Musicians combining to offer music camp
The majority of the time a student is learning to play an instrument it is one on one with their music teacher, says Hayley MacLeod, a music instructor in Pictou County.
But she believes it’s great for youth to also have the opportunity to interact with others with a similar interest and to simply be immersed in music.
That’s why she and other local instructors are excited to be taking part in a music camp being hosted at Sharon St. John United Church in Stellarton.
The Sharon St. John Music Camp will be held July 31 to Aug. 3 for people aged 5 to 95 interested in learning how to play the fiddle, guitar, mandolin or chanter. Those who already know how to play will be able to expand on their abilities.
Participants will also be able to take part in step dance, musical theatre or folk song sessions. The sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day with the exception of Aug. 3. That day will end with a special fiddle session with Scott Woods from noon to 2 p.m. for those who register.
Woods is a Canadian fiddle champion. He and his sister Kendra will offer a fiddle workshop and students who register for this session will also receive a ticket to his performance at Sharon St. John United Church on the evening of Aug. 3.
Woods will perform his famous fiddling tricks including walking on a barrel and doing somersaults.
This is the first year the camp has been held and Heather Cameron is excited to be taking part as well. She will be teaching fiddle and chanter.
She said it’s nice getting to know all the other music instructors in the county and getting all the students together.
“Growing up we had to travel to do stuff like this,” Cameron said. “It’s nice to have something local.”
Pam LeBlanc, who is teaching fiddle and step dancing, agrees.
“We all have private students, so it’ll be nice to see them come together and play. A lot of them don’t know each other.”
She said musical interest is strong in the county with people trying to tap into the Maritime roots and learn the fiddle, so she believes there will be good attendance at the camp.
MacLeod believes that the students will benefit tremendously from this because they will learn different tips from different teachers.
“I think that’s the coolest thing about a camp like this is we each come from such very different backgrounds of musical training,” she said. “We have completely different things to bring forward to different students which is really cool.”
Personally she grew up learning traditional fiddle tunes from Fleur Mainville, then went on to study classical violin in university. Now that she’s back, she’s playing and teaching a lot of the fiddle music she grew up with.
For more information about the camp including cost and how to register email kayaucoin@ns.sympatico.ca. Students are encouraged to register as soon as possible.