BRING YAMAHA PERCUSSION TO YOUR TOWN

—Music Dealers Invited to Host Yamaha "Sounds of Summer" Instructional Camps—

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (March 11, 2002)—In the summertime, days are long, school is out, and kids can concentrate on the things they love most. For some, it's sports. For some, it's travel. But for many kids in the community, it's music. For many, music is expressed with percussion. Let's face it, kids like to make noise. Yamaha is encouraging its music dealers to be the focal point of that creative energy by hosting a "Sounds of Summer" camp. The camps provide a fun, challenging, and action-packed event where kids learn from some of the best in the business. Hundreds of kids at approximately 35 camps across the US are challenged to improve their percussion abilities.

Yamaha and Nick Rail Music host Sounds of Summer camp.

When local organizations choose to participate in Sounds of Summer, Yamaha covers the fees for one national and one regional clinician, generates publicity for the music store prior to and after the camp session is completed, and provides special pricing and free standard freight on all marching and concert percussion equipment used in the program. Dealers are responsible for arranging facilities, local promotion, additional instructors and other costs.

The program gives a music dealer the chance to stand out in their community as a supporter of music education and the arts. The program provides quality time between the dealer and camp students by building long-term relationships.

"We hold ours late in the summer, just before most school programs start, and a lot of teachers appreciate that," says Nick Rail, owner of Nick Rail Music in Santa Barbara, Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita, CA. "It helps the kids jump-start the school year. And because of the better pricing that Yamaha provides the dealers sponsoring camps, it's certainly allowed us to increase our sales of marching percussion, and it's increased our name recognition around the state."

Rail will hold his 14th annual Sounds of Summer camp this August. "We generally run with two or three nationally known clinicians, then we will augment that with three or four drumline coaches from the area we're doing the clinic in," he says. "We've moved the site around, and it tends to keep the program fresh. Our posture toward any clinic we do is one of community service. Our bottom line is giving back to the community, giving the kids a good experience."

Participants in the camp will enjoy hands-on instruction based on the combined expertise of Yamaha's affiliated artists and teachers, such as James Campbell, Dennis DeLucia, Jeff Moore, Bret Kuhn, and Tom Aungst. Through rehearsals, exercises and etudes, the camp experience combines learning and fun for campers with different ability levels.

"An experience like this is a wonderful way to boost your confidence and skills as a percussion artist," says Sounds of Summer national administrator John Wittmann. "The time away from school gives students a chance to really focus on their art, and the chance to work with top artists means they'll take dramatic results back to school with them in the fall."

"I certainly would encourage other dealers to become involved with this," Rail says. "It works very well for the store and it's a good community project. It's a win for everybody."

For more information, on the Yamaha Sounds of Summer Percussion Camp, contact Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, 3445 East Paris Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49518; call (616) 940-4900; send e-mail to infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.