Jam Camp Instructor Biographies

Jam Camp instructors are listed in order of last name in alphabetical order. Futher sorting coming soon!

Anna Baignoche

Anna Baignoche has been a teacher and musician for the last 12 years. She completed a Bachelor's Degree of Applied Music specializing in voice at Vancouver Community College and is presently completing a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology at UBC. She is the leader of her band, Anna B. and the Heartbones, and has released two CDs, toured extensively, and has regular play on CBC radio. In 2009, Anna and her group performed at Studio One for CanadaLive and was broadcast internationally twice on the MotherTongue series. Traveling the world studying music has been Anna's passion which she has translated into her work leading several World Music choirs and singing/composing in different musical styles and languages.

annabmusic.com

Bobby Bovenzi

BSc African and Afro-American Studies
MSc Elementary Education
Instructor influences: Khalid Saleem, Clyde Morgan, Kpani Addy, Arthur Hull, Keio Ogawa, Mamady "Wadaba" Kourouma, Artero "Uncle" Mulfufo, Keith Terry, Thomas Cruz, Mamady Keita, and Famadou Konate

Bobby has been a student of ethnic percussion and dance since 1994. He began studying the drum in University though Khalid Saleem at the SUNY br /ockport in upstate NY. "Khalid introduced me to the power of rhythm and its ability to unite communities. His drum playing changed my life, and allowed me to explore an artful way to promote understanding, acceptance, and appreciation for the arts and their impact on creating a society in harmony." Since his early university education, Bobby has shared his passion for drumming with hundreds of thousands of people in Canada, Japan, and the US, from seniors to toddlers, corporate team building to gymnasiums packed with students and teachers. "I believe everyone has the desire to be creative, whether it be dance, music, or art, and through these mediums each life becomes a positive model for the next, free to express what's inside without fear of judgement." Bobby has earned the reputation of creating a successful experience for every participant he reaches, and is considered to be a Master Facilitator and Teacher.

Theresa Bovenzi

Theresa is a guitar, piano, mandolin and African drum player. Theresa's original songs come from her experience in relationships and in her travels, and she desires to inspire people to live in peace with themselves and each other. Theresa has shared music with children as a Music Director art summer camps, in individual lessons, in childcare work and as therapy in shelters for homeless children. Music is a source of comfort and emotional release for Theresa, and her goal is to facilitate that process for others by sharing music with them.

Esther Deuling

Esther has been part of Jam Camp since the beginning, way back in 2003. The familiar faces and care-free atmosphere keep her coming back each year to help lead song writing groups and teach poi. Jam Camp is part of Esther's life and has helped her gain leadership skills and confidence in her ability to teach.

Jon Deuling

Jon has been a musician from birth! He has kept up the great momentum in his music through a band called 'As it Happens' whom he played with through the school years. Also during those school years he taught music, with a philosophy that is much different than the classic approach of drills, sight reading, and severe discipline. While not disregarding these things altogether, Jon aims to have the student be self motivated, to cultivate their playing by ear, to write their own songs, and to learn how to jam all night long! Jon is a firm believer that a person's belief in themselves and their self-consciousness corresponds to their music in every way; he takes a lot of time to encourage people, raise their spirits, and boost their confidence in themselves. His main ambition is to master the banjo like a real red-neck, and has already done so with the guitar. He also plays bass, drums, penny whistle, piano, Chinese zither, and telephone digits.

Leh Deuling

Leh has spent time playing African drum, drum kit, guitar and singing. She has been playing music with her family and friends in places all over the world. She enjoys playing and sharing music with others as well as playing by herself. She has had experience playing festivals, gigs, street performing, but what she loves the most about music is its ability to take her out of whatever situation she is in and bring herself peace and happiness. Leh is a "product" of Jam Camp, first being inspired to get creative and has now progressed to facilitating. She hopes to continue jamming for years to come...

Monika Gordon

Monika is one who dabbles in many an instrument... though she has more recently started focusing on the upright bass and classical guitar. Monika is currently attending Okanagan College, where she is working on her Writing and Publishing degree as well as her Media and Society diploma. She is the student representative for the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art; where she tries to promote more writing and music based events to happen within the community. She has participated in music festivals throughout B.C, with guitar and a youth choir, receiving multiple awards for her playing. Monika is currently playing with a few local artists throughout the Okanagan Valley. The main group focuses on composing original songs from various genres and playing at local venues. She has also been playing with a local jazz pianist, and occasionally fills in as a bass player for a hip-hop group.

Monika is extremely interested in the way society uses music, the role it plays in defining ones self, as well as the need for music within communities. She has just recently returned from a research project in Vanuatu where she studied the way in which the traditional music of the area has been affected by both colonisation and western media.

Monika believes that the young people of the community (and other local artists) need more support within their community. She is a strong believer in people coming together to discuss not only their art, but also what (who) they are being inspired by. For this reason she cannot wait to participate in the sharing of knowledge that occurs at Jam Camp, and is excited to experience the wonderful creativity of the fellow jam campers.

Jacynthe Guimond

Jacynthe grew up on a dairy farm in a small town in rural Québec, where she would often take her horse, goat, dog, cats and rabbit for long walks in the field. She was exposed to traditional music and dancing at a very young age, as the fiddle, "squeeze box", harmonica, guitar, spoons and song circles were a central part of family gatherings growing up.

After traveling from Central America to Alaska and Asia, Jacynthe settled in Montreal in 2005 to work as an environmental and social consultant, mainly on behalf of Aboriginal peoples in Northern Québec and elsewhere in Canada.

Jacynthe has taken full advantage of the "big city" to put into practice her love of dancing, which ranges from African, swing, salsa and merengue to line-dancing, square-dancing and step-dancing. She has performed at numerous venues in Montréal and its surrounding areas.

Jacynthe is very much looking forward to sharing Québécois traditional dances, songs and culture at Jam camp this summer! Au plaisir de danser avec vous! YEEHAAH!!

Colin Lopatecki

Colin grew up listening to the sounds of piano, and moved on to make use of his musical ear through a degree in mass communications, specializing in sound engineering, studio recording, radio, and mixing for live concerts over the past 20 years. He finally committed to the banjo at the same time as he started a family with Wendi, being determined to make music a family pastime instead of having a television. His ultimate goal is to live at a beach with a great surf break, switching between the banjo and a surfboard with family, friends and bare feet. Jam Camp comes in remarkably close to this dream - and while it is only 4 days and there is no surf, he will be making the most of this fantastic time sharing his clawhammer banjo skills with anyone who wants to learn, and spreading the joy of family music making.

Wendi Lopatecki

Wendi began learning to play the guitar as a teenager and spent most of her musical time jamming on camping trips with a her group of musical and creative friends. Jam Camp feels much like those distant days, now that she is a mother of two children and spends most of her time building a house and gardening on the Gulf Islands. Luckily, her husband, Colin, picked up the banjo at the time of the birth of their first daughter 9 years ago, and since then they have been staying up way too late getting some time together writing songs and learning a few traditional old time tunes. The growing of the family has become a strong motivation for creating music as a way of connecting and communicating together, and Wendi and her family have been seen chopping out a few tunes around the island. Jam Camp offers a new context from those distant days which include the many smiling faces of children and parents, and Wendi is excited to share her experiences of song, guitar and fiddle with the extended Jam Camp family.

Joe McLeod

Singer/Songwriter, Bluegrass Musician, Storyteller

I grew up in the small town of Rockwood, Ontario, Canada. My earliest memories consist of being rocked to sleep in a gun crate that hung beneath the maple and beech trees while my older siblings and parents made the annual batch of maple syrup. Later on, I took my turn in boiling down the sap into maple syrup and roasting the pigs while CCR, Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones echoed through the woods while friends and family danced on the homemade dance-floor. When I was 16 years-old, these experiences inspired me to finally learn to play the guitar and since then I have travelled afar and lived in every corner of North America including Florida, British Columbia, Colorado, New Mexico, Tennessee, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Alberta.

My songs embody the stories of these places, being on the road, and having your heart and hands in the country. For nearly 20-years, I have performed in a variety of formats and at a variety of venues and have developed a solid understanding of the level of commitment it takes to be a professional musician.

Amy Miles

Amy\'s great passion in life is to create earnest ukulele covers of over-produced pop songs—especially the four-chord variety. A Jam Camp veteran—she\'s missed only two since its inception—she can usually be found teaching Ukulele 101 and 201, leading camp songs (or shouting matches), or running around taking photographs and asking strange interview questions that may, or may not, end up on the internet. Amy loves the Jam Camp family, and is consistently inspired by how creative every person can be.

Katie Miles

Katie lives in Oregon but has been a part of Jam Camp since the very first drum circle, almost ten years ago. She is both an experienced member of several technical choirs and a lover of singing Down to the River while floating in the lake. Katie loves teaching ukulele to both little littles and anyone else! She believes in taking care of the earth and taking care of others. She believes Jam Camp does a wonderful job of just that.

Tarun Nayar

Tarun is a hybrid, a meeting point between east and west; a cross-cultural (con)fusion. He is a classically trained tabla player, a DJ, and a producer, obsessed with fusing traditional Asian sounds with wicked electronic beats. He performs globally, trains in Mumbai, and represents the Canadian massive in Vancouver. As a producer, Tarun creates South Asian influenced sonic landscapes and uptempo asian beats and breaks. As a DJ, 'Tspoon' mashes funk, hip-hop, dancehall and bhangra into a bouncy, juicy dance floor madness. As a tabla player, Tarun trains classically in the Punjab school, and represents in both traditional and electronic situations. Tarun is currently performing with 3 projects; global music DJ collective Beats Without Borders; crazy celtic punjabi live electronic act Delhi2Dublin; and bhangra/ grime/ hip-hop trio BPM.

Colby Ramsay

Colby Ramsay grew up in Naramata, British Columbia. Music became a part of his life at a young age; he began playing the piano and making up songs as a small child. However, his song-writing career really took off when he picked up the guitar in high school. In 2006 he left home to attend the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC.

Influenced by the changing events in his life and his travels to Africa and Europe, Ramsay continued to grow and develop as a songwriter. In early 2009 he won a record deal with the fledgling student-run record label Vinyl Records UNC, and recorded "The Study of Animal Magicality" with the support of Colin Iwanski, Mallorie Price , Malcolm Burn, and Andrew Hamlet. Colby is a singer, guitar player, song writer, and video maker.

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Tyler Rudolf

Tyler's musical interests range from early jazz to bhangra, though he is particularly passionate about bluegrass, old-time, and the fusion of folk traditions. An accomplished songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Tyler is at heart a storyteller who captures universal themes through tales and anecdotes. Instrumentally he is driven by improvisation and harnessing the melodic potential of his music.

Leaving Winnipeg for the west in 1995, Tyler picked up his first banjo and went on to firmly establish himself in Vancouver's acoustic music scene. For three years he served as programmer and host of Bluegrass for Breakfast and High on Grass on UBC's CITR 101.9FM. He has since performed with numerous Canadian roots acts, but his main projects include Viper Central and the Bogghoppers, a Montréal-based old-time trio. Currently completing his M.Sc. in applied conservation biology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Tyler cherishes the opportunity to grow, learn, and share with the artists of tomorrow at Jam Camp.

Chris Suen

Christopher Suen sings and plays clawhammer banjo, guitar, piano, pipe organ, and classical Chinese zithers (guzheng and guqin). Although he only started playing banjo in 2005, he has firmly established himself in Vancouver's acoustic music community with his different musical projects: the alt-bluegrass string band Whiskeyjar; the high energy Appalachian old-time trio Shout! White Dragon; and the rootsy folk band Lily Come Down. He also teaches banjo lessons and workshops, and he is at the heart of a collective of old-time musicians in Vancouver who host regular jams, workshops and square dances. Chris is also assistant choir director and principal organist at his Vancouver church Holy Family Parish, a community that offers traditional services in Latin, with Gregorian chant and Renaissance choral music. His love of music and community finds full expression in Jam Camp, which he values as a unique opportunity for campers, parents, and facilitators to be enlightened by each other's musical energy and creativity in the spirit of fun and sharing.

Owen Thomas

Owen Thomas is a musician, teacher and facilitator in Vancouver with a background in piano, guitar, and choral music. He trained and performed with the UBC Choral Union and the Northland College Choral Ensemble, including performances with the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble and the Duluth Symphony Orchestra. Owen teaches privately and for school groups, and brings his love of contemporary world music, folk music, and the traditional music of many cultures into workshops with Adults and Youth, including Vancouver Jam Camp, Mabel Lake Jam Camp, and guest Choral Directing both chapters of Local Vocals Community Choir.

Ivan Tucakov

Ivan is a performer, composer and music producer. He has been playing guitar for 15 years. Recently, he has been studying Latin and flamenco guitar techniques, and also obtains extensive knowledge of guitar techniques and music theory taught by the Berkley School of Music.

In his academic years, Ivan studied in his thesis the mechanics of producing simulated sounds of plucked guitar strings. Since then, he has been diversely involved in music production. Besides focusing on acoustic projects that usually involve recording a variety of ethnic instruments, Ivan has dived into the world of electronica as well. One of his electronic tracks was released on the European lounge electronica compilation Cafe Del Mar.

Currently he leads a world fusion band called Tambura Rasa and runs a company that offers various services such as music and video production, soundtracks, and digital design.

Celina Tumbach

Celina is a singer-songwriter and guitar player who has been writing songs since her youth. Celina has performed in various venues, festivals and community events in the Okanagan and in Vancouver. Celina's music is inspired by environmental and social issues, as well as by the beauty of Nature and the people in her life.

Thomas Tumbach

Thomas Tumbach is a strings guy, and he likes to sing songs too... oh yeah, and drum, and dance, and garden, and play with kids, and cook, and play hockey, and .... Jam Camp is like coming home for Thomas, as he loves being surrounded by wonderful, creative new and old friends, especially outdoors in the wonderful Mabel Lake valley!

James Wallace

James started on guitar as a very young boy when his mother used to bribe him with $5 bills to practice. Before he even knew it, music had crept into his heart and permeated his soul. He plays guitar, piano, drums, and whatever else inspires him in the moment. He is a passionate singer-songwriter with an original style somewhere in between folk, rock, pop, jazz and blues. He has played the open-mike circuits in Vancouver for many years now and is currently working on his debut album.

Chris Ward

Chris spent much of his musical career in the Maritime provinces of Canada. Musical indulgences took the form of playing acoustic and bass guitar in progressive rock and power blues bands. Chris brings an interesting musical influence to the Jam Camp experience with a healthy appreciation for the heavier side of the musical spectrum. In essence, Chris is a lover of the groove - whether the groove is created by Prince, Parliament or Pantera. Chris attempts to introduce concepts of detuning, intricate time signatures and odd-time rhythms while maintaining the ability to listen and react to other musicians. Expect the music from his corner of Jam Camp to be both weird and wonderful.

Instructors