Music students participate in summer music festival

Five Haitian students from Loyola's College of Music and Media spent the summer in Bloomington, Ind., where they participated in the Indiana University Summer Music Festival.

Indiana University Bloomington's Jacobs School of Music welcomed the group along with 42 other talented international students for the summer session. Besides intensive daily classes in English and their instrument of choice, these students will have a chance to shine in the series of choral and orchestra concerts traditionally held in the IU Summer Music Festival.

The group of students from Loyola consist of three violinists, a violist and a trumpet player. Each is enrolled in the second summer session -- two in master's level classes and three in undergraduate courses -- and all will perform in the IU Summer Music Festival.

"The fact they have gotten this far is somewhat of a miracle," said Connie Glen, lecturer and coordinator of the department of music at Indiana University, speaking of the Haitian student program she helped organize. "They are just so dedicated to their art. Working in Haiti, it's very, very hard to be able to come to the USA."