CAMMAC was founded in 1953 by George and Carl Little, with their wives, Madeleine and Frances. The four set up a music centre at Otter Lake in the Laurentians, and began organizing a music camp which included music from many cultures. Other active founding members were
Mario Duschenes, who taught recorder for many years; and Walter and
Otto Joachim. In 1968, CAMMAC opened a summer music camp at Lake MacDonald at Harrington, Quebec. Canadian baritone and educator
Jan Simons was general director of CAMMAC from 1969 to 1990, and taught at the Lake MacDonald centre for 50 years. While CAMMAC's focus has been amateur music making, a number of alumni have gone on to professional careers in music, in some cases coming back as teachers. From 1978 to 2009, CAMMAC also operated a second music centre in the Toronto area (various locations), called the CAMMAC Ontario Music Centre. This centre was renamed Lake Field Music in 2010, moved to the
Lakefield College School in the
Kawartha Lakes area of
Ontario), and operates as an independent entity. At various times, in addition to the regions mentioned above, CAMMAC chapters were active in
Quebec City and
Nova Scotia. Since July 2020, CAMMAC’s summer music camp has been offering a wide range of music classes online. There was a wide range of disciplines and genres, from classical piano to world percussion. Private and semi-private classes, group classes, workshops and conferences are available, offered by an impressive lineup of experienced professional musicians. Notable conferences include 400 Years of Opera, A History of One of the Major Genres of Classical Music, presented in collaboration with the
Opéra de Montréal. ==References==