The big red barn on Cobb House road in Middleburg, Virginia, has been a center for farm life for more than one hundred years, but during the summer you're likely to hear the sounds of Broadway music and laughter wafting over the pastures.

For the last eight years Marlene Baldwin has led the family run Baldwin Music Theater Camp to bring the joy of music to the local community. This year Marlene and her son Sean, a New York based actor, choreographer and teacher, welcomed a group of seven to thirteen year-olds.

In her previous career as a music teacher in the Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools, Baldwin, directed an award-winning show choir, which toured in Europe, and the Former Soviet Union. She currently teaches with the Music School of the Piedmont.

For years, Marlene's world has revolved around music and teaching – she is also an accomplished soprano who previously sang in the Washington Choral Arts Society and currently sings with Winchester Musica Viva. After an international sojourn, living with her management consultant husband Jeff in Poland, she returned to the USA and started the music theater camp.

"We are definitely not in it for the money," Marlene says with a laugh. "It is an intensely rewarding experience to watch the kids grow musically and work together to put on a show."

It's evident by the smiles of the campers and the reaction of their parents why it's been such a success. Megan Hasse, age 8, can't sleep at night, because she's so excited about her role in one of the scenes. "I don't think I've ever seen her so passionate about anything," her mother, Vicki says.

Teamwork and gaining performance experience is the focus of the camp . Even the most reticent children get opportunities to sing short solos and recite brief monologues. Each year in advance of the camp the campers get cassette tapes of the songs they will sing.

On the first day they learn what the show will be and begin creating a set. A stall behind the scenery functions as a dressing room and back stage area. Synthesizers, amplifiers and speakers are set up and the process of putting on a show begins. As Sean begins to work with the children on choreography, Marlene rehearses the musical numbers.

Every child receives one on one coaching and tutoring.

In the past the family has been able to draw on local, as well as New York actors and directors to enhance the experience. This year Sean's wife Laurie, a respected director in her own right, designed and created the set, while Mary Ann Gibbons, a local supporter of the arts, created fanciful costumes. The week culminates with a performance for family and friends of the campers.

The music is supplemented with occasional breaks for snacks and cooling off in the pool, where Jeff acts as lifeguard. "The camp is truly a family affair," says Marlene.

And now that her grandchildren are old enough to take part, the camp has taken on new meaning.

"This is my favorite camp of all the camps I've ever done," says Karin Hoelzl, age seven, the Baldwin's granddaughter who lives in Herndon, as two other grandchildren, Aja and Julian, nod in agreement. A lifelong love of music and theater is passed on to a new generation.