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Cordova 4H Music Camp 2011

Welcome!
The Cordova 4H Music Camp offers young people an opportunity to explore a diverse range of traditional acoustic music styles in a supportive and encouraging environment. Throughout the week, students will engage in four classes during the day, one of which will be performing at the end of camp, in addition to family events that are held around town. Special guests artists, as well as local Alaskan musicians teach classes. This is a great event to foster new friendships and old, and bring the enjoyment of playing music into your life!

Registration
Camp is open to students ages 9-18. Hawaiian Camp is open to ages 6-8. Online registration and payment, as well as downloadable forms that you may print out and mail in, are available here. Your schedule and other pertinent information will be emailed to you a week prior to camp, but you must also check in on the first morning of camp to pick up your name tag, songbook, schedule, and other information. A completed Registration Form, signed Release Form, and 4H Code of Conduct Form, as well as payment, are all due by Friday, June 28th.

Hawaiian Camp
Ages 6-8. Students will engage and learn about Hawaiian culture through music. Ukulele introduction and instruction, hula instruction, Hawaiian arts and crafts, culminating in a final performance of songs and dance from Hawaii. Campers learn about Hawaiian food and culture and the Aloha Spirit.

If you are mailing in a form, please mail completed forms with payment to:
Cordova 4H Music Camp
P.O. Box 1053
Cordova, AK 99574

Class Choices
Please view Class Choices by clicking here. Please note that there are a number of classes listed just for Cordova Camp Students.

Tuition
Tuition is $250 if paid in full before June 7th. If paid after June 7th, tuition is $275.

Instruments
Students are welcome to use our Camp Instruments while at camp, or bring their own. We are very careful about instrument care at camp, and one of these aspects includes keeping instruments well labeled. When students arrive at camp, there is an Instrument Tagging Station where students may label their instruments and cases. Please remember to label the instrument, case, bow, and shoulder rest. There will also be a volunteer there to help. The tagging system works like this: On one side you will put your name. On the other side you may put one of two options. If you are not loaning your instrument, write “No”. If you are loaning your instrument, write a “Yes” and put a numbered sticker/s for which Block/s the instrument is available for loan. For example, if your instrument is available for loan during Block 1 and 3, please put a "1" and a "3" sticker on the tag. Please allow us to help you with the Instrument Tagging by tagging the instrument at camp, and not at home. Tags, stickers, and pens will be available at the Instrument Tagging Station. Again, there will be a volunteer there to help, so you can direct any questions to them when you arrive at camp. After camp, students that live in Cordova may have the opportunity to rent instruments for the year, for a small fee.

Closed Campus Policy
We have a closed campus policy meaning students are to be signed out at the end of the day. On the Release Form, parents may choose to not sign their child out, which means the child may leave camp without a parent signature after the day ends. If a parent indicates that they would like to sign their child out, they must come inside and sign the child out each day, or provide a handwritten note at the beginning of the day. If no ones signs a child out, Cordova 4H Camp calls the parents around 4:30pm. We do NOT require a sign-in for the morning as we take roll each day and a phone call is made to the parents if there is a child absent. If you would like to call in a student absent before or during camp, please contact Kate at 907.350.2562.

Students 13 and older may choose, with parent permission, to leave campus during lunch. They must have permission from a parent, and must sign in and out for lunch. Students must return to class on time. Parents may give permission through the “Additional Comments” section on the online form, on this form, or with a handwritten note or phone call on the first day of camp.

Students from Hawaiian Camp are dismissed at 3pm, but may choose to stay with parent permission until 4pm to join the 4H Music Camp for Afternoon Activities. Staff will bring Hawaiian Camp Campers over to 4H Music Camp, and back over to Hawaiian Camp at 4pm for pickup.

Faculty
We are excited to announce that Front Country, from San Francisco, will be coming to Cordova 4H Music Camp for their first time: Adam Roszkiewicz on mandolin, Yoseff Tucker on guitar, Zach Sharpe on bass, and Leif Karlstrom on fiddle. In addition to these great guest artists, we have also selected some of Alaska’s best musicians to join us: Kalia Yeagle, Emily McLaughlin, Garren Volper, Alyssa Kleissler, Joan Songer, and Patty Hamre. Our new Hawaii Camp Director is none other then Keoki Kahumoku (5-time Grammy winner), who runs a Hawaiian cultural camp near Hilo, HI. He will be joined by Tiffany Crossen, also from Hawaii, and Hanna Nowicki and Lindsey Ashton. Kate Hamre, formerly of Bearfoot and director of Bluegrass Camps for Kids, will be continue to be our Camp Director this year, as well as assist Keoki with the Hawaiian Camp. Our Adult Camp staff includes Belle Mickelson, Angela Oudean, Tyson Alteri, and Fred Weiz.  For more information on our staff, including bios and pictures, please see below.

Location
The Cordova 4H Music Camp will be centrally located at Mt. Eccles Elementary School, 201 Adams St, as well as other locations around town. Hawaiian Camp will be located at St. Joseph’s Parish, 220 Adams St. Details on other locations will be on student’s schedules, as well as available at camp.

What to Bring to Camp
Please bring your instruments, water bottle, a coat or rain gear, and a white t-shirt in your size for the tie-dye Afternoon Activity. Lunch is provided by the Cordova School District, but you are welcome to bring your own. Students are expected to be responsible and prepared for every class: bring their instrument and songbook to each class, and tune their instrument, or if they are still learning how to tune, bring it to the Instrument Table to be tuned by a volunteer.

Daily Schedule
Monday through Thursday:
9:00am–10:00am Registration (First Morning Only)
9:30am – 10:00am – Morning Activity
10:00am – 11:00am – Class 1
11:00am – 12:00pm – Class 2
12:00pm – 12:45pm – Lunch
12:45pm – 1:45pm – Class 3
1:45pm - 3:00pm – Band Practice
3:00pm – 4:00pm – Afternoon Activity

Friday’s Schedule: (Both Camps)
9:30am - 10:15am - Class 1
10:15am - 11:00am - Class 2
11:00am - 11:45am - Class 3
11:45am - 2:00pm - Lunch & “Bands Around Town” (Lunch provided by school cafeteria)

Morning and Afternoon Activities are a variety of all-campus activities, in which students get to meet and interact with their fellow campers doing activities such as jamming, square dances, blackboard concerts, performance workshops lead by the guest artists, and sing-a-longs. Hawaiian Campers are welcome to join with parent permission.

“Bands Around Town” is an opportunity for the bands to travel around town to play their performance songs and other jam tunes for tourists and the lunch hour crowd. Donations to the bands will be given to the camp to help for next years’ expenses: new instruments, fixes to older instruments, new strings and picks, songbooks, etc. The Cordova Music Camp Board will select locations for each band, which will be listed at camp and on students’ schedules.

Morning Activities:
Mon.- Registration and Sing-a-long
Tues. - Square Dance or Sing-a-long/Jamming
Wed. - Square Dance or Sing-a-long/Jamming
Thurs. - Square Dance or Sing-a-long/Jamming

Afternoon Activities:
Mon. –Tie Dye Shirts (*See Below)
Tues. – Band Workshop with Front Country and Keoki Kahumoku
Wed. – Camp Picture THEN Jamming or Blackboard Concert or Hawaiian Class
Thurs. – Jamming or Blackboard Concert or Hawaiian Class

*Tie Dye Shirts – Please bring your own white t-shirt in your size. Tie-dye materials will be supplied. You will be tie-dying shirts with your band and counselor.

Hawaiian Camp
Schedule:
9:30am – Aloha Morning Circle
10:00am – Snack
10:15am – Hula Instruction
11:00am – Class 1 – Ukulele/Arts and Crafts
11:30am – Class 2 – Ukulele/Arts and Crafts
12:00pm – Lunch
12:45pm – Return to Camp
1:00pm – Class 3 – Instrument Instruction/Arts and Crafts
1:45pm – Hawaiian Culture Class
2:30pm – Aloha Afternoon Circle
3:00pm – Dismissal
3:00pm-4:00pm –Students may choose to join the Big Kids camp for the Afternoon Activity with parent permission. Staff will bring Campers over to the other camp, and bring them back at 4pm for pickup.

Friday: Hawaiian Campers will participate in “Bands Around Town” with 4H Music Campers.

Family Events
Family activities are held in the evening during the camp, and are a big part of the Cordova Camp community!! Further details, including locations, times, staff, etc, will be listed on the students’ schedules.

Monday – Staff Concert at Mt. Eccles Elementary - 7pm – 8:30pm
Tuesday – Squirt Gun Battle and Potluck at Skater’s Cabin – 6pm – 8pm
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Square Dance at Mt. Eccles Elementary - 7pm - 8:30pm
                 Teen Jam at Baja Taco - 8pm - 9pm (13 yrs and older)
Friday – Camp Concert at Mt. Eccles Elementary – 6pm – 9pm
             Hawaiian Camp - 6pm - 6:30pm
             Dance Recital - 6:30pm - 7:00pm
             Camp Concert - 7pm - 9pm

Volunteering
We have many opportunities for parents to volunteer and become involved in the camp. You may choose to sign up on this registration form, online when you register, or anytime during camp. Someone will contact you to confirm, as well as put your name on the Volunteer Board located at camp. When you arrive at camp, please find Kate or Kathy to receive your job duties.

Camp Volunteer Jobs include:
● Preparing for Camp (up to a month before camp) – Print and bind songbooks, shop for camp supplies, make nametags, put schedules in books, collect donated instruments and food, put up posters around town and school, promotion and marketing as needed by Board, put together mailers
● Camp Set-Up (2pm-5pm, Sunday) – Put schedules in songbooks, set up chairs and rooms, tune and tag instruments, set up Stations for Registration, help move instruments to appropriate rooms
● Registration (9:00am Monday) – Manage a Registration Table, welcome students and parents to camp and direct to Stations, hand out schedules to teacher after being printed
● Morning Caretaker (9:30am- 1:30pm, Each Day) and Afternoon Caretaker (1:30pm-5:00pm, Each Day) – There can be different volunteers for each time slot. Jobs include: keep camp area secure, help students to class, help students and teachers find instruments, make photocopies for teachers as needed, answer parent questions, gather band names and band songs for Camp Concert Program, make and print Camp Concert Program, make sure students sign out at the end of the day, supervising lunch area, help to prepare lunch for teachers, cleaning teacher lounge if needed, make sure coffee, tea, and water are available for teachers, etc.
● Lunch Duty (12:00 - 12:45pm, Each Day) – Supervise lunch area
● Evening Family Events – Depends on which evening you sign up for, but duties can include: setting up chairs, sweeping, helping to set up the sound system, grilling food for the potluck, supervising students, etc.
● Bands Around Town (11:45pm-2:00pm) – Help escort or drive bands to their Bands Around Town locations, take pictures for the Cordova 4H Music Camp
● Concert Set-Up (5pm,Friday)Set up chairs, help with sound system if needed, pass out programs, welcome parents
● Camp Clean-Up (2pm, Friday) – Put away chairs, vacuum, take down signs, collect teacher supplies, put instruments in cases and take them back to where they belong, etc.
● Concert Clean-Up (After concert, Friday) – Put away chairs, mop floor, etc.

We would also appreciate donations of fish, meat, or veggies (fresh or frozen) for staff meals. If you would like to donate any of these items, please indicate so on the Registration Form.

Adult Workshops
In conjunction with the Cordova 4H Music Camp, we will be hosting Adult Workshops during the week for all instruments and levels. For more information, please call Belle Mickelson at 907.424.5143. You may also register and pay on this website.

Schedule:
12:45pm - 1:45pm - Class 1
1:45pm - 3:00pm - Jamming Class
3:00pm - 4:00pm - Class 2
4:00pm - 5:00pm - Class 3

Class Choices are listed here. Instead of Band Class, everyone will be participating in Jamming Class.

Tuition for the Adult Workshop is $200 full-time, and $100 for half-day (3pm-5pm) for Early Bird Prices (before June 7th), and $225 full-time, and $125 for half-day after June 7th.

Skype Private Lessons
If you would like to set up private lessons via Skype pre- or post-camp, please register here.

Additional Questions
Email: cordovabluegrass@gmail.com
Phone: Kathy Zamudio 907.424.3111 or Kate Hamre 907.350.2562



Faculty

Tyson Alteri - adult camp: guitar, mandolin

Inspired by the music in his household while growing up Tyson learned to play along with the greats in his parent’s record collection. His uncles and played the blues and jazz, his grandfather country, and folk music. His grandmother went to Julliard to sing opera. He got his first guitar when he was 10 and has been playing ever since. He studied music in his hometown of Corning, NY at 171 Cedar Arts and at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He started focusing on Bluegrass and other American genres of acoustic music while finishing his Bachelor's degree at the University of Alaska Anchorage. There he met many amazing musicians/friends that played a role in directing and his musical interests. While living in Alaska he traveled abroad to study Flamenco in Southern Spain and Son Cubano in Cuba. From there he moved to San Francisco to peruse a career in music. He was a founding member in San Francisco's award winning original bluegrass band 49 Special. Most notably they won the RockyGrass Bluegrass band contest in 2009 and were added to the list of Rockygrass contest winners such as the Steep Canyon Rangers, Town Mountain, and Greensky Bluegrass. 49 Special opened the festival in 2010. 49 Special cut their first record of original material in 2009. They also played in a number of California festivals including the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival in Grass Valley. Due to musical differences and a number of opportunities for the individual band members in 49 Special they disbanded. Promptly thereafter Tyson moved to Nashville and is currently in the process of finishing a new album with his new unit The Hot StrAngs. He sings and plays a 1956 Martin D-28 guitar with The Hot StrAngs.

Lindsey Ashton - Hawaii camp

Tiffany Crossen - Hawaii camp

Tiffany Crosson has been playing 'ukulele since the 3rd grade and loving music since before she was born. A seventh-generation kama'aina, or resident of Hawai'i, Tiffany was born on O'ahu and raised in Honoka'a on Hawai'i Island. She graduated from the University of Hawai'i at Hilo with a bachelor's degree in Art in 2003. For the past 3 years she has served on the board of the non-profit organization The Center for Hawaiian Music Studies, of which she is now CEO. The Center focuses mainly on providing the at-risk and impoverished youth of the rural and economically challenged district of Ka'u with various music and Hawaiian culture-related opportunities, classes and activities. She helps coordinate free weekly 'ukulele classes and numerous workshops and events throughout the year involving learning how to play 'ukulele, slack-key guitar, hula, lauhala weaving, lei making and more. For Tiffany, perpetuating the culture of Hawai'i and passing on knowledge to the youth is crucial, and a huge part of her life.

Kate Hamre - director

Kate grew up in Anchorage, Alaska listening to her parents and friends play bluegrass, old tyme, and folk music. At the age of 14, she joined Bearfoot, a nationally touring band, and played festival such as Merlefest, Greyfox, Wintergrass, Rockygrass, and Telluride to name a few. As a Compass recording artist, Bearfoot cut their 4th album, called "Doors and Windows" in April 2009, which quickly rose to #1 in the Billboard Bluegrass Charts. Kate is also the director of the renowned bluegrass music education program, "Bluegrass Camps for Kids", which has taught thousands of children internationally in the last decade. Kate has a B.S. in Elementary Education through the University of Idaho and is currently obtaining a M.A. in Elementary Education at San Francisco State University. She is teaching Kindergarten in San Francisco at a private girls school, The Hamlin School, after leaving Bearfoot in April 2010.

Patty Hamre - square dance, guitar, vocals

Patty Hamre has fond memories of when Belle first started the Cordova 4-H Music Camp. “I remember getting off the ferry at 6 AM and there was a mom from interior Alaska with her four children all carrying instruments~ and a baby in a stroller! I loved how enthusiastic Belle was (and still is) about teaching every single child the love of playing. The camp is so child centered and I love that!" Patty currently teach First Grade in Anchorage, and has taught at the Alaska City Folk Arts Camp for about 14+ years, and also in Cordova. Patty and her husband played in a dance band called “Anchor Steam” 12 years, and she started calling dances with the love of old-time music and movement. Her kids, Kate and Peter, have both made the Alaskan community of musicians a focus for their own friendships and personal growth. "I’m a budding old-time banjo player and am looking to make 'one new friend' as I enter into camp life this year."


Keoki Kahumoku - Hawaiian camp: ukulele, slack-key guitar

Recording artist Keoki Kahumoku is a fifth generation slack-key guitarist, ‘ukulele performer, and teacher with deep roots in Hawai‘i. He shares his passion for Hawaiian music and culture through performances and lessons, both in Hawai‘i and on the mainland, as well as at the Kahumoku ‘Ohana Music and Lifestyle Workshop on the Big Island of Hawai‘i every November. Keoki has appeared on five slack-key compilation albums that have gone on to win Grammy awards in the Hawaiian Music category and captures the hearts of his audience with his storytelling and easy manner wherever he performs. His non-profit Center for Hawaiian Music Studies provides music instruction and cultural opportunities to local youth. You can visit his website by clicking here.

Leif Karlstrom - fiddle, mandolin

Leif Karlstrom has been playing violin since age five. Except for an excursion into punk rock (playing guitar) with the New Mexico band the Baked Potatoes, he played and studied classical music through college, graduating with a violin performance degree from the University of Oregon. He moved to the Bay area in 2006, and has since become a part of the roots music scene there, playing, touring and recording with a number of groups including Front Country, The Heel Draggers, Misisipi Mike and the Midnight Gamblers, Eric McFadden, Jimbo Trout and the Fishpeople and the Jenny Kerr Band.


Alyssa Kleissler - dance

Alyssa Kleissler started dancing when she was 3 years old in her hometown studio in Union, NJ. Encouraged by her dance teacher, she completed the Dance Teacher’s of America summer intensives in NYC and began teaching at the studio when she was 16 years old. Although she didn’t major in dance in college, she continued to take classes in ballet, tap, jazz and modern dance. At 23 she joined the group Up With People and traveled around the country and the world as one of the lead dancers. Upon moving to Cordova, AK, where there was no dance going on other than on the barroom dance floor, she decided to open her own dance business, then called Cordova Danceworks. She has remained in Cordova, now teaching all styles of dance to all ages out of her home studio, Current Rhythms. Before she became a mom of 2 girls, who so far LOVE to dance, she enjoyed going to dance intensives. She has gone to the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, studied with Anne Green Gilbert in Seattle, WA and attended the Bill Evans’ Dance Teacher’s Intensive in Bellingham, WA.

Emily McLaughlin - guitar, vocals

Belle Mickelson - adult camp director & fiddle


Hannah Nowicki - Hawaii camp

Hanna Nowicki graduated in 2012 from Punahou School in Honolulu and is currently a sophomore at Middlebury College. She has been a lifelong summer resident of Cordova and has been attending the Cordova 4H music camp since she was 6 years old. Hanna was a ukulele camp counselor in 2010 and has been a teacher at ukulele camp since 2011. She has been dancing hula since she was 5 years old and enjoys playing the guitar, bass, and ukulele.

Angela Oudean - adult camp: fiddle, vocals

Angela grew up in Anchorage, Alaska with a family of musicians. She learned to play the fiddle and guitar by taking lessons, attending acoustic music camps for kids, listening to CDs, and watching her family and friends play. When she was 16, she became a part of Bearfoot and began to get more serious about playing bluegrass fiddle after traveling and performing more than she had ever done before. After graduating high school, she decided to attend East Tennessee State University and their Bluegrass and Country Music Program where she learned from Jim and Jesse band member Raymond McLain and Bill Monroe band member Tater Tate. While in Johnson City, Angela played fiddle with the ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band, and a prominent local group called the Everybodyfields and played fiddle on their CD entitled "Plague of Dreams" (2006). She also played fiddle on Warner Bros. recording artist Megan McCormick's first solo CD ("Runaway") 2005, and received an IBMA award for Recorded Event of the Year for her work on Daughter's of Bluegrass's "Back to the Well" project in 2006. In the spring of 2006 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and became one of the first people in the world to receive a minor in bluegrass. When she returned to Alaska after college for a couple of years to visit her family and friends, she was honored to be featured on Alaska music legend Joe Page's solo mandolin album entitled "Alaska Mando" (2007) and then also record with popular Alaska performing and songwriting artist Todd Grebe on their original honky tonk album entitled "Cold Country" (2008).  

Adam Roszkiewicz - mandolin, guitar, sound, recording studio

Based in the Bay Area, Adam performs Bluegrass, Country, folk, new acoustic music, and Classical music on guitar, mandolin, and mandocello. Adam has performed at festivals around the world including the Icicle Creek music festival in Washington, the Mozart festival in San Luis Obispo, the Blue Highways festival in Utrecht, Holland, the Singer Festival in Warsaw, Poland and the Hardly-Strictly-Bluegrass festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Adam currently plays with the Bluegrass band Front Country, the Modern Mandolin Quartet (who were recently nominated for a Grammy Award), and is a member of the Ger Mandolin Orchestra. Adam has also performed with AJ Roach, Ana Egge, Rachel Ries, Anais Mitchell, Michelle Shocked, and Mike Marshall. Adam earned his undergraduate and graduate diplomas in music performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Tanenbaum and Marc Teicholz. In March 2005, he made his Carnegie Hall debut, performing guitar duets with Santiago Gutierrez. In addition to performance, Adam is also a dedicated music teacher with over 15 years experience giving private lessons and workshops. His book of flatpick guitar arrangements of fiddle tunes is due to be published in 2013.


Zach Sharpe - bass, electric bass, banjo

Born into a bluegrass family in Indiana, Zach Sharpe’s childhood had a soundtrack of hard driving banjo and high harmonizing attached to it. However, once he moved to Sacramento as a young adult, he was adopted by Larry and Allie Davis and the MacNasty family of funk who handed him an electric bass, and showed him the secrets of soul and R&B. Surrounded by Sacramento’s finest, he gained new insights into bass playing, rhythm, and music as a whole. Currently, he is in San Francisco where he brings his unique style of playing to the music he was born into.

Joan Songer - piano

Yoseff Tucker - guitar, banjo, songwriting

Yoseff Tucker is from the heart of the Central Valley, and steeped in traditional country and bluegrass music. A former rock’n’roller answering a higher calling – paying homage to his grandfather, an old-time fiddle player from the Ozarks. While straying from his heritage, he dabbled in a variety of musical styles ranging from funk to self important acoustic punk. Now that he’s back on the path, he was twice voted by the Northern California Bluegrass Society as Bluegrass Guitarist of the Year, and in 2010, he shared the title of Male Vocalist of the Year.

Garren Volper - bass, guitar, sound

Garren Volper is a bassist/guitarist, born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He began playing traditional music when he was 11 years old and has played with a number of young Anchorage based bands including Seek Bob and Folkadelic and is currently playing in an old timey/bluegrass band called High Lonesome Sound.

Fred Weiz - guitar, mandolin

Kalia Yeagle - fiddle, vocals

Kalia Yeagle grew up in Alaska’s acoustic music scene, and started playing fiddle at age 4. She studied classical violin and traditional fiddle styles from the get-go, and has continued to keep her musical horizons broad. She was Alaska State Fiddle Champion at age 14, and soon after started teaching privately and at camps and institutes statewide. She moved to New York in 2009, and with her quick ear and unique take on acoustic music she rapidly developed a reputation as a reliable supporting musician in bluegrass, folk, and country bands throughout the northeast. Kalia brings warmth and a soulful sound to everything she plays and sings, drawing inspiration from bluegrass, celtic, blues, and old-timey styles.