Country Dance and Song Society Folk Music Week at Pinewoods July 24 - 31, 1999 as of 6-9-99: there is a short wait list for this program

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Folk Music Week at Pinewoods July 24 - 31, 1999 Program Directors: Peter & Mary Alice Amidon Staff: Michael Alpert Sam Amidon Stefan Amidon Tony Barrand Thomas Bartlett Kathy Bullock Bob Copper Donald Davis Jeff Davis Lisa Greenleaf Sara Grey Keith Murphy John Roberts Becky Tracy Advisor: Brad Foster

Program Description: [Back to Top]

"It's so hard to choose!" was often heard from campers at last year's Folk Music Week. With this year's dynamic and diverse class offerings, we anticipate that campers will once again find it challenging to decide between classes in Yiddish singing or klezmer band with Michael Alpert; sessions of traditional English song with Bob Copper, John Roberts and Tony Barrand; contra and square dancing with Lisa Greenleaf to the music of Popcorn Behavior, Keith Murphy and Becky Tracy; ballad singing and vocal styles with Sara Grey; contemporary black gospel singing with Kathy Bullock; storytelling with Donald Davis; shape note and harmony singing with the Amidons; banjo class with Jeff Davis, guitar or contra dance band with Keith Murphy, or fiddle with Becky Tracy.

The daily morning gathering is a centerpiece of the week, where the whole community gathers for group singing, dancing and storytelling. On Sunday evening we will turn the camphouse into an authentic English pub, where you can wander back and forth between the English ceilidh dancing at Ampleforth, and the singing, recitations, eating, drinking and gossiping at the Camphouse Pub. For the rest of the week, evenings will feature a concert, followed by a camp-wide contra and square dance with Lisa calling to Popcorn Behavior; each evening dance ending with group singing. There will be plenty of chances for campers to share their own favorite songs. Late night activities include song swaps and slow (instrumental) jams.

Staff: [Back to Top]

Michael Alpert was raised in a Yiddish-speaking family and is one of the leading traditional Yiddish singers of his generation. He has been a pioneering figure in the current renaissance of East European Jewish klezmer music for over 20 years. He is internationally known for his performances and award-winning recordings with Brave Old World, Kapelye, and David Krakauer and the Krakauer Trio. Both a musician and scholar, he has taught Yiddish music, culture and language at Columbia, Oxford and the East European Folklife Center.

Tony Barrand and John Roberts can take much of the credit for spreading traditional Copper Family songs throughout the United States over the last 25 years. While they are each consummate solo singers, their duo singing is unequaled amongst performers of traditional English song. John is also the finest Anglo concertina player on this side of the globe. Tony worked very closely with the Amidons in creating many of the community-building rituals that made Folk Music Week 1998 so memorable.

Bob Copper has been singing with various members of his legendary family for most of the century. He will be here with his children and children-in-law John, Jill and Jon, who are carrying on the Copper singing tradition. The songs that the Copper Family have sung and preserved, including songs of farming, love, and the life of the common folk, make up a large part of the repertoire of today's singers of traditional English song. Now 86, Bob is a sparkling singer and raconteur.

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 Black Music Ensemble, a 60-member boys' choir that performs music from the African-American tradition and by African-American composers. She was a hit teaching gospel singing at the Augusta Heritage Festival last summer; we are proud to welcome her to her first visit to Pinewoods Camp.

Lisa Greenleaf, Boston area caller, got unanimous rave reviews for her thoughtful, intelligent teaching, skilled calling, and entertaining personality at Folk Music Week '98. She is in great demand at dance camps across the country; we are fortunate to get her back again this year.

Sam Amidon, fiddle, Stefan Amidon, percussion, and Thomas Bartlett, piano and accordion, are the founding members of Popcorn Behavior, a hot contra dance and concert band that has achieved critical fame throughout the United States. Sam is a gifted young (17) fiddler who has been most influenced by Irish fiddlers. Thomas (17) is a very creative pianist with one foot in the classical world, and a prolific composer of eccentric tunes that are hard to play and wonderful to dance to. Sam and Thomas consider Stefan's drumming an integral and equal part of their sound. Stefan (14) plays a variety of percussion instruments, with a particular gift for hand drumming, and has developed his own personal style of accompanying traditional dance music.

Keith Murphy, guitar, mandolin and piano, and Becky Tracy, fiddle, are two-thirds of the renowned contra dance band Nightingale. Keith has become a member of Popcorn Behavior in the last year. He is known for his clean, driving rhythms and his superb guitar work in both traditional and DADGAD tunings. Becky, who is also the main fiddler for Wild Asparagus, is one of the best and busiest contra dance fiddlers around.

Sara Grey has been described as "the premier interpreter of American traditional music." Sara has devoted much of her life to studying folklore and collecting and performing music from the various areas in which she has lived, including the northeast, southeast and midwest United States, as well as Wales, Scotland and England. She sings ballads and songs from both sides of the Atlantic, singing unaccompanied or accompanying herself with frailing 5-string banjo.

Jeff Davis has a deep commitment to American music from the oral tradition. His knowledge and skills as a singer and instrumentalist of traditional music run as deep as that of anyone we know.

Donald Davis, with his distinctive down-to-earth narrative style, and his combination of American folktales and personal yarns from his own life, is one of the most popular and beloved storytellers in the country. He is running the Storytellers Course, a special storytelling and creating program (pre-registration required) during Folk Music Week. He will also lead a daily morning storytelling class that is open to all, as well as tell stories to the whole camp throughout the week.

Peter and Mary Alice Amidon are in their second year as program directors of Folk Music Week. They will each teach singing classes and will lead all-camp singing throughout the week. Campers will get to hear the remarkable singing of all four Amidons at Folk Music Week '99! Peter, Mary Alice, Sam and Stefan have been performing and recording together as a family quartet for the past ten years.

Folk Music Week at Pinewoods Tentative Schedule:
9:00 - 10:00
Jewish Life Through Yiddish Song	Michael Alpert
Spirituals	Kathy Bullock
Vocal Styles	Sara Grey
Fiddle	Becky Tracy
Appalachian Folk Tales	Donald Davis
The Copper Family: Singers and Collectors	Bob Copper
10:15 - 11:30
All Camp Gathering of Song, Dance and Storytelling
2:00 - 3:00
English Songs and Stories	Bob Copper, John Roberts and Tony Barrand
Singing Potpourri	Sara Grey
Harmony Singing	Mary Alice Amidon
Shape Note Singing	Peter Amidon
Arrangements for Contra Band	Keith Murphy
3:15 - 4:15
Making Klezmer Music	Michael Alpert
Gospel Singing	Kathy Bullock
Seasonal Songs, Carols and Customs	John Roberts and Tony Barrand
Banjo	Jeff Davis
Couple Dances	Lisa Greenleaf/Becky Tracy
4:30 - 5:30
Ballads	John Roberts, Tony Barrand and Sara Grey
Singing Yiddish Style	Michael Alpert
Gospel Singalong	Kathy Bullock, Peter & Mary Alice Amidon
Contra and Square Dancing	Lisa Greenleaf/Popcorn Behavior
Guitar	Keith Murphy
8:00 - 9:00
Concert	Staff
9:15 - 11:00
Evening Dance Party	Lisa Greenleaf/Popcorn Behavior and Keith Murphy

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]

Yiddish Folk and Popular Song - Michael Alpert
Michael will teach two singing classes. In one he will take you inside the rich traditions of Yiddish folk and popular song as he discusses East European Jewish history and culture; the other will focus more specifically on Yiddish singing styles; including vocal ornamentation and styling, and song interpretation.

Spirituals & Gospel - Kathy Bullock
The Spirituals class will focus on African-American spirituals, and will also include the beginnings of gospel from the early part of the 20th century. Kathy's Gospel class will be a singing and discussion survey of gospel, from the "golden era" of gospel (1920's -40's), through the Hawkins family and James Cleveland, considered traditional mainstream gospel (50's - 70's), and right up to the many styles of current contemporary gospel found in both black and white churches today.

Vocal Styles - Sara Grey
This is a class on vocal styles and techniques for singing traditional songs and ballads, and will include interpretation, phrasing, dynamics, diction, pacing, rhythm, and the use of accompaniment.

Singing Potpourri - Sara Grey
This will be something different every day or two. Classes will include: song accompaniment with banjo, migration of songs from British Isles to North America, logging songs, etc.

Ballads - John Roberts & Sara Grey
Sara and John will sing from their extensive repertoires of traditional storytelling songs from both the Old and the New Worlds, while looking for links between the ballads they sing.

Shape Note Singing - Peter Amidon
There is an amazing variety of styles within this tradition of four-part unaccompanied American sacred song, but all are characterized by strong rhythms, open harmonies, and powerful poetry. Peter will lead singing in the traditional open square from The Sacred Harp and other collections. Music reading skills are helpful, but not absolutely necessary.

English Songs and Stories - Bob Copper, John Roberts and Tony Barrand
Songs and anecdotes of farming village and family life in Sussex and other parts of England from Bob Copper himself, and the English duo most responsible for popularizing Copper Family songs in America.

Harmony Singing - Mary Alice Amidon
Traditional songs, songs by American singer-songwriters, poems set to music by Mary Alice, all in two-, three- and four-part harmony. You will learn some harmonies by ear and some by written music, and also work on making up your own harmonies on the spot. The class will include group warm-ups.

Seasonal Songs, Carols and Customs - John Roberts and Tony Barrand
Village songs and customs follow the cycle of the seasons. Tony and John will take you through the English village year in songs and carols.

The Copper Family: Singers and Collectors - Bob Copper
Bob Copper, along with his family members, Jon, Jill and John, will sing songs passed down and collected by the Copper Family. The class will include anecdotes of Bob's experiences as a folksong and dialect collector for the BBC, tales of the life of James Copper, and some rare vintage recordings of the Copper Family.

Appalachian Folk Tales - Donald Davis
Centered around the telling of particular Appalachian mountain folktales Donald heard in his childhood and youth, this class will look at story traditions of the British Isles, oral connections around the world and the function of the traditional tale in preservation and transmission of cultural lifestyles and mores, humor and the tall tales and fool stories. The class will include plenty of time for questions, interactions and discussion.

Contra and Square Dancing - Lisa Greenleaf with Popcorn Behavior
This is a class for all levels: beginners to experienced dancers. You will learn the elements of traditional social dance as Lisa teaches some of her favorite contras and squares.

Couple Dances - Lisa Greenleaf with Becky Tracy
Lisa will teach "break" dancing - the waltzes, schottisches, polkas and hambos that happen at the intermissions and ends of most contra and square dances. With an emphasis on partner connection, this class will teach the basics and variations of these popular couple dances.

Arrangements for Contra Band - Keith Murphy
Keith is a naturally gifted arranger, as anyone might guess who listens to either of the Nightingale albums. This class will move beyond the basics of good dance playing, and explore some of the many ways to vary the instrumentation, harmonies and texture of a simple dance tune.

Making Klezmer Music - Michael Alpert
For all instrumentalists (bowed strings and hammered dulcimers particularly welcome!), hands-on instruction in the techniques and principles of the East European Jewish instrumental styles at the heart of the current Klezmer Revival.

Fiddle - Becky Tracy
This is a class for intermediate or experienced fiddle players who want to work on their dance fiddling techniques. Becky will teach bowing techniques with a focus on how to create a rhythmic sound appropriate for dance playing by learning a specific bowing for several great dance tunes.

Banjo - Jeff Davis
Jeff will teach a few of the many different traditional banjo styles that have developed on this New World instrument over the last century.

Guitar - Keith Murphy
Keith will teach chordal variations and new voicings to spice up your guitar playing in both traditional and DADGAD tunings. The class will explore the difference between using guitar as a rhythm instrument for dancing and as an accompaniment for singing.

Program Description Staff Class Descriptions & Schedule Top

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Country Dance and Song Society 132 Main St/PO Box 338 Haydenville, MA 01039-0338 Office Hours M-F 9:30am - 5:00pm EST

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