• 2017 California Coast Music Camp

    California Coast Music CampPalo Alto, Calif. — California Coast Music Camp (CCMC) celebrates 25 years with two week-long acoustic camps, July 9-15 and July 16-22, 2017.

    The camp is located on a wooded ridge at 4,000 feet, in the historic Sierra Nevada Gold Country in Placer County, northeast of Sacramento.

    CCMC offers more than 30 classes in mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo, voice, ukulele, fiddle, percussion, harmony singing, theory, songwriting, and stagecraft.

    CCMC focuses more on teaching practical, usable skills which you can incorporate into your playing or singing. Styles include bluegrass, swing, blues, old time, country, folk, jazz, rock, Brazilian, Celtic, and more. The camp features extra workshops, band labs, jams, concerts, dances, and performance opportunities.

    Swimming and hiking are non-musical options at CCMC, and some campers bring bikes to explore old roads and mining towns in the area. The camp has fairly flat terrain, with improved roads and trails throughout, and it overlooks one of the main canyons of the American River. Camp includes all meals and activities; for lodging, you can bring a tent or RV or stay in shared cabins. But most of all, you get lots of music and music instruction from mandolin teachers like these:

    Week 1 Mandolin: Radim Zenkl

    Born in the Czech Republic and based in California, Radim Zenkl is a U.S. Mandolin Champion whose worldwide credentials include guest appearances at prestigious institutions such as Berklee College of Music in Boston and Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Radim has taught at more than 70 music camps in the last 23 years. Radim’s style features progressive original and Eastern European traditional music flavored with string jazz, new age, bluegrass, flamenco, rock, classical and other styles.

    Week 2 Mandolin: Danny Carnahan and Rich DelGrosso

    Danny Carnahan has been performing Celtic and eclectic original acoustic music for nearly 40 years. He’s written articles for a slew of magazines, published instructional books and videos, and written and recorded songs now sung from here to Scotland. Based in the Bay Area, he now mostly performs with his psychedelic Celtic sextet Wake the Dead and most recently released Deal, a CD featuring Celtic takes on the Summer of Love. Danny enjoys teaching all skill levels on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and songwriting, and is delighted to have been part of the CCMC family for over a decade.

    Rich DelGrosso is a widely regarded exponent of the music of the African-American mandolinist. He was a writer/editor for Blues Revue magazine for 16 years and Mandolin Magazine for 11. He has published several instruction books for Hal Leonard, including Mandolin Blues: From Memphis to Maxwell Street. Over the past 40 years he has performed and conducted workshops in the U.S., Canada, Colombia, the U.K., Australia, and Europe.

    Go to the CCMC website to get details on classes for mandolin and other instruments, plus information about the camp itself (and watch the videos!). Students may register for one or both weeks at this site or by mail. Scholarships are available. You can find links to the websites of teachers there, too, if you want to get more of their musical bios and hear samples of their playing.

    Student Concert

    Mike Compton’s Mandolin Class Performing for the Student Concert, 2011. Photo credit: Stephen Westfold.

    Mike Compton’s Mandolin Class Performing for the Student Concert, 2011. Photo credit: Stephen Westfold.

    Whether you're a shy beginner or a seasoned professional, CCMC's classes and activities will challenge and inspire you. The supportive atmosphere will encourage you to stretch musically, regardless of your level or experience. And CCMC is fun — and has been since 1992!

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