Mary Alice Amidon

http://www.amidonmusic.com/

Peter Amidon

Peter Amidon fell into the world of traditional music in 1975 and has never turned back. He is thrilled to now be able to make a living as a freelance musician/educator/publisher: telling stories to all age groups, leading harmony singing with adults and teaching and leading dance with children, teachers and families.

Staff

Stefan Amidon

Stefan Amidon grew up singing with his family and picked up many instruments along the way. Primarily a drummer, Stefan has played with many folk bands such as Popcorn Behavior/Assembly, Lissa Schneckenberger, Matt and Shannon Heaton, and Wild Asparagus. Currently he is most active as a drummer with country/honky-tonk band The Sweetback Sisters and Irish-rooted contra dance band, Magic Foot. Stefan also has much experience leading shape note singing at festivals and camps, and at Oberlin College. He graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a degree in Jazz Performance, which he is not really sure what to do with beyond hanging it on the wall.

Karen Axelrod

Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. She is in the band Foxfire, with Daron Douglas. Karen plays accordion with 3rd String Trio, a band that plays old world cafe music. She also plays accordion for Orion Longsword. When not playing music, Karen spends her time managing her dog walking business and coming in last in marathons.

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

Mary Cay Brass

Mary Cay Brass conducts three very successful community choruses in southern Vermont and western Massachusetts which focus on traditional music from many countries. She has worked for the past 20 years for the Vermont based summer singing camp, Village Harmony, for whom she most recently led four singing trips to the Balkans. She currently teaches elementary music at a private school in southern Vermont and is a founding member of New England Dancing Masters which has published numerous books, cd's and dvd's for teaching community dance. Since the early 1980s she has been playing for traditional New England contra dances all over the country. On both piano and accordion she has the rhythmic drive and energy that make her a much sought after musician.

http://www.dancingmasters.com/marycaybrass.html

http://www.berea.edu/music/people/kathybullock.asp

Kathy Bullock

Kathy Bullock's father was a Baptist minister and she grew up singing and playing piano and organ in his church and performing with her four sisters. She is a professor of music at Berea College where, in addition to teaching music theory and ear training, she teaches courses in African-American music and directs the gospel choir.

Arthur Davis

Arthur Davis has been playing music, singing and dancing as long as he can remember. He has been seen on many an occasion playing tunes for a dance, morris dancing on the street, or belting out a song in a pub. Also, as an original member of the Washed Up Beulah Band quartet, Arthur has delved into the world of jubilee quartet singing. As a song leader, Arthur strives to create an enthusiastic dynamic of fun, quality and inclusiveness in his teaching. He is currently a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he plans to focus on environmental studies, as well as continuing his many musical endeavors.

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

Brad Foster

Brad Foster, from Amherst, MA, has been dancing and teaching English country, contras and squares, and morris and sword for over 40 years. He is well known for sharing the joy found in dance, and has taught throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe, including at Berea, Pinewoods, Mendocino, John C. Campbell Folk School and Augusta. He is Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Country Dance and Song Society, after 28 years as Director. He is also a founder of the Bay Area Country Dance Society as well as co-founder of their Mendocino English and American dance weeks. Photo by Marty Stock

Nils Fredland

Nils Fredland has been calling dances since 2000. Respected for his expertise as a teacher and caller, and beloved for his sensitive leadership, generosity and friendliness, Nils is one of the busiest callers in the business. He is caller and trombone player with the touring contra dance band, Elixir, and can be heard playing his horn and calling with several other popular bands coast to coast and overseas. Nils is also widely known as an engaging and skillful song leader. His goal is to create a welcome and safe environment for all participants, and to deliver a joyful, community-building experience through learning and singing together.

http://www.nilsfredland.com/

Ethan Hazzard-Watkins

Ethan Hazzard-Watkins performs traditional and original music with infectious energy, passion and grace. His fiery, lyrical fiddling fuses elements of Irish, French Canadian and New England styles, along with influences from swing, blues and classical music. Based in Brattleboro, VT, Ethan tours extensively with bands such as Elixir, The Figments, Green Street and others. From April 2008 to April 2009 Ethan was Youth Projects Intern for the Country Dance and Song Society, where he worked to encourage young people to get involved in traditional dance and music.

http://www.ethanhw.com

David Jones

Keith Murphy

Keith Murphy has been immersed in music and dance since his childhood days in Newfoundland. His distinctive rhythmic sound on guitar, mandolin, piano and foot percussion has helped drive several great contra dance bands including Nightingale, Wild Asparagus and Assembly. Having performed at many dance events throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as overseas, he brings a wealth of experience and sophistication to his playing.

www.blackislemusic.com

American Dance Musicians Course

Suzannah Park

Suzannah Park comes from a family of three generations of ballad singers and storytellers and has been performing Appalachian folk music for most of her life. Her interest in the performance and study of traditional music of many kinds has taken her from music-filled kitchens to concert halls across the U.S. and Europe. She is currently singing in the group The Starry Mountain Trio, teaching harmony singing around the country and is in her eleventh year as a guest director for the VT singing organization, Village Harmony. Suzannah is known for her powerful voice and striking harmonies and her ability to inspire others with her love of music. She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband Nathan and their amazing dog Beamer.

http://www.suzannahpark.com/

http://www.annapatton.com/

Anna Patton

Anna Patton plays dance tunes on the clarinet with great verve, clarity and harmonic whim. Besides English and contra dance tunes, her repertoire includes Balkan dance tunes, Brazilian choros and early jazz. Based in Brattleboro, VT she has spent much of her young life on tour around the U.S. and abroad, singing and playing for dancers, concert goers and pedestrians. She also enjoys teaching music to kids and adults and writing arrangements.

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Gillian Stewart

Most recently found behind the counter in the Pinewoods kitchen, Gillian Stewart is thrilled to be trading her kitchen whites for morris whites, and her work clogs for rapper shoes! Since somewhat accidentally taking over teaching her first morris team - Banbury Cross - at age 13, Gillian has enjoyed teaching and choreographing ritual dance throughout New England. She currently dances with Muddy River Morris, Maple Morris, and Orion Longsword.

http://www.blackislemusic.com/

Becky Tracy

Becky Tracy grew up dancing to her father's calling and scratchy 78s of Don Messer's fiddle playing. She has fiddled with the bands Nightingale and Wild Asparagus for the last 15 years and has played in many, many lovely places including Hawaii and France. Becky has a distinctive clarity of tone, a rhythmic attack owing much to French-Canadian playing and the melodic quality of Irish music. Her unmistakable sound has made her a defining presence among dance musicians.