MOOSEHEART, IL - There are many sounds of summer at Mooseheart, and many have existed since the campus first took shape some 94 years ago.

But this August, a new sound has been frequently heard late in the afternoon: Marco Namowicz playing clarinet on the steps of the Antoinette Marinello Home.

In sending sweet music into the air, Namowicz is perpetuating the atmosphere he reveled in for six weeks this summer while at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, located in the wooded and lake-filled paradise of northwestern Michigan.

"You hear music everywhere," Namowicz said. "Just walking somewhere, you hear music -- and it's good music."

Namowicz, a Mooseheart High School junior, became the first Child City resident to attend Interlochen when he traveled to the nation's premier youth music camp this summer. The camp concluded Aug. 5.

"I think this is a really good start, more of a beginning," Namowicz said. "It's the beginning of my journey for a career as a musician."

Namowicz experienced a number of things for the first time at Interlochen. Throughout his time at camp, he worked with Sarah Nowlin, an accomplished band instructor from the Cincinnati area who specializes in the clarinet. The two worked extensively one-on-one, providing Namowicz with his first advanced clarinet studies.

"It's been a pleasure to teach him," Nowlin said. "He just wanted to learn and that's what he was at Interlochen for. He wanted to be part of the group and really excel."

Namowicz played in a clarinet quartet and the concluding weekend included a recital in which all woodwind chamber music groups performed.

"The chamber music was really healthy," Namowicz said. "Working in a quartet, you get to know people really well."

There were performances throughout the summer. Namowicz said playing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" brought tears to his eyes.

"I was scared on the way coming up," Namowicz said. "I was kind of nervous. I didn't know if people were going to be friendly. It was also the first time I've had independence for this long in my life. I think it's been a healthy thing and I think I handled it well."

Nowlin heartily concurred that Namowicz excelled in the Interlochen atmosphere. But when he started to play, Nowlin saw some immediate areas in which to make improvements. A new mouthpiece and new reed paid immediate dividends.

"He blew into his instrument and it was wonderful - a wonderful sound," Nowlin said. "His face just lit up. From then on, he was like a sponge."

Nowlin said there are areas in which Namowicz stands apart from many of his peers, and these areas go to the heart of why there has been clarinet music coming from the steps of the Antoinette Marinello Home this August.

"He loves music and he loves the clarinet. He's very curious about it. He desires to learn. A lot of kids here (at Interlochen) have had things handed to them," Nowlin said, indicating that most Interlochen students tend to come from well-to-do families. "Marco's having to explore and find his way. Marco has learned the ability to explore and figure things out."

Interlochen arranged scholarship money for Namowicz so Mooseheart only had to provide transportation to and from the camp. Given his experiences this year, he hopes to return next year. He said he already has the audition pieces for 2008 -- and these, among others, are things he has been playing outside his residence home.

But he still misses Interlochen; the camp is never far from his thoughts.

"The friendships you make here, I know they'll last forever," Namowicz said. "And if these people stay in music, I know I'll see them again."