The Michigan State University Community Music School, or CMS, will host the 15th Annual Eric ‘RicStar’ Winter Music Therapy Camp, also called Ricstar’s Camp, June 15-21.
In celebration of this milestone, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, College of Music Dean James Forger and other community partners will be visiting CMS at 10 a.m. Thursday to explore the various aspects of RicStar’s Camp and interact with campers.
The camp honors Eric Winter, a 12-year-old CMS music therapy client with cerebral palsy who had a passion for music and a dream of starting a music therapy camp. Shortly after his passing in 2003, Winter’s parents, Dick and Judy Winter, along with Cindy Edgerton, director of music therapy clinical services at CMS, made this young boy’s dream a reality and founded the Eric ‘RicStar’ Winter Music Therapy Camp.
For 15 years, RicStar’s Camp has provided an inclusive environment for individuals with special needs and their siblings to express themselves through music and engage with others of varying abilities. Since its initial year, more than 1,260 total campers have attended RicStar’s Camp. Each year, approximately 60 community volunteers, both teens and adults, donate their time to provide one-on-one support to the campers throughout the duration of camp.
Camp will be held for adults Thursday-Saturday and for children, adolescents and young adults June 19-21 at the Community Music School located at 4930 S. Hagadorn Road in East Lansing. Both camps begin each day at 9 a.m.
Each camp will conclude with a Be-a-Star Showcase concert. The showcase for adults will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and the showcase for children, adolescents and young adults will be at 1:30 p.m. June 21. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and Kellie Dean, president and CEO of Dean Transportation, will be in attendance to accept this year’s RicStar Award for Outstanding Special Needs Advocacy. Dean will attend the showcase on Saturday and Calley will attend the June 21 Showcase.
These concerts are free and open to the public and will take place in the Community Music School Performance Hall.
More information on RicStar’s Camp, including camp videos, may be viewed on the CMS website.
