June, 2009 // Posts published in June, 2009
ecoArt Camp for kids – The Earth Rocks!
THE EARTH ROCKS! Explore, Imagine, Create This exciting summer camp is a fun-filled opportunity for children aged 6 to 11 to immerse themselves in the wonders of the living earth! The full-day program uses art experiences to explore aspects of ecology allowing young people to view nature through the creative lens of art. The art ...
CityArts announces Triple Threat Workshop and scholarship opportunities for summer 2009
This summer, the star of We Will Rock You joins forces with CityArts Creative Learning for an innovative program aimed at 11-to-17-year-olds, covering acting, singing and dancing skills. These week-long Triple Threat Workshop (”T3″) programs, headed by Valerie Stanois, will also feature guest instructions from some of the most talented performers in Toronto. T3 will ...
CityArts profile #8: Charmaine Lurch
While students are bashing away at their instruments at the Toronto Rock Camp, Charmaine Lurch describes her plans for summer courses at CityArts as “the other rock camp.” But, rather than music, the local illustrator will focus on creating art from materials found in the earth. “My goal this summer is to help these students ...
CityArts profile #7: Chuck Majic
How does a skateboarding grunge fanatic grow up to become a classical guitar composer and artisan? Chuck Majic thinks the transition was natural. “My style didn’t develop from gruelling practice for hours and hours,” he says. “I would rather play by feel.” A feel for the instrument has extended to building and repairing them as ...
CityArts profile #6: Chris Lesso
“You don’t choose the drums,” a music teacher once told Chris Lesso, “the drums choose you.” Those childhood piano lessons were not put to waste — he’s studying jazz harmony on the keyboard these days — but the backbeat proved irresistible when growing up in Barrie, Ontario. “There was a snare drum at school that ...
CityArts profile #5: Mike McAvan
Mike McAvan started his relationship with the electric guitar at age 12 after some family upheaval moved him from Montreal to Toronto. The first teacher was his own record collection. Most specifically, the first four albums by Black Sabbath. “I just got lost in the music,” says McAvan. “And generally figured out how to play ...
CityArts profile #4: Colin Knowles
Stage fright is an unfamiliar concept to Colin Knowles. “I always wanted to do it live in public,” he says. “There might be others who get nervous but I wanted to be playing the piano for people all of the time.” The ambition served Knowles well in his Welland, Ontario, since there were only a ...
CityArts profile #3: Tristan Avakian
The first guitar lessons Tristan Avakian took at age 9 were not quite as successful as you might think. “I was being taught to play ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’ in a room of a church,” he recalls. “And, the whole time, I was worrying about the fat kid outside waiting to beat me up ...
CityArts profile #2: Valerie Stanois
“You cannot teach this stuff from a textbook,” says Valerie Stanois, who brings her singing, dancing and acting talents this summer to the Triple Threat Workshop at CityArts. “Finding those raw emotions — whether it’s love, sadness, jealousy — and bringing them onstage is something you just have to do.” A star of the Toronto production ...
CityArts profile #1: Leo Georgoulis
Moving from Athens, Greece to his wife’s hometown of Toronto in 2001, Leo Georgoulis quickly picked up on the fact that music education was something that younger people were more enthusiastic about in this city, a constant reminder of his own beginnings at age 12. “I picked up the guitar and that was it,” he ...
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