Camp Beausite Northwest Launches Inclusive Outdoor Musical Program for Campers of All Abilities

A Washington residential camp focuses on inclusive summer and weekend respite programs for children and adults with disabilities. It has developed an outdoor musical program to enhance its offerings for campers.

Located near Port Townsend, Camp Beausite North West is a certified respite provider that operates year-round, offering camp experiences and respite opportunities for over 350 campers and 1,000 caregivers each year. For more than 30 years, the camp has dedicated itself to serving the special needs community. Founded in 1989, Camp Beausite was created in response to the lack of inclusive camp experiences. Its mission focuses on inclusivity by providing summer and weekend camp programs throughout the year.

The management team decided to create a new musical program for campers, aiming to provide a unique, fun, and exciting experience that is different from what other camps offer. They chose to develop an outdoor music area, and Raina Baker, the Executive Director of Camp Beausite, led the initiative to install a variety of outdoor musical instruments sourced from Percussion Play. The collection includes the Alto Quartet Ensemble, Congas Trio, Emperor Chimes, and Alto Diatonic Freechimes.

Raina used Percussion Play’s innovative app, Composer AR, which is the first of its kind in Augmented Reality (AR). This app has revolutionized how communities design and support spaces with outdoor musical instruments, helping to create a shared vision for music-making. With Composer AR, Raina was able to visualize her musical project even before the instruments were installed. The app allows users to place any Percussion Play instrument within a real-life setting in real-time and play them. It also features an interactive component, enabling users to listen to the sound of each instrument as they play it within the app. No other app on the market currently offers the ability to place multiple items into a scene, save, and share them in a video or presentation.

Raina comments on the new program: “I discovered Percussion Play at the ACA conference in Orlando in 2023 and decided to place an order via their new app. It’s a great feature for camp Directors like myself to use, and I encourage others to download it to help bring their musical programs to life!”

Raina continues, “The number one reason we chose Percussion Play was because all of the instruments are designed for everybody to be able to play them. Our camp is designed to be inclusive for people who have special needs, and many of our campers use wheelchairs or walkers. The ease of use of the instruments and the accessibility were just a few of the huge reasons that we were so excited about Percussion Play’s instruments.”

“We now have an entirely new musical program that is inclusive for all to use within our beautiful grounds. We were lucky enough to have the instruments arrive in time for our summer campers, and they will continue to be enjoyed all year round.”