If the hot days of July turning into the cooler evenings of August get you down, Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party is sure to warm the cockles of the coldest heart. It is not the toe-tapping music of the banjo, nor the wail of the bagpipes, not the fiddles or the cello, not the voices raised in song, nor ukuleles either, that cause you to forget the chill in the air.
I believe that the thing that really warms you up at KLKP is the feeling of being enveloped into the midst of a huge family, where everyone is overjoyed at having the opportunity to spend time with the people that encourage them to try anything and celebrate the results.
KLKP is home a unique tribe, welcoming everyone to listen to their music, tap your toes along with the beat, get up and dance to the reels, take part in some good old fashioned square dancing, or sit around the campfire and roast some wieners or s’mores while musicians jam anywhere they find themselves.
Michelle Amy and her husband Will Elliot have very obviously dedicated hundreds upon thousands of hours to planning and executing the minutiae of details required to birth an event of this scope. With an age range from 1 – 90, a wide variety of instruments and instructors from all over the world, one might expect to find some discord, however, with a focus on a co-operative, nurturing atmosphere, where everyone is valued and included, how can you help but find excellence.
With fiddle instructors like the Juno Award winning Karrnnel Sawitsky (ON); Adam Sutherland (Scotland); Daniel Gervais (AB); Shane Cook (ON); Donna Turk (SK); Patti Kusturok (MB); Stacey Read(NB); Andrea Beaton (Cape Breton); Daniel Koulack (MB); Stephanie Labbe (Quebec); and Kim de Laforest of SK, the quality of instruction is stellar. Hamish Napier (Scotland) and Rob Skeet (AB) teaching piano; banjo with Cathy Fink (USA), Chris Coole (ON) and Daniel Koulack (MB); Nathan Halcrow (MB), Morgan Turk (SK), Jack Semple (SK), Anthony Kelly (SK), Skender Sefa (MB) and Clinton Pelletier on guitar; Ukulele and vocals with Marcy Marxer (USA); Fred Keller (USA) handling mandolin; Eli Bender (Victoria, BC) on the cello; and rounding it all out, Jacquie Walbaum (SK) instructing choir and vocals, the quality and diversity of instruction offered by KLKP is one of excellence. Rafael Javadov is the instructor al large this year!
In her quest to be inclusive, Amy held fundraisers this year to enable her to hire extra counsellors so that families could send their children to camp without having to take time off work to supervise them. This is yet another example of her attention to details and her quest to bring music to anyone who has a desire to learn, unhindered by their financial position. Check out www.kenoseekitchenparty.ca for more information on the incredible talents mentioned above, or if you have a hankering to be a part of next years kitchen party.
83-15kp1 Juno award winner Karrnnel Sawitsky delights the audience with his fiddle music at KLKP 2019.
83-15kp3 Donna Turk, Stacey Read, Rafael Javadov, Eli Bender and Daniel Koulack held the enthralled audience in the palms of their hands during the Wednesday Night Concert at KLKP.
