premier Spivey Hall, and has premiered commissioned works by leading American composers. Cholakova has been featured in the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, the Sofia Music Weeks Festival, the International Days of Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and Bulgaria’s premier international chamber music festival Balabanov’s House Music Days.
During the summer, Dr. Cholakova serves on the faculty of the Prague Piano Festival in the Czech Republic and Solinaria Music Festival in Bulgaria. Elena Cholakova is a recipient of Rislov Foundation Scholarship of the University of Michigan, awarded to musicians nationwide, for their high achievements in the field of music. Dr. Cholakova is also a recipient of the Vaughan Williams Foundation grant of the United Kingdom supporting contemporary music written by composers in UK.
Specializing in Chopin’s Preludes, Op.28, she presented a lecture recital at the 3rd World Piano Conference in Novi Sad, Serbia focusing on the different editions of the piece. A dedicated educator, Cholakova holds a special interest in teaching. Her students have won top prizes at numerous national and international competitions.
Dr. Cholakova holds a Doctor of Music and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from Northwestern University. She serves as Director of Piano Studies at Emory University and Director of the Emory Young Artist Piano Competition.