Free 3-Day Camp for beginner, intermediate and advanced level vocalists and instrumentalists for kids ages 12 to 18, June 20th-22nd, 2024
We are excited to announce Blues Camp for Kids, presented by Fernando Jones and Blues Kids Foundation.
Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp International has been presented in performing arts centers and on college campuses, HBCUs and PWIs, in North America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. Blues Camp is free! Each participant receives a tuition waiver scholarship. The technology and resources invested in each of them has a value range of $1,500 to $2,500. All vocalists and instrumentalists are welcome. This program is designed to give the Blues Kid a cultural enrichment and intercultural music opportunity in an organic, nurturing environment with likeminded others. Blues Kids Foundation uses the Kennedy Center ArtsEdge Standards.
The goals of the camp are to:
1. Introduce the Blues to new youth audiences, globally
2. Provide public performance opportunities for the Blues Kids
3. Teach Blues Kids the art of playing and singing songs by ear
Auditions
In-person auditions will be held on May 4th, 2024 @ 9am in the Gem Theater. Click here to reserve a spot today!
Learn "Chicago's (Got Everything You Need)" or you can prepare and learn another song that follows the 12-Bar Blues structure. Visit https://www.blueskids.com/earlybird to view the lyrics and watch sample audition videos to get an idea of how simple it can be. Choose the instrumental or vocal track to practice for your audition. Have fun and relax.
Virtual Auditions are open NOW through June 12th, 2024. Sign up and show us what you got today!
Step 1: Audition Rules (Click)
Step 2: Blues Kid Audition Form (Click)
https://form.jotform.com/92940644380157
Step 3: Blues Camp Emergency Form and Handbook (Click)
https://form.jotform.com/231825941847162
Step 4: Parent Volunteer Form (Click)
https://form.jotform.com/221769222865160
Blues Camp Brochure (Click to download)
"The non-profit Blues Kids Foundation holds annual Fernando Jones Blues summer camps,
where students as young as eight or nine years old hone their chops."
Rolling Stone Magazine (Click for article)
"[Fernando] you are one in a million trying to get to the bottom of the barrel of the Blues.”
Buddy Guy (Click to see photo of the two)
"Unlike Jazz camps, camps that focus on the Blues are a rarity.
[Fernando] Jones’ Blues Camps have become an annual rite of Summer."
"Few Chicago Blues musicians have done more to nurture
the next generation of talent than guitarist Fernando Jones."
Chicago Tribune (Click for article)
Assessment Measures
Click here for the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge Standards that we use.
• Pre-Course Evaluation
• Oral and Written Quizzes
• Homework Assignments
• Class Participation
• Rehearsal Performance Prep
• Concert Performances Evaluation
• Final Presentation Project
• Exit Course Evaluation
Goals
• Keep Blues youthful and exciting, while preserving and building the on the past.
• Provide Blues Kids with the basic skills (musically, socially, emotionally and linguistically) necessary to play proficiently and effectively in a music community.
• Introduce this indigenous American art form to new audiences.
• Use critical thinking skills, while collaborating with others.
• Apply practical skills learned in class in culminating activities on stage.
• Promote digital learning and embrace technology.
• Contributions to the future of the Blues musically, socially and culturally
• Present the next generation of musicians as scholars and proficient players.
• Introduce students to the art of live professional performance.
Objectives
• Introduce the history of American music through the lens of the Blues.
• Keep the Blues youthful and exciting, while preserving the past.
• Represent the next generation of Blues artist as scholars and proficient players + vocalists.
• Learn the importance of the Blues from a sociological and historical perspective focusing on the future.
• Use critical thinking skills and collaborate with others.
• Apply practical skills learned in class in a culminating activity on stage.
The camp will culminate with the Blues Camp Concert on June 22nd, 2024 @ 2:30pm in the Gem Theater.
For more information about the camp, check out the Blues Kids Foundation and learn more.
