Blues Camp Chicago

Columbia College Chicago's Music Center

1014 S Michigan Avenue

(779) BluesMe / (779) 258-3763)

Sunday, July 7 thru Friday, July 12th, 2024

Blues Kids Foundation and its Blues Angels are proud to be on the cutting edge of Blues andragogy and pedagogy with Fernando Jones' 15th Annual Blues Camp International on the campus of Columbia College Chicago in the Music Center. Local, national and international student musicians ages 12 to 18 can be involved with Blues Camp by auditioning for placement between now and July 1st. Placement is for beginner, intermediate and advanced level vocalists and instrumentalist. To audition, visit BluesKids.com/EarlyBird or call us at (779) BluesMe.

We are not looking for the best "Blues Kid" players in the world. We are looking, however, for the Blues Kid who wants to be in a music program with like-minded others. Here are the Kennedy Center ArtsEdge Standards we use.

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."

Downbeat (Click for article)

"Few Chicago Blues musicians have done more to nurture

the next generation of talent than guitarist Fernando Jones."

Chicago Tribune (Click for article)

• • •

The Blues Kids Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. We were established to preserve, perform and promote the Blues among America's youth, parents and educators under the tutelage of highly qualified instructors. Our focus is on education, literacy, social emotional learning and music as a second language.

Blues Camp International is supported by and brought to you in part by: Columbia College Chicago, Mary Barnes Donnelley Family Foundation, Lefort-Martin Fund, Tom Liebman, DCASE, NBC 5 Chicago, Venue OverDrive, Knotty Luxe Arts Foundation, PERT Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Microbusiness Recovery Grant Program, Chicago Federation of Musicians (Local 10-208), Rotary Club of Chicago, Facebook / Network for Good, Navy Pier Chicago, D’Addario Foundation, The Chicago (IL) Metro Chapters of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, M.U.S.T Foundation, Bobbie’s Screen Printing, and Bikes & Music.

Blues Kids Foundation Friends include but are not limited to:

WGN TV, One Brick Foundation, Thinking Computers, Downbeat Magazine, the Society Incorporated, The Chicago Chapter for the Arts, Reggie’s Rock Club, Edward G. Irvin Foundation, Music Box Foundation, Delta Arts Center (NC), and A Sound Education.

Blues Camp Education Partners include but are not limited to:

B.B. King Museum and Interpretive Center (MS), Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, KOP Mentoring Network (FL), Tokyo School of Music and Dance, Chicago Public Schools (Hendricks, Esmond, Powell Paideia Academy, Pershing and Owen Schools), and ETA Creative Arts Foundation.

If you'd like to make us your charity of choice click the secure "Donate" button.

Our Structure

Assessment Measures

Click here for the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge Standards that we use.

Assessment Measures

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.