6th Annual
Kanack School Fiddle Camp 2009
Megan Beller, Director
August 10-14, 2009
Kanack School of Music
Rochester, NY
Morning Camp 9-12:30 $150
Afternoon Camp 1:30-5 $150
All day 9-5 $300
For all day students, lunch may be brought from home or purchased from DiBella's Sub Shop the during check in each morning. Snacks provided.
Both the morning and afternoon camps are open to all ages on any instrument. Instructors will be playing fiddle, cello, guitar, and piano. The full day of fiddle camp offers plenty of musical variety and fun programming for beginners and advanced musicians. For those considering half a day, see the detailed information below to decide which camp is appropriate.
The morning camp will focus on learning fiddle tunes and developing fiddle style and technique. There will be sessions each morning to learn new tunes and practice old ones. Students can choose which tunes they'd like to learn. Adults and advanced students will also have workshops on ornamentation, bowing, note reading, accompanying, history of folk music, and tune writing. Younger fiddlers will have folk inspired art and dance classes. Each morning will include jam sessions for beginnings and advanced players. The morning camp will conclude with a presentation at noon on Friday of music and dance from the week. Family and friends are welcome to this final concert. The tunes taught over the course of the week will be collected in a music packet and CD for students to study at home and keep.
The afternoon will focus on playing fiddle music in a band setting. There will be classes in improvisation, arranging, and master classes with faculty. Students will be broken into small groups to work with a coach to practice fiddling, accompanying, and improvising together to prepare for a performance at the end of the week. The afternoon camp will conclude with a Friday pizza party and concert featuring all of the student bands.
Campers will have the opportunity to perform in the Rochester Irish Festival in September. There will be auditions during the week of camp for fiddlers interested in performing a solo at the Irish festival.
For more information, please email Megan Beller at meganbeller@yahoo.com
or call The Kanack School at (585) 244-6910
Faculty:
Megan Beller, American and Klezmer Fiddle
 Megan graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a BA in Violin Performance and Music Education in 2003. Megan plays American, Irish, and French Canadian fiddle tunes with her contra dance band Contranella. She also plays traditional Jewish fiddle with the Coalhouse Klezmer Band and Charm City Klezmer. Past performances include the dance stages at NEFFA and at the Turtle Hill Folk Festival, the Rochester Thanksgiving Dance Weekend and the Phylla Mae Festival.
Alice Kanack, Improvisation
 Alice Kanack is a Rochester native with degrees in Performance and Composition from the Eastman School of Music. She is an accredited Suzuki Association of Americas teacher, with training both in the US and in Japan with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. Alice's "Creative Ability Development" series of books and recordings are currently published by Warner Bros. and are sold internationally
Andrew VanNorstrand, Fiddle and Guitar
Andrew has earned the title of "multi-instrumentalist" along with his brother Noah, by being proficient at more than twenty different string and percussion instruments between them. In 2000 Andrew and Noah formed the Great Bear Trio with their mother Kim on piano. Great Bear since has become one of the hottest contra dance bands on the circuit and has performed for enthusiastic fans at festivals across the country. In 2004 Andrew and Noah appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion as finalists in the nationwide Talent from Twelve to Twenty contest. Their music has also been featured on NPR's Open Mic and The Thistle and Shamrock with Fiona Ritchie.
Noah VanNorstrand, Fiddle and Percussion
In 2000 Andrew and Noah formed the Great Bear Trio with their mother Kim on piano. Great Bear since has become one of the hottest contra dance bands on the circuit and has performed for enthusiastic fans at festivals across the country. In 2004 Andrew and Noah appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion as finalists in the nationwide Talent from Twelve to Twenty contest. Their music has also been featured on NPR's Open Mic and The Thistle and Shamrock with Fiona Ritchie.
Ellen Anderson, Irish Fiddle and Dance
 Ellen Anderson began the violin in third grade and started studying the fiddle in high school with Brendan Callaghan in Philladelphia. Since then she has played fiddle and danced at Irish feises all over the United States. She can be found at Irish sessions in Rochester while she is in school at the University of Rochester.
Jenna Moynihan, Scottish Fiddle
 Jenna Moynihan began Suzuki lessons at the age of six, and soon after discovered the world of Scottish fiddling and fell in love. She has performed for years, both as a solo performer, and as a member of the Bonnie Loch Fiddlers. Jenna has held the Grand Champion title for Scottish Fiddling both the Oberlin Highland Games, and the Ligonier Highland Games. In 2006, she placed third in the National Scottish Fiddling Competition. She has performed throughout the country and Scotland, and will move to Boston in the fall to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music on a scholarship. For more information visit www.myspace.com/jmoynihan.
Donal Sheets, Cello
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Improvisation