I had an amazing time participating in the concert event put on by Liberty Lake Day Camp called Camp-A-Palooza. This is a huge festival-style event that the camp puts on for the campers that features live music, games, food, and all kinds of ridiculously fun things to do.

I worked with groups of campers all week, preparing them to perform at the big concert. We rocked the house by opening the show with a Path To Rhythm BOOM! It was awesome to see how much energy and excitement the group drumming program created.

I also got on stage and performed with singer-songwriter Jared Campbell. I jammed on drums with him for a few tunes, and I even got into some beat-boxing on his version of “Rapper’s Delight”. If you are not familiar with Jared’s work, I suggest you go download this album from iTunes. (I listened to it every day for the entire week that I was at Liberty Lake and it became my favorite jam.)

Another highlight for me was joining Andy Pritikin and the Liberty Lake House Band to play the Liberty Lake theme song. This song is by far the best and catchiest camp song that I have heard in my 25 plus years of camping experience. The campers love it! Congrats to Brandi Carnivale for a job well done.

Check out the video below to see Camp-A-Palooza in action.

I had the pleasure of returning to the Pocono Mountain region of Pennsylvania from July 11-14 to provide group drumming programs for the campers and staff at Camp Canadensis. This was special for me because it reminded me of being at Camp Akiba, the summer camp that I attended for so many years of my childhood.

Brian Krug, the year-round Director, and I planned a special event in which every camper would experience a drum circle. This gave me the opportunity to work with medium sized  groups containing 30-40 campers. All in all, I estimate that over 500 campers and staff experienced drumming by the end of the two days!

Brian Krug drumming with campers

The first evening the staff participated in a late night drum circle. The next morning the drums were set-up on a beautiful outdoor deck overlooking the lake. We were ready to go as Brian introduced us to the entire camp at the morning line up. My assistant and newest member of the Path To Rhythm Team, Jack McDermot helped lay down a solid rhythmic foundation on bass drum as I played on hand drums to start the day. Each activity period a different group of campers came to participate in the special activity.

The campers at Camp Canadensis were spirited and enthusiastic about drumming.The program that I created for them was designed to develop a sense of community and connection among each other, and most of all, to have fun in the process!

Junior Boys drumming together

While it did rain on the second day, we were able to quickly move to an indoors location, and the drumming continued without missing a beat. This is one of the greatest benefits of a Path To Rhythm Program; the fact that it can be held inside or outdoors, rain or shine.

It was amazing for me to spend time observing and participating in the inclusive camp culture that Canadensis creates. I met many friendly and talented campers and staff.

A special thanks to Neil Sukonik, Aunt Terri, Brian Krug, Eric Forti, Pam Levi, Robin, and Roy the Program Director. All photos provided courtesy of Groundhog.

Click here to view more pictures on Facebook

From August 16th-20th, I had the honor of being an Artist in Residence at Liberty Lake Day Camp in Monroe County, NJ. I  worked with all age groups of campers, from ages 4 through 15, as part of the diverse elective program offered by Liberty Lake. I introduced campers to hand drumming and group rhythm making. Each day we met at a beautiful location next to the lake, and got to experience the connection and sense of community that happens through drumming together. Each day the campers practiced a group drumming piece and the week culminated with the campers performing at Camp-A-Palooza. (click here to read more about Camp-A-Palooza)

Check out a blurb written about Path To Rhythm  in the Liberty Lake News (created by campers in the newspaper elective).

Liberty Lake is a special place, and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to meet and work with some great people who truly love what they do. To name just a few, Brandi Carnivale, Andy Pritikin, Dave Eural, Jason Samuel, Chris Peszka, Ray, Miss D…(and the list goes on and on…) Thanks LLDC!

Path To Rhythm returned to the Riverdale section of the Bronx to work with the campers at Fieldston Outdoors Summer Camp. I worked with a group of 5th & 6th graders. I was pleased with what we are able to accomplish as a group in a short amount of time. I showed the group hand drum technique, and after that we played some basic rhythms. We then made a group composition,  the campers practiced it, and  were able to perform it for the entire Camp at the end of the day. In addition, I was able to accompany some of the staff and music counselors for their daily end of the day performance, which at Fieldston is referred to as “Quad”.
Press play below to hear a recording of the campers playing…
Download audio file (Fieldston2010.mp3)

Congratulations to the campers, Eleanor, Farzana, Emma, Nick P., Nick W., Liam, Edmond, Yeal, and Sam. Thanks to counselors Leah and Emily. Thanks to Cameron for taking these photos. Special thanks to the Director, David Smelin for having me back, and I look forward to returning next summer!

Performing for students

I recently had a great time when I traveled  to  The Marvelwood School in Kent, Connecticut, to facilitate a drumming event for students and faculty. We did two sessions in the afternoon, and each session had 75 participants.

I started the sessions by playing a solo on the drum set for the students (pictured left). This is the newest aspect of a Path To Rhythm program, I am incorporating more drum set oriented performances to start off the group drumming activities. It gets the group pumped up and in the groove, and I get to have fun and share my talent. I was also joined by my friend and faculty member, Tracy Walton, who played bass and laid down a serious groove for us to play with.

For the remainder of the session the students participated in a drum circle,  got a chance to jam together, and created a Marvelwood group chant using voices and drums. You can see more about the event and watch a video on Marvelwood’s Facebook Page.

Also check out this video below.