CEMUCHCA School of Music
In the early 90's, a group of young adults gathered to play music and offer their talents to the communities in the North of Haiti. They named their group CEMUCHCA (Circle of Christian Musicians of Cap Haitian) and had the goal of assembling and managing talent and musicians to present concerts in the region. After several successful years CEMUCHCA went dormant for a period of time, only to be reinvigorated in 2004. The scope of activities has broadened to include the goal of providing the impetus for change in artistic production across Haiti.
Some of the current objectives are:
To increase the number of artists of high level throughout the North of Haiti by finding and supporting children and adolescents with the most potential talent
To build a campus and concert space just outside of Cap Haitian, creating a center for artistic activity not just in the north of Haiti but throughout the country
To initiate artistic training for about 100 young people per year within the various disciplines offered
To continue to offer a summer camp designed to promote and improve the quality of training programs existing throughout the country
CEMUCHCA’s work has already resulted in job creation and the development of more autonomy for the youth of the north. Through teaching, performing and repairing instruments, more and more young people are able to support, at least in part, themselves and their families.
Today, CEMUCHCA’s task is to promote and develop Art and Culture throughout the Northern Department. The CEMUCHCA Music Institute, founded in 2007, is the best example of their efforts. In existence now for over ten years, they quickly established a reputation as one of the most highly regarded music programs in the country. Their annual summer music camp attracts students from throughout Haiti and an international faculty. They have several highly trained, fully professional luthiers and band instrument repair technicians and are poised to set up a national school of instrument repair. The main campus in Cap Haitian serves about 250 students. There are 4 annexes in the north and 4 elsewhere in the country.
Thanks to dynamic teachers, the string program is very active and consists of a Philharmonic Orchestra, a Chamber Orchestra and a Beginning String Orchestra. The band program presents very popular public activities on Flag Day and on other regional and national occasions. There are a significant number of students in piano and there are several levels of music theory. A number of CEMUCHCA’s teachers and students have formed their own ensembles and several former teachers/students are now playing with the most storied ensembles in the north. The on-site recording studio is in high demand for area musicians to produce their own CD’s or radio spots.
For the past several years, the CEMUCHCA summer camp has served between 300-350 students coming from across the nation with an international volunteer faculty. Thanks to CEMUCHCA’s partnership with BLUME Haiti, the summer camp is also an opportunity to offer seminars on varied subjects such as Teaching the Young String Player, General Pedagogy, Conducting, Oboe Playing , Instrument Repair and more.
The CEMUCHCA Violin Shop operates under the direction of Grafield Hylaris, AKA Tchoupy, who has a fully professional level in string instrument repair. Thanks to support from BLUME Haiti and Music Fund (an NGO based in Belgium), Tchoupy was able to profit from a six-week apprenticeship with a luthier in Cremona, Italy - the cradle of violin making.
CEMUCHCA has brilliantly hosted the Haitian Orchestra Institute, co-sponsored by BLUME Haiti and the Musicians of the Utah Symphony, and has welcome the Utah musicians to their city to work with talented Haitian participants from across the nation. Though the 2020 HOI had to be cancelled, they look forward to the opportunity to host this event again.
Their current needs:
Strong partnerships with other organizations convinced of the need to contribute to the reconstruction of Haiti through the systematic teaching of music.
Volunteers able to come to Haiti for short or extended periods of time to share their experiences with their young musicians.
Financial support to cover food and accommodation for the foreign teachers already in post or who come go to
Cap Haitian from time to time to help move the program forward.
Given the motivation of their students, all of this work should go continue and it will be more successful with the help of volunteer teachers from around the world. Already CEMUCHCA wishes these teachers a warm welcome home!
CEMUCHCA Registered office: 34, Street 18 & K-L Cap-Haitian, Haiti, Greater Antilles.
Phone: (509) 3908-94-22