Rock Camp for Girls Montreal

Summer is officially here, and the girls in Montreal are totally rocking it – in all aspects of life. Rock Camp for Girls Montreal (RC4GM) is a week-long camp that fosters the promotion of self-esteem, skill-building, and critical thinking skills for girls, and gender nonconforming youth, through collaborative music composition and performance. Campers learn to play an instrument (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, or vocals), form a band, and write and record an original song at Hotel2Tango, one of North America’s most sought after recording studios. By the week’s end, campers show off their talents to friends, family, and community members at the Showcase Concert. Sounds cool, right? It gets better. The music component is supplemented with workshops based on feminist and anti-oppression frameworks that provide girls with a space for critical examination and empowerment. Topics that have been previously offered include: self-defense, zine making, media literacy, critical thinking, silk-screening, and image and identity.

The ultimate aim of the camp is to serve girls and gender nonconforming youth who could benefit from the freeing and supportive environment created during the summer camp. RC4GM welcomes campers between the ages of 10 and 17, and campers do NOT need to own an instrument, have any prior musical experience, or live in Montreal to apply/attend. The Awesome Without Borders grant will be put towards rental fees for drum kits, guitars and guitar amps, basses and bass amps, keyboards and keyboard amps, vocal mics, as well as PA systems and mixers.

If you feel inspired, they just launched a crowdfunding campaign to support their next camp, which will take place July 20-26th. To keep up with the group, follow them on Facebook, and check out their website for more info. Rock on!