MusiCamp at the Dundas West Festival 2016!

MUSICAL PROGRAMMING FOR KIDS AND BY KIDS
ALL IN THE HEART OF THE KIDS ZONE

FREE AFRICAN DRUM & BODY PERCUSSION WORKSHOPS
CRAFTS by KOSA KOLEKTIV
MEET MUSICAMP INSTRUCTORS
LIVE MUSIC BY YOUNG LOCAL PERFORMERS

We are so so so excited to be part of the vibrant Dundas West community that puts on such an amazing festival. MusiCamp is curating the Kids Stage again, providing more workshops, hosting crafts by Kosa Kolektiv and this year we’ll be smack in the middle of the kids stage, located at 1525 Dundas St West, just west of Dufferin.

BODY PERCUSSION WORKSHOP 11:45 am – 12:30 pm

clap handsLed by MusiCamp Director Andrea Kuzmich and aided by young MusiCampers themselves, the event will demonstrate some pieces that use body percussion and then proceed to teach the audience short cells of body percussion that can be built upon each other and layered ontop of each to create some cool grooves.

WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING WORKSHOP 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm

This goes way beyond a drum circle! MusiCamp’s West African Drum instructor Anna Melnikoff will teach workshop participants patterns and licks on djembe (as seen briefly in the video to your left) and the interlocking patterns on the dunun – side-playing drums.
More info can be found on this post.
 

LIVE MUSIC BY LOCAL YOUNG PERFORMERS 11 am – 4:30 pm

BrighidFry At DuWestFest

From 11 am to 4:30 pm the stage, when not presenting percussion workshops, will be filled with live music. This year we welcome back sweet songsters Brighid Fry, The Moir and Tollar Girls, and Rebekah Wise. MusiCampers will also be performing – a host of blue grass tunes and some African American work songs.

And we also have some new performers as well. We are very excited to welcome Young Voices Toronto (formerly the High Park Choir) to the stage YVTwith their Chamber Choir, many of whom live in or so close the Dundas West Community. Be prepared to be inspired by this choir of 8-11 youth, whose sweet voices and sensitive tuning perform music from around the world. We also have songsters Marlowe Dondertman, Lia Ashkenas, and the Rock Band Kingdom of the Birds joining the stage.
 
 
 
 

CRAFTS BY KOSA KOLEKTIV

Kosa craftsMid day, the spirited Kosa Kolektiv will be hosting some folk crafts in the MusiCamp tent, located just next to the stage. They will be also promoting Folk Camp, an all-ages Folk camp in Grafton (on Lake Ontario) where a wide array of workshops will be available – from print, mask, and instrument making, to Georgian, Ukrainian and other forms of singing, to canning and medicinal herb foraging.
 
 

A REMINDER

Don’t forget to bring sun screen, sun hats and water bottles! Also, the Kids Stage is located at 1525 Dundas St W, just West of Dufferin.  WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!

 

The Kids’ Stage at the 2015 Dundas West Festival

The 2015 Dundas West Festival Kids’ Stage featured a fabulous array of performances and workshops for and by kids, including some MusiCampers.

It was the 2nd year of the Kids’ Stage at the Dundas West Festival but the first for MusiCamp’s curatorial role which programmed a drumming workshop and performance, dancers, pop singers, singer-songwriters, full-out bands, a cappella groups and more – all of which featured kids as performers, some as young as 7 years old! The stage was set up just outside of St Helens Church at Dundas and St Clarens Ave. This page is an ongoing work in progress, so check back to learn more about the courageous and talented young performers at the Dundas West Fest.

 

Early morning workshop!
It started early, at 10 am with a West African Drum workshop hosted by MusiCamp’s own Anna Melnikoff. Parents and their children joined MusiCampers from West African Drumming week to explore the wonders of the Mande drumming tradition. Anna covered some basic rudiments and then taught some accompaniment patterns to the song “Aboro Ma.” She also taught some licks in a call & response fashion, as can be seen and heard at the end of this video.
 

  

 

Drum & Song @ Midday
We also learned the chorus to the song “Aboro Ma” so everyone could also sing along. Those who stuck around joined us for the mid-day all-acoustic performance, which you can view in this video.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BrighidFry At DuWestFest

Singer Songwriters
The official stage launched at 11am with the amazing original compositions by the duo Capturing Roses. Another great songster was Brighid Fry (image on left), who not only performed a variety of great original tune but was gracious to go with the flow and split her set in two in order to accommodate others’ time constraints. Other youthful performers were The Overtones, The Tollar and Moir Girls and of course some MusiCampers.

 
 

MusiCampers Below
On the left is a video of campers from Blues week singing the 1970 funky tune “Hand Clapping Song” by the Meters and the video on the right features Luca, a MusiCamp mainstay, performing Pharrell Williams‘ “Happy”.

 

Hipsters Close the Show
Burn Apollo
The Kids’Stage officially ended with the very smooth sounds of Burn Apollo a group of grade 8 hipsters from the neighbourhood.

 

AND THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE IT A SUCCESS!!
It was a wonderful day of music for and by young musicians but it could not have happened without all the help of wonderful and tireless parents and music teachers who inspired and encouraged these kids to make music. Specific acknowledgement must be made to: Robin Mordasiewicz and family who initiated the first Kids’ Stage at the DuWest Fest in 2014; Helder Ramos, whose inspiration and tenacity magically puts form and order to the entire DuWest Fest; and Helder Pereira, who engineered the stage all day!

 

SHARE YOUR PICTURES, VIDEOS & EXPERIENCES!!
It would be great to fill in the missing detail of the day with more pictures, videos and experiences. Reach us through our Contact Page or the “Post A Question or Comment” listed below. All comments and pictures or videos will be reviewed and posted only with the parents/guardians permission