| Fall
Newsletter - Nov. 2007 - Coming
Next Summer...
(This is the text from
our newsletter. To receive a hardcopy of our newsletter and catalog
in the mail, complete with a registration form, pictures and other
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Traditional Song Week, July 6-12 NEW!!!
Fiddle Week, July 6-12
Celtic Week, July 13-19
Old-Time Music & Dance Week, July 20-26
Contemporary Folk Week, July 27-August 2
Guitar Week, July 27-August 2
Dulcimer Week, August 3-9
Sing & Swing Week’s Elise Witt
informed us last year that she would be stepping down as coordinator
at the conclusion of the 2007 workshops after eight superb seasons.
None of our other programs is so much a reflection of the personal
vision of its coordinator as Sing & Swing Week,
and finding a successor was a daunting task. Unfortunately, we
were unable to find a suitable replacement for Elise in time for
the 2008 season. But for you fans of the program, and singing
in general, there’s good news, too.
New for 2008:
• Traditional Song Week is a new program
based on a variety of traditional song genres and coordinated
by singer and former Celtic Week staffer Julee Glaub.
See the Traditional Song Week section below for more details.
• Fiddle Week has a new coordinator; our
Logistics Assistant and cellist /fiddler Julia Weatherford
takes over, as Fiddle Week moves to our first week slot to be
paired with Traditional Song Week. See what’s new in the
Fiddle Week section.
• Dulcimer Week moves to our fifth week
slot.
•Our sister program, the Swannanoa School of Culinary
Arts will run over two weeks next year, July
13-19 and July 20-26. Call 828-301-2792
or visit www.schoolofculinaryarts.org
for more info.
• Our Children’s Program, directed
by Denisa Rullmoss will run during Fiddle/ Traditional
Song Week as well as Celtic and Old-Time
Weeks.
• For those families bringing small children, we will continue
to provide evening childcare at no additional cost.
The Swannanoa Gathering is structured around what we call an ‘open
format’, which allows students to create their own curriculum
and take as many classes as there are periods in the day. We require
that students register for specific classes, but allow them to
switch after the first day into another, open class if they find
they have made an inappropriate choice. After this ‘settling-in’
period, we expect that students will remain in those classes,
and we discourage dropping in and out of classes during the week.
This structure allows students considerable flexibility, and is
an essential element of the program’s character and appeal.
Many of our classes may include musical notation or tablature,
though in general, we emphasize learning by ear.
In general, classes have a maximum of 15 students. Some may have
more or less than this figure due to the nature of the subject
or the discretion of the instructor, and limits for each class
will be indicated in our catalog. Several of the 2007 workshops
filled up early last year and we expect that trend to continue
as more of our programs approach their limits, and although our
schedule of classes is not currently complete, pre-registrations
from this newsletter are encouraged. Folks may register
with a tuition deposit of $100 and may reserve
housing without a deposit. The deadline for pre-registration
is Feb. 16. Pre-registrants will be sent a class schedule
as soon as it is ready and given priority in class assignments.
Full payment is required by June 6 to guarantee a space.
After that date, class reservations will be unconfirmed until
we receive the balance. If we are holding a space for a student
in a class that is full, and their balance is unpaid after June
6, we may release that space to another student.
At present, we are completing our staff selections for next year,
but many of our instructors have already confirmed. The online
version of this newsletter will be continually updated with the
most current staff roster. Here’s a peek at the 2008 lineup....
Our new vocal program, Traditional Song Week,
July 6-12, celebrates a variety of styles including
Appalachian, Irish & Scottish ballads, gospel, shape-note,
harmony duets, Carter Family, honky-tonk and sea songs and much,
much more. Confirmed so far are coordinator Julee Glaub
and her music partner Mark Weems of Little Windows,
Irish singer Daithi Sproule, former Red Clay
Rambler Jim Watson, gospel singer Connie
Badgett Steadman, folk choir director Milt Crotts,
shape-note leader Matt Wojcik, Scottish balladeer
Ed Miller, American song collector Jeff
Warner, African-American historians Kim &
Reggie Harris, and several more. The highlight of the
week will be a visit from guest Master Artist and National Heritage
Award winner, our own Master Music Maker, Jean Ritchie.
For Fiddle Week, July 6-12, new coordinator Julia
Weatherford has re-structured the schedule and added
new classes in mandolin and bass and as well as cajun, swing,
Irish, Scottish, old-time, creole, Cape Breton & bluegrass.
The staff currently includes Andy Stein (swing),
Joe Craven (new acoustic), Nicky Sanders
(bluegrass), Ashley Broder (mandolin), Jamie
Laval (technique/Scottish), Calum MacKinnon (Scottish),
Kevin Wimmer (cajun), Seamus Connolly
(Irish), D’Jalma Garnier (creole), Kimberley
Fraser (Cape Breton), Alan Jabbour (old-time),
Mike Block (cello) Natalya Weinstein
(beginner fiddle) and bassist Jeff Hersk. We’ll
continue to offer guitar accompaniment classes featuring David
Surette, Mike Dowling and more.
Celtic Week, July 13-19, will
again run in our second week slot, with some exciting new faces
and classes, including Patrick Street's fiddle and tenor banjo
virtuoso, John Carty, and the return of Cape
Breton fiddle taught by newcomer Kimberley Fraser.
Although the staff is incomplete, we’re thrilled to welcome
back the great Irish fiddlers Martin Hayes, Liz
Carroll and Gerry O’Connor, Galway
singer Sean Keane, powerhouse guitarist and singer
John Doyle, Scottish fiddlers Pete Clark
& Jamie Laval, Lúnasa flute player
Kevin Crawford, uilleann piper Ivan Goff,
Scottish folklorist Margaret Bennett, ex-Solas
and Danu guitarist Donal Clancy, our Celtic Week
Host, flute player John Skelton, Scots balladeer
Jim Malcolm, Irish singer Aoife Clancy,
mandolin/guitarist Eamon O'Leary, whistle player
Kathleen Conneely, Scottish fiddler Jane
MacMorran, harper Billy Jackson, bodhran
player Stephanie Johnston Celtic fingerstyle
guitarist Robin Bullock, Irish dance instructor
Eileen Mulligan Evans, button accordionist Martin
Quinn, whistle/banjoist Angelina Carberry
and more.
For Old-Time Music & Dance Week, July
20-26, coordinator Phil Jamison’s
staff already includes Rayna Gellert, Bruce
Greene, Paul Kovac, Carol Elizabeth
Jones, Erynn Marshall, John
Hollandsworth, Carl Jones, Beverly
Smith, Trevor Stuart, Travis
Stuart, Sheila Kay Adams, Gordy
Hinners, Susie Goerhing, Kinney
Rorrer,
Jeremy Stephens, Kirk Sutphin, Ron
Pen, John Herrmann, Meredith
McIntosh, Don Pedi, Ira Bernstein
and Rodney Sutton, with more to be added. We
will once again continue our tradition of visits by special Guest
Master Artists from the senior generation of local traditional
performers throughout the week. Classes will include fiddle, clawhammer
banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, clogging, square and contra dance,
dance calling, southern harmony singing, string band, shaped-note
singing and more.
Contemporary Folk Week, July 27-August
2, begins its 16th year offering a week in artist development
for all acoustic performers. Classes will include songwriting,
performance, indie marketing for musicians, commercial songwriting
and more, with special guest artists. The lineup so far includes
the incredible singer/songwriters Vance Gilbert,
David Wilcox, Peter Mulvey,
Cliff Eberhardt, Brooks Williams,
Kate Campbell, and Anais Mitchell,
vocalist Siobhan Quinn, commercial singer/songwriter
Kyler England, and guitar theory guru Ray
Chesna, with entertainment lawyer Bob Hicks,
Alexander Technique teacher Meredith McIntosh
singer/songwriter and vocal coach Danny Ellis
and more.
Guitar Week, July 27-August 2,
offers classes in fingerstyle and flatpicking, blues, gypsy jazz,
bossa nova, accompaniment and beginning guitar, as well as instruction
in banjo, dobro and more, covering a variety of styles. Coordinator
Al Petteway has recruited the great fingerstylists
Peter Finger, Doug Smith, Michael
Chapdelaine, Pat Kirtley and Vicki
Genfan, swing/blues guitarists Pat Donohue,
Mary Flower, Scott Ainslie,
and Rolly Brown, Celtic heavyweights Steve
Baughman and Robin Bullock, flatpicking
whiz Scott Nygaard, Hawaiian slack key stylist
Patrick Landeza, mandolinist Ashley Broder,
Grammy-winning dobro player Sally Van Meter,
and bluegrass guitarist Ed Dodson. This year’s
Luthier’s Exhibit will feature the guitars of master luthiers
Gerald Sheppard (www.sheppardguitars.com),
Michael Bashkin (www.bashkinguitars.com),
John Slobod (www.circaguitars.com)
and Kathy Wingert (www.wingertguitars.com),
visits from repairman Randy Hughes and instruments
from the inventory of Dream Guitars (www.dreamguitars.com)
located in nearby Weaverville, NC.
Dulcimer Week will run alone in its own slot
for the first time, from August 3-9. Coordinator Lois
Hornbostel has developed an intimate and skills-based
program featuring small classes and individual attention that
covers both types of dulcimer. The 2008 staff includes mountain
dulcimer instructors Stephen Seifert, Terry
Lewis, Lorinda Jones and Steve
Eulberg, and hammered dulcimer instructors Jody
Marshall, Bill Robinson, Dan
Landrum, Bill Troxler and Ken
Kolodner. The week will once again include visits from
guest artists and a variety of special sessions.
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