Alternative Tuning Workshop
For guitar players of all levels. Kerry shares his approach to alternative tunings and the magic they can bring to the instrument he loves
Program Type: Workshops
Build A B.R.I.D.G.E.
Believe And Reach with an I-CAN attitude for your Dreams and Goals Everyday! A school assembly designed for K-8 graders.
Program Type: Workshops
Expressive songwriting workshop for adults
This workshop is designed for the beginning songwriter as well as those who are a bit more advanced. We will use techniques that build confidence and keep a personal touch in songwriting. Attendees will be encouraged to perform songs they've written or, present ideas of things they'd like to write about. The group will talk about the songs in a supportive atmosphere that emphasizes the uniqueness of each person's perceptions and the resulting music. Marc has taught songwriting to all ages, from 9 years old to 90. He's written songs with stroke survivors who are fighting their way back and high school boys and girls who want to write about how misunderstood they are. Everyone's favorite is his song, Ooh, I Love My Coffee. Bottom line is, we all have things to say and Marc can help just about anyone put it in a song. Marc has taught this workshop at libraries, schools and in private settings.
Program Type: Workshops
Expressive songwriting workshop for kids
Workshop for elementary aged children and young adults. One and a half hour expressive songwriting workshops for kids: This workshop is designed for the beginning songwriter as well as those that are a bit more advanced. We will use techniques that build confidence and put playfulness into songwriting. We'll compose a song as a group and make recordings in mp3 format that the kids can email to themselves to keep if they like. Marc has experience writing songs in a wide range of styles and for a wide range of purposes. From commercial jingles to songs for the New York Mets, award winning children's songs to political anthems. He has taught this workshop at libraries, schools and in private settings. “Marc led the 3rd grade kids in a songwriting workshop. They wrote a song altogether, and then sang it and made a recording. They had so much fun. They must have talked about it for a month!” Michele Rappi, Katonah Elementary School parent
Program Type: Workshops
Finding the story in the Picture
Are you a writer, or a teacher or student of poetry, songs, fiction or non-fiction who wants to sharpen your ability to describe scenes and to tell stories? Kerry Grombacher, a songwriter and music educator based in New Orleans offers a workshop, Finding the Story in the Picture, that will explore using 2-dimensional artwork as an inspiration for creative writing. Kerry Grombacher is a noted songwriter who presents workshops on creativity and songwriting at music festivals, museums and schools. His work has been covered by western recording artists including Gary Prescott, Trails & Rails, Duke Davis, The Texas Trailhands, and Earl Gleason. Grombacher is a first reader for several published novelists, short story writers and authors of non-fiction, and the Texas Institute of Letters has recently chosen him as a judge for its 2008 literary awards. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honor society, he did undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Texas in the interdisciplinary American Studies program where literature, art history, folklore and ethnomusicology were among his concentrations. Students in the workshop will use photos and paintings to hone their descriptive and story telling skills by asking (and answering): what do we see; what do we know; and what do we imagine? Grombacher stresses the use of strong descriptive language, literary and cultural allusions, and the power of story. Time will be spent in group discussions, writing exercises and focused writing sessions.
Program Type: Workshops
Guitar Master Class
Dubbed a "wizard of the fingerstyle guitar" and regarded internationally as a master guitar player, Walter's guitar classes cover a wealth of topics, with the focus dependent on the interests and skills of participants. Classes are interactive and include a mix of information, demonstration and active participation. Here's a list of topics covered - each can also be the focus of an entire workshop. Bring your guitar or a desire to begin learning! - creative guitar arranging and accompaniment - fingerpicking - open tunings - international music and translating music from other global instruments to the guitar - improvisation
Program Type: Workshops
HEALTH and BEAUTY
Targeted participants are intorduced to a variety of guest artists who will guide them through activities designed to increase self esteem, image and quality of life by improving their hygiene. This workshop includes HIV and AIDS awareness activities and lectures.
Program Type: Workshops
Homespun Instruments
Great fun for all ages, this interactive workshop is designed to bring out the artist in everyone. Participants join in on traditional tunes, playing a variety of “household” instruments ~ from washtubs and scrub boards to spoons and saws, and every shaker, bell and drum in between. The focus is on the creativity of making music and instruments. Some sing old favorites while others learn them anew and a grand time is had by all!
Program Type: Workshops
How to write a Traditional Song
You can’t write a traditional song! Or can you? David Nigel Lloyd has spent nearly 30 years writing trad/DNL songs in which he balances the personal voice of the singer-songwriter with the collective voice of the traditional singer. Through song performances, musical dissection and numerous anecdotes, DNL shows how he did it and why. This program contrasts the contemporary notion of intellectual property and the artist’s reputation against the far older power of the anonymous utterance that has no literary reputation to uphold or advertise
Program Type: Workshops
I'll Go To Sea No More-Sea Chanteys and Ballads that Everyone Can Sing
In this workshop, Debra will give a general overview of sea chanteys touching upon the differences between types of chanteys. These include Long-Haul or Halyard, Short Drag, Capstan, Stamp n' Go, and Fo'c's'le Chanteys. Debra will briefly discuss how they were used as work songs. The participants will then learn the choruses of one short chantey from each type listed and use that information to take what we've learned and write our own modern day work song.
Program Type: Workshops
Intro to Recording and Record Producing
How do you make a professional quality CD? In recent years, technology has transformed this into a process that can be accomplished in your home or in a school setting. Taught as a one hour workshop, Walter provides an introduction to the process - giving an overview of multi-track recording, musical arranging, and essential equipment for the home or school studio. When taught as a program with several meetings, Walter brings recording gear with which to teach and record, topics are explored more deeply, and a hands-on recording is made involving the entire group.
Program Type: Workshops
Laugh Cry Until You Sigh
Releasing through the music. Barb Ryman will take you on a ride mixing two extremes of music, the very funny with the very poignant. Barb has mastered this art and shares it through a workshop/concert that melds her knowledge as a therapist, counseling psychologist and alternative energy worker with her gift as an award- winning touring songwriter. Get ready to laugh a lot and shed a few tears as well, all while being informed and entertained. Realize that what renders the heart vulnerable is the same opening that allows it to leap for joy and burst with laughter. Experience it through the music and expand it into your own lives.
Program Type: Workshops
Lights, Camera, Audition: An Interactive Audition Workshop for Teens
A Workshop for Teens on the In's, Out's & How To's of Auditioning for Stage & Screen This energetic, fun and interactive workshop will run through all of the basics on how to audition for stage, TV and film. By focusing on the fun, this workshop helps to eliminate the nevous butterflies that can get in the way of doing your best in an audition. Exercises with cold readings, introductions, tongue-twisters, and camera tests, as well as answers to questions about headshots, submissions,agents and more! Come for this 60-minute adventure into the joys of auditioning and walk out a star!
Program Type: Workshops
Master Class Fiddle Workshop
Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin offer Master Class Fiddle Workshops. This covers Fiddle basics, and improvisation on the fiddle. In addition she compares and contrasts the difference between "fiddle" and "violin". For violinists and fiddlers.
Program Type: Workshops
Master Class Mandolin Workshop
Luke Halpin offers Master Class Mandolin workshops for groups. His beginner workshop is basic techniques, and tricks for adding mandolin to almost anything. For mandolin players and mandolin want-to-be players.
Program Type: Workshops
Music as a Business
Do you want to be a professional musician? What do you need to become a professional musician? What does it take? How do you book a tour? Etc.... Panel type discussion with Stephanie Bettman & Luke Halpin. Questions welcome
Program Type: Workshops
Native Dance Presentations
Our Dance and Singing workshops are very interactive. The students spend the 60 minutes singing and dancing with us. The length of the workshops can be modified for what works for your schedule. The students learn the basics to First Nations music and basic song structures. They have a great time while they are learning. These workshops hit very specific Ontario curriculum expectations in the Arts as well as Health & Physical Education for both Elementary and Secondary levels. The workshops are geared to the age and the abilities of the participants.
Program Type: Workshops
Never Fear Shakespeare!
Whether you're familiar with the Bard or a newby, this interactive introduction to some of Shakespeare's greatest hits is destined to make you a fan! With plenty of background information about Shakespeare's England, the rowdy cast of characters and games like "Shakespeare MadLibs" and "What's My Line", this hour-long workshop can turn even the most timid reader into an aficionado. Fun facts, random trivia and translation tricks to decoding "Billy Bob's" work add to the experience and take the Fear out of Shakespeare once and for all!
Program Type: Workshops
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
Birds do it, environmentalists do it, and musicians do it, too; re-purpose old things for a new need. We’ll start with a familiar song, take it apart, and use its pieces as the basis for a totally new song! It’s a great way to learn a bit about melody, harmony, rhythm, and rhyme. Fun for musicians of all ages, and a peek behind the curtain for avid listeners.
Program Type: Workshops
Rhythm!
Everyone has rhythm. Even the heart beats to a steady groove. This workshop is an opportunity to directly access and express the innate rhythm within you. We look at basic rhythm concepts, explore musical collaboration and teamwork, and discover some cultural rhythms, while making music on simple instruments and found objects. Anything in the immediate environment or brought to the workshop becomes a medium for musical self-expression and finding your groove.
Program Type: Workshops
Singer/Songwriter Workshop
Have you ever wanted to write a song, but weren't sure how to go about it? Learn all about the process of writing a song - from inspiration (or assignment) to fully arranged performance. This is a workshop geared toward musicians. It deals with the elements of arrangement, song structure, and performance. This workshop can be broken down into different workshops: "Song Arranging", "Singing", "Performing a Song", "Guitar for Singer/Songwriters"
Program Type: Workshops
Singing Workshop
Everyone can sing - right? Discover the ins and outs of being a singer. Learn vocal warm ups, techniques for different genres, & the psychology of singing.....
Program Type: Workshops
Singing the Story-Preparing a Ballad for Public Consumption
Singer Debra Cowan will guide participants through the process of learning, memorising and performing ballads or "story-songs". Strategies in vocal techniques, memorisation and performance will be demonstrated and practiced in a series of exercises. This could be a stand alone workshop or a continuation of "The Naked Voice-Performing Songs Un-Accompanied"
Program Type: Workshops
Singing the True Song
What is your true song? What is it really about? To whom are you actually singing? Starting with the paleolithic cave paintings of Southwestern Europe, David Nigel Lloyd shows how todays’ songwriters, by asking these questions of themselves, could turn their art (as did the cave painters) into an act of metaphor. StTS reveals the crucial element of song-writing that nearly all songwriting courses —based as they are in formulae and method— fail to acknowledge. StTS has been delivered sucessfuly as a songwriters’ workshop series.
Program Type: Workshops
Songwriting
Kerry Grombacher is a noted songwriter who presents workshops on creativity and songwriting at music festivals, museums and schools. His work has been covered by western recording artists including Gary Prescott, Trails & Rails, Duke Davis, The Texas Trailhands, and Earl Gleason. Grombacher is a first reader for several published novelists, short story writers and authors of non-fiction, and the Texas Institute of Letters has recently chosen him as a judge for its 2008 literary awards. Kerry Grombacher is the best kind of songwriter, with lyrics that take us on journeys to places weve never visited before, and melodies so pure and true that they seem to rise up from the plains... Nalini Jones Newport Folk Festival
Program Type: Workshops
Songwriting Workshop
Join Lynn and Charlotte for a hands on creative journey through the art of songwriting. These two internationally award wining songwriters have received accolades from VH-1, the International Song Contest, Falcon Ridge, Merlefest, and Telluride, among others. Bring your voice and/or an instrument to explore songwriting inspirations from literature, poetry, current events and our own personal experiences. This workshop is responsive to its participants, questions are welcome and interaction is encouraged.
Program Type: Workshops
Songwriting and Composition
An exploration of the creative processes of songwriting and instrumental composition - from the innumerable ways original music can be inspired to the nuts and bolts of song structure. Learn innovative approaches to setting loose the writer within you and for creating compelling instrumental accompaniments. Where the length of the session permits, participants write complete songs during the workshop.
Program Type: Workshops
Songwriting with Kerry Patrick Clark
This VERY interactive workshop is for songwriters of ALL skill/knowledge levels.
Program Type: Workshops
The Art of Songwriting
The connection between literature (and libraries) and songwriting is closer than is often acknowledged. While some are naturally more drawn to the written word and others more readily drawn to music, songwriters of all stamps are influenced by the great writers of the day. Whether seeking details on a given subject to lend authenticity to a song setting or devouring acclaimed authors to learn how to craft a great phrase, songwriters draw much of their inspiration from the written word. Literature helps teach the tools of great songwriting including: conveying a universal feeling or theme, the art of subtlety, an expansive vocabulary, and the poetry of language. Discussion includes examples of clever word usage in a song, (does the audience agree or disagree?), illustrations of how subtlety serves the song, and interactive fill in the word exercises on verses. Appropriate for age 8 and up.
Program Type: Workshops
The Modern Day Homesteader
Inspired by two of America’s last remaining homesteaders and Miss “V”s fourteen-year stay on their remote Wyoming ranch, “The Modern Day Homesteader” is a unique and engaging one-hour documentary incorporating slides, narration and music. Told through the eyes of a young greenhorn, this heartfelt presentation will rekindle memories for some and offer new imagery for others as it chronicles the oft-forgotten lifestyle of pioneers who settled the West. Upon request, a short musical performance and an open discussion will bookend the show.
Program Type: Workshops
The Naked Voice-Performing Songs Un-Accompanied
Massachusetts-based singer Debra Cowan has left her mark on the folk music world by performing many traditional and contemporary songs without accompaniment. In her first Dusty Strings workshop, Debra will discuss general vocal techniques and how to use them in the art of unaccompanied singing. She will also discuss choosing material and each participant will learn two short songs that can be taken home and practiced to re-inforce what they lkearned in the workshop.
Program Type: Workshops
The Real Genetics Behind Superheroes and Super Villains
The strength of Superman, the speed of the Flash, the super-stretch of Mr. Fantastic! The powers that these heroes have may seem fantastic, but in reality they are not that outlandish. We'll discuss the super-powers of your favorite movie and comic book superheroes and the science behind these same fantastic skills as everyone builds a bracelet which shows their own DNA sequences. We‘ll also talk about real people with super abilities just like these.
Program Type: Workshops
The Science behind Superheros
Have you ever wondered about Superheros? Come join Dr. Robert Pyatt to explore the science behind Superheros!
Program Type: Workshops
WORKSHOPS AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
WORKSHOPS AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMS Drama, Poetry, Writing & Dance individually, or all together developed to increase self esteem, self image, community pride, cultural awareness, and youth involvement.
Program Type: Workshops
