In honour of Black History Month as well as African Canadian Heritage Month at the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), St. Michael’s Choir School was fortunate enough to host two workshops presented by the DJ instructors from Community Music Schools of Toronto (CMST) on February 24, 2024 (Tuesday).
The workshops were presented by Turnstylez, the DJ crew consisting of Jasper Gahunia (World Beat Juggling Champion), DJ Dopey (World DMC Champion), and DJ Grouch, all internationally renowned DMC and International Turntablist Federation competitors. They have respectively represented Canada on the world stage since the late 1990s, and have backed some of the biggest names in Canadian Hip Hop including Saukrates, Kardinal Offishall, Choclair, Nelly Furtado, K-OS, and Michie Mee.
The DJs from the Turnstylez crew provided an overview of the history of sound system and DJ culture, spoke about the genesis of Hip Hop, demonstrated turntablist techniques, answered questions from the students, and encouraged the SMCS students to come up and try their hand at DJing.
Community Music Schools of Toronto is a registered charity which offers a wide range of free music education classes to students under the age of 18. TCDSB students are welcome to look into expanding their musical skillsets through the courses offered at CMST.
