The founder of Walker Creek Music Camp, Ingrid Noyes, has passed the baton to longtime picker Michael Bryant, retiring from organizing bluegrass camps across the Golden State for years and the local camp for the past decade. “It’s been a lot of music over all these years and I’m ready to retire,” said Ms. Noyes, a Marshall native who lives in Fort Bragg but returns often to West Marin. The four-day camp requires attendees to have their basic rudiments down for their instrument. Spring and fall sessions have courses for advanced-beginner, intermediate and advanced musicians. Students aged 10 and up learn fiddle, guitar, standup bass, dobro, banjo, vocals, mandolin and more. There are crash courses on rhythm, harmony, music theory, songwriting, jamming and band dynamics. The camp also has beginner classes for children as young as age 4. At a fall session starting Nov. 2, Ms. Noyes will work in the background while Mr. Bryant transitions into his role as director. He has taught guitar at the camp since the beginning, making for a seamless transition, Ms. Noyes said. Growing up in Marshall in the 1960s, the stars aligned for a musically inclined Ms. Noyes. She had her first piano lesson at 4 years old, and by 11 she was teaching herself to play the work of artists like Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary. It didn’t matter if it was plucked, strummed or squeezed, she immersed herself in every new instrument that was given to her. As a teenager, she gave lessons and played in square dances for extra cash, beginning a lifetime career as a musical tutor. Over the years, she’s taught hundreds of people across the Bay Area. In 2001, she was recruited by the California Bluegrass Association to run its summer bluegrass camp in Grass Valley. It was a big job but it helped stabilize her income and focus her efforts. “Between performing, workshops and teaching, it was kind of a constant hustle,” she said. “The music camp provided some stability, and I wouldn’t have to work so hard doing other [freelance] work.” Ms. Noyes ran the camp for 11 years, bringing it to a new level of popularity as enrollment rose. It was such a hit that in 2010, the association asked her to start a wintertime camp. She thought immediately of Walker Creek Ranch, an education and conference center tucked in the hills behind her hometown. For three years she ran both camps, but in 2013 she founded her own camp at Walker Creek, built on the same foundation as its predecessor but expanded to swing, Irish, old country and other traditional styles. “She brings in some top-notch musicians that are really good at teaching different styles. It’s all very effective at bringing any level of musician to have a good time and learn,” said Matt Porter, an Inverness Park member of the Baybillies who’s been teaching at the camp for eight years. “Ingrid’s made this camp into something that’s really awesome—it really goes to show how special she is.” As she inches toward retirement, Ms. Noyes said one of the things she’s looking forward to the most is attending the camp herself. “I’ve been so busy running it that I never got to enjoy it the way everyone else does,” she said. Registration for the next session of Walker Creek Music Camp is open until Oct. 23. For information, go to www.walkercreekmusiccamp.org