2012 Summer Camp Program Staff
| First | Last | Bio | Program Director | Week | Start Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaye | Fifer |
Gaye Fifer
Gaye Fifer has been calling at dance weekends for several years. Her pleasant style and graceful teaching put dancers at ease and set the stage for a great dance experience. She has also taught numerous waltz workshops at virtually every dance weekend in the East. She now lives in Pittsburgh, PA. and travels whenever she gets the opportunity. |
Program Director | Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 |
| Eden | MacAdam-Somer |
Eden MacAdam-Somer
Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians performing and teaching today. Her music transcends genre. She has been a featured soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and Eastern European and American folk ensembles. She has been an artist at the Aspen and Beijing International Music Festivals, and, with her contemporary folk duo, NotoriousFolk, has traveled across the continental U.S., and visited Alaska, Hawaii, India, Iceland, the U.K., and Afghanistan. In 2009, Eden was accepted as the first doctoral student of the groundbreaking Contemporary Improvisation department of the New England Conservatory of Music. There, she has pursued explorations of composition and improvisation across genres, including works for solo performer on violin, voice, and dance. In between studies, performances and teaching, Eden maintains an active recording career and continues to tour, beguiling audiences with a style that is truly her own. Family Week at Pinewoods , CDSS at Timber Ridge American Dance Musicians Course , English Dance Week at Pinewoods |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Sam | Bartlett |
Sam Bartlett
Sam Bartlett is an irrepressible mandolin, banjo and guitar player, known to dancers across the country for his fine musicianship and philosophy of stuntology. His original music has been profiled by NPR's All Things Considered and Sing Out! magazine declared him a member of “the rhythm players hall of fame.” The inventor and most distinguished practitioner of stuntology, Sam will amaze and delight us with his latest discoveries. Sam's community art projects bring the whole camp into the creative process. Mr. Bartlett has made large scale paper sculptures and puppets for more than 30 years, from the hills of West Virginia to the public school in Gustavus, Alaska. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Mia | Bertelli |
Mia BertelliMia Bertelli hails from the mountains of New Mexico, where she grew up eating raspberries and singing at every chance she could get. Her love of song and singing with others led her to Vermont and Village/Northern Harmony at the age of fifteen, where she had a glorious time and realized it would be a good idea to stick around. Since then she has been singing away throughout the northeast and overseas, filling kitchens, streets, concert halls, bakeries, vegetable gardens, forests and stairwells with song. She delights primarily in singing with others, but also greatly enjoys harmonizing with mechanical objects, playing her fiddle, telling stories, laughing and growing vegetables. She is enthralled by the capability of song to bring people together and lighten any variety of tasks, so is recently particularly inspired by songs with practical applications. She currently periodically attends Marlboro College in Vermont, where she is studying as much of everything as she can, with an emphasis on history and folklore studies. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Nils | Fredland |
Nils FredlandNils 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. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Adina | Gordon |
Adina Gordon
Adina Gordon finds an outlet for her loves of travel, music, dance and silliness by calling and dancing at festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada, creating joy and minor chaos wherever she goes. Combining a voice that makes you WANT to do what she says with a commitment to using that power for good and not evil, Adina calls contras and squares both old and new that cause spontaneous eruptions of joy on dance floors. She counts it as a job well done whenever anyone says, "I don't really like squares, but I like your squares." |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Steve | Hickman |
Steve Hickman
Steve Hickman is a world class fiddler, a passionate historian, a family homesteader, a master hambonist, an organic farmer and a midnight weeder. He has been the backbone of untold numbers of mid-Atlantic dance bands and has taught hambone to several generations of Family Week campers. He has toured internationally with groups including Childsplay. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Abby | Ladin |
Abby Ladin
Abby Ladin grew up immersed in the traditional folk music revival of the ‘70s on the East coast. She was clogging by the age of six, performing with her sister Evie by age 10 and touring nationally at 18 with the renowned dance and music company Rhythm in Shoes. 20 years later she continues to teach the fundamentals and possibilities of clogging to all who crave rhythm in their feet. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Dave | Wiesler |
Dave Wiesler
Dave Wiesler began his musical journey as “the guy who could figure out the chords” in his high school garage band. Nearly 20 years later he discovered playing folk music for dances, and felt that the job description had been written just for him. At home in a wide range of styles, Dave is in demand for contra, English and Scottish country dancing, swing, waltz and vintage dance; and his music has taken him across the country and into Canada, Scotland, England, France and the Galapagos Islands. Dave is a prolific composer of tunes and songs, and is also a capable guitarist and singer. He lives in Newark, DE, with his wife and two young sons who don't let him practice nearly as much as he'd like. http://www.azaleacityrecordings.com/davewiesler/ |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Daniel | Beerbohm |
Daniel Beerbohm
Daniel Beerbohm, on clarinet, flute and penny whistle, spices his English and contra dance playing from a rich background of swing, Klezmer and classical music. He performs extensively with Hold The Mustard, A Joyful Noise, and Reunion, at dances along the East coast and occasionally westward. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Liessa | Bowen |
Liessa BowenLiessa grew up with an artist father and writer mother. She always figured she would grow up to write and illustrate her own stories. She still thinks that would be fun, but she got distracted by singing, dancing, fiddle playing and wildlife biology. She currently is immersed in homeschooling her two boys and is active in the homeschooling community. Not one to be found sitting around inside, Liessa also enjoys camping, hiking, rock-hounding and converting her family’s front yard into an edible landscape. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| John | Devine |
John Devine
John Devine is much loved by the Family Week community as the Pied Piper and as a solid mountain of rhythm guitar for all styles of country dancing from English to New England to Southern, with a not-so-secret leaning toward swing songs and joy. He has one of the most beautiful voices you'll ever hear. He brings a gentle power to all that he does, whether playing guitar, singing songs or tending his farm just over the ridge in northeast West Virginia. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Leslie Jeanne | Devine Milbourne |
Leslie Jeanne Devine Milbourne
Leslie Jeanne Devine Milbourne is our Earth Educator and Nature Goddess and an environmental educator who relishes exploring, discovering and learning how the earth works, and helping others discover the natural beauty around us. She has worked extensively in her field for over 15 years with preschoolers through college students. We are never separate from nature; Leslie helps us to open our senses to the world in which we live. With daughter, Chenaya, and husband, John Devine, she lives just down the road from Timber Ridge Camp where she and John operate their own nature and music camp. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Rachel | Fifer |
Rachel FiferRachel Fifer grew up dancing and singing in Charlottesville, VA. She is a senior at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she will graduate in 2012 with majors in Environmental Studies & Latin American Studies. She sings with Slavei, an Eastern European a cappella group, and co-organizes dances for Wesleyan Contra and WESwing&Blues. She specializes in running off to foreign countries, avoiding schoolwork, and singing or dancing at inopportune moments. She is a lifelong Family Dance Camp missionary and spends most of her energy converting the lost souls of mainstream America with the gospel of the folk community. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Barbara | Greenberg |
Barbara Greenberg
Barbara Greenberg began fiddling during her college years and has been “dancing” on the band stand or a dance floor since 1980. Playing both Contra and English Country dance music with Hold The Mustard, A Joyful Noise, A Band Named Bob and Reunion, she is highly sought after to play and teach at dance weekends and camps. She has recorded 7 albums of dance music with her bands and has traveled internationally with them. When Barbara is not fiddling, she is preparing the next wave of fiddlers and violinists in her studio teaching. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Kappy | Laning |
Kappy Laning
Kappy Laning enjoys teaching English ritual dances (rapper, longsword, border morris and garland) to children and adults. She has taught at several camps in VA,WV, MD and FL over the last 10 years and in local MD schools over the past 5 years. This year will also be Kappy's14th year as CDSS Camp Director. She is delighted to also be teaching a class as it helps her to stay closely connected with the children in camp. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| DeLaura | Padovan |
DeLaura PadovanDeLaura Padovan is a Family Week mainstay and an irrepressibly joyful presence around camp. She is a family dance leader, singer and organic farmer as well as (along with Steve Hickman and their two daughters) one of the pioneers of living life the best way possible, which includes singing, calling, signing and creating one thing out of another. Her motto is "Life is camp!" DeLaura is the Farmers Market Manager for King George Farmers Market, which won America's Favorite (Boutique) Farmers Market Contest in 2010. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Joseph | Pimentel |
Joseph Pimentel
Joseph Pimentel combines cool dances, clear teaching and respect for tradition. Dancing since high school in New England, he draws on many years of experience teaching English country dance and contras throughout the U.S. and abroad. Several of Joseph's own dances are avid travellers, too, and are published in The Cardinal Collection. When not calling or dancing, Joseph is often chasing birds or exploring DC. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Charlotte | Swavola |
Charlotte SwavolaCharlotte Swavola, a Chemistry/Human Biology-Anthropology major at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, started contra dancing when a best friend, and fellow CDSS member, took her to a dance in 5th grade, and then to Family Week at Buffalo Gap the following summer. Since then, the music, dancing and community have become more than something to look forward to, but part of what defines her. She now hopes to give back to the community as much as it has given her. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Ralph | Sweet |
Ralph SweetRalph Sweet has been calling square dances since 1948, and contras since 1952. His specialty these days is singing and patter square dance, as part of his contra dance programs. He has taught workshops in calling squares at Buffalo Gap Camp, at his Powder Mill Barn, and at the Dance Flurry Festival. His new book "On the Beat with Ralph Sweet", co-authored with Nils Fredland, is loaded with fun square dances for every level of dancer experience, with essays on how to get started in calling squares to contra dancers, or to complete beginners. http://www.sweetheartflute.com/Barn/ralph.html |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Larry | Unger |
Larry Unger
Larry Unger has been a prolific tunesmith and full time musician for over 20 years, and probably logs more road miles each year than any other contra dance musician, playing guitar, banjo, piano and bass with numerous bands. Larry's broad musical interests include old-time, blues and swing AND he's a great teacher too. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Andrew | VanNorstrand | Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | ||
| Noah | VanNorstrand | Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | ||
| Bill | Wellington |
Bill WellingtonBill Wellington is a storyteller, fiddler, banjo player, songwriter, and dance caller who has entertained audiences throughout America for over thirty years. Widely known for his Radio Woof recordings and performances, he is a hit with kids and parents alike. |
Adult & Family Week | 08/12/12 | |
| Anna | Patton |
Anna PattonAnna 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Program Director | American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 |
| Ethan | Hazzard-Watkins |
Ethan Hazzard-WatkinsEthan 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/index.html |
Program Director | American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 |
| Adam | Broome |
Adam Broome
Adam Broome (Guitar, Cittern and Vocals) was born and raised in rural England to a life full of music, theatre and dance. His unique songwriting and playing style has been influenced over the years by many musical genres and traditions. Making music his livelihood, Adam tours full time with his band Crowfoot, performing for concerts and dances and leading workshops on DADGAD guitar throughout the U.S., Canada and abroad. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Ruthie | Dornfeld |
Ruthie DornfeldRuthie Dornfeld's rich tone, impeccable groove and fluency in a wide range of traditional fiddle styles -- from Celtic and old-time, to Eastern European -- have made her a popular performer and teacher at camps throughout the country and abroad. During her 15-year sojourn in New England, Ruthie was a mainstay in the Boston contra dance scene. Currently Ruthie performs with accordionist Jeremiah McLane, the international trio ACO (American Café Orchestra) and the French cabaret group Rouge. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Jesse | Edgerton |
Jesse Edgerton
Jesse Edgerton first became a fan of speaking into a microphone as a staff DJ at his college radio station in 1999. At around the same time, he began contra dancing rather obsessively. In 2005, he decided to combine his two loves and began calling contra and square dances. As a caller of family and community dances as well as a pioneer in the burgeoning techno/alt music contra dance movement, Jesse has delighted dancers of all levels, energies and interests up and down the east coast, calling weekly dances from Tinmouth, VT and Greenfield, MA to Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC and such dance weekends as Summer Soiree and the Youth Dance Weekend. Jesse also teaches swing and flatfoot workshops. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Lisa | Greenleaf |
Lisa GreenleafLisa Greenleaf has been treating dancers across the country to her high spirited, witty calling and is known for precise walk-throughs of zesty and flowing dances. Whether she is presenting cool contras, hot squares, or focused callers' workshops, Lisa engages the crowd with her humor and community spirit. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Tresne | Hernandez |
Tresne HernandezTresne Hernandez has been bouncing and grooving ever since her brother first brought her to a swing dance in high school. Her passion for dance has led her to blues, contra, waltz, cha-cha, salsa, West African, tectonics, waacking (hip-hop) and, of course, more swing! She teaches swing and blues dancing at both Wesleyan and Yale Universities, choreographs contemporary dances, and teaches movement classes to elementary school students as part of Recess Rocks! She has also taught at Terpsichore's Dance Holiday and has been known to beat on a Taiko drum or two. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Owen | Marshall |
Owen MarshallOwen Marshall is a highly sought-after accompanist in many genres, including Irish, French Canadian, Swedish and New England dance music. A multi-instrumentalist, he is proficient on the guitar, bouzouki, banjo and other stringed instruments. Owen appears regularly in folk venues and dance halls throughout New England in addition to touring internationally. In demand as a respected teacher, Owen is active teaching workshops and private lessons throughout the Northeast. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Jeremiah | McLane |
Jeremiah McLaneJeremiah McLane, an inspired accordion and piano player, expands effortlessly on the melodic possibilities of any music. He has explored Breton and swing era Parisian musette music and can switch easily from lyrical traditional Irish to rockout dance music, from Cajun and zydeco to swing and jazz. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Rick | Mohr |
Rick MohrRick Mohr has been dancing, teaching and choreographing for over 20 years in both the contra and morris dance worlds. Known for clear and well-paced teaching, good humor and fresh tradition-based choreography, Rick keeps an active schedule calling contra dances and is the founder of Boston's Commonwealth Morris Men. He is also a singer, fiddler and button accordion player and new father. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Suzannah | Park |
Suzannah ParkSuzannah 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. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Jaige | Trudel |
Jaige Trudel
Jaige Trudel (Fiddle, Cello and Voice) has been making music her "day job" for the last nine years, playing for dancers and listening audiences and giving workshops throughout the U.S., Canada and abroad, mostly with her trio Crowfoot. A classical background lends her a well rounded technical pallet and her love for traditional sounds determines how she uses it. She enjoys devoting time to organic gardens and giving astrological readings in between musical projects. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Will | Patton |
Will PattonFather of Program Co-Director, Anna, Will Patton is also a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Will has been playing all kinds of music for over 30 years now, including celtic, jazz, rock and roll, bluegrass and Brazilian choro. He is in demand as a jazz bass player and session mandolinist in his home state of Vermont and has of late been traveling to NYC, Paris, California and Grenada for gigs and recordings dates. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Josh | Van Vliet |
Josh Van VlietJosh Van Vliet's dancing passions include swing, blues, salsa, waltz, tango and contra. He enjoys focusing on partner connection, musicality and dance fusion. Josh has taught swing and blues dance at both Wesleyan and Yale Universities, as well as Camper's Week at Pinewoods, and Terpsichore's Dance Holiday. A musician as well, Josh plays swing and contra guitar, most officially with the contra dance band Jetstream. Josh also has a bad cookie baking habit. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Dave | Wiesler |
Dave Wiesler
Dave Wiesler began his musical journey as “the guy who could figure out the chords” in his high school garage band. Nearly 20 years later he discovered playing folk music for dances, and felt that the job description had been written just for him. At home in a wide range of styles, Dave is in demand for contra, English and Scottish country dancing, swing, waltz and vintage dance; and his music has taken him across the country and into Canada, Scotland, England, France and the Galapagos Islands. Dave is a prolific composer of tunes and songs, and is also a capable guitarist and singer. He lives in Newark, DE, with his wife and two young sons who don't let him practice nearly as much as he'd like. http://www.azaleacityrecordings.com/davewiesler/ |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Nicholas | Williams |
Nicholas Williams
Nicholas Williams (flutes, accordion, piano, vocals) studied world music, composition and improvisation at York University in Toronto. Since graduating in 1998, he has immersed himself in the traditional dance music of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and Québec, as well as the classical music of North India. He has performed across North America and the U.K., and has recorded as a producer, band member, and a guest artist on many CDs, including two solo releases. Nicholas lives in Sherbrooke Québec. |
American Dance & Music | 07/28/12 | |
| Eden | MacAdam-Somer |
Eden MacAdam-Somer
Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians performing and teaching today. Her music transcends genre. She has been a featured soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and Eastern European and American folk ensembles. She has been an artist at the Aspen and Beijing International Music Festivals, and, with her contemporary folk duo, NotoriousFolk, has traveled across the continental U.S., and visited Alaska, Hawaii, India, Iceland, the U.K., and Afghanistan. In 2009, Eden was accepted as the first doctoral student of the groundbreaking Contemporary Improvisation department of the New England Conservatory of Music. There, she has pursued explorations of composition and improvisation across genres, including works for solo performer on violin, voice, and dance. In between studies, performances and teaching, Eden maintains an active recording career and continues to tour, beguiling audiences with a style that is truly her own. Family Week at Pinewoods , CDSS at Timber Ridge American Dance Musicians Course , English Dance Week at Pinewoods |
Program Director | American Dance Musicians | 08/12/12 |
| Larry | Unger |
Larry Unger
Larry Unger has been a prolific tunesmith and full time musician for over 20 years, and probably logs more road miles each year than any other contra dance musician, playing guitar, banjo, piano and bass with numerous bands. Larry's broad musical interests include old-time, blues and swing AND he's a great teacher too. |
Program Director | American Dance Musicians | 08/12/12 |
| Michael | Gorin |
Michael Gorin
Michael Gorin is a long-time fixture in New York City's traditional music and dance community - Half Moon Sword's perennial fiddler; morris dancer and musician with the Bouwerie Boys; and a founding member of Grand Picnic, NYC's renowned high-energy contra dance band. He is also a member of a variety of rather less renowned musical ensembles, including Termite's Delight, Ten Gallon Cat, and The Jansson Brothers Swedish Family Orchestra (from Sweden.) |
Program Director | Campers' Week | 08/18/12 |
| Sarah | Henry |
Sarah HenrySarah Henry is a long-time member and leader of both Ring o’ Bells Morris and Half Moon Sword. She also coaches New Moon Sword, NYC’s dynamic teen rapper team. Sarah has been a creative force behind lots of fun stuff at recent Campers’ Weeks, both as staff and camper -- everything from rapper, English clog, longsword and morris to ‘bacca pipes, string figures and pysanky eggs. |
Program Director | Campers' Week | 08/18/12 |
| Gillian | Stewart |
Gillian StewartMost 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Jeremy | Carter-Gordon |
Jeremy Carter-Gordon
Jeremy Carter-Gordon grew up singing and dancing at Pinewoods. He studied Ethnomusicology at Bard College, where he also taught rapper dancing and shape-note singing and called contras. During 2011-12, Jeremy traveled around Europe on a Watson Fellowship, studying different forms of sword dancing (starofswords.wordpress.com). He sings with Renewal, a small world music ensemble, and is known for his powerful bass voice and constant smile. His joyous enthusiasm for singing and dancing is infectious! |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Scott | Higgs |
Scott Higgs
Scott Higgs has been composing and teaching English dances for over 25 years -- delighting novices and experts alike. From Seattle to Antwerp, dancers praise Scott's engaging programs, dynamic presentation, and emphasis on fun. His ten-word business card: Playful, spirited, elegant, zesty, joyful contra, English and couple dancing. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Margaret | Bary |
Margaret Bary
Margaret Bary performs rapper and longsword with Half Moon Sword and hosts the New York sword dance festival along with her team. As a dance specialist at Brooklyn Friends School, she incorporates folk and sword dance into her creative dance curriculum, and calls the annual family dance. She is active on the board of the New York State Dance Education Association and with Pourparler, a national organization of teachers of folk dance. A regular at Campers' Week for many years, Margaret is thrilled to be teaching the 7-9 year old class this summer. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Ross | Harriss |
Ross HarrissRoss Harriss has been playing for and organizing dances for over ten years. He is currently a student at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Jody | Kruskal |
Jody KruskalJody Kruskal of NYC is known for his distinctive American sound on the Anglo concertina, and his harmonic and rhythmic style has energized dancers for over 25 years -- with Grand Picnic, Squeezology, Hog Wild, Dressed Ship, Ten Gallon Cat, and The Thistle Biscuits. Jody has also sung and led concertina workshops at folk clubs and festivals across Britain and the U.S.. A freelance educator, Jody teaches traditional music and dance in elementary schools and implements the education programs of organizations like Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Jody also has composed concert works for gamelan with the new music ensemble Son of Lion, original scores for theater, and hundred of fiddle tunes. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Robin | Kynoch |
Robin KynochGot whistle? Robin Kynoch has one, and she's not afraid to use it! Robin has been playing tin whistle for contras, English and ritual dancing for over 30 years and has been playing at Campers' Week for almost that long. She also plays at Irish sessions and ceilidh dances, and is a member of several Irish musical groups in the Boston area. Robin knows lots of tin whistle tricks and is currently learning how to play the Irish button accordion and the fiddle, "truly humbling" experiences. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Will | Mentor |
Will MentorWill Mentor is a contra and square dance caller from Northern Vermont known for his clear teaching, upbeat wit, and relaxed stage presence. He loves to choreograph evenings with a variety of dances and tempos that at times surprise and always delight, all the while keeping intact his guiding principle as a caller: "It's about the dancers!" |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Deirdre | Murtha |
Deirdre Murtha
Deirdre Murtha has been a music teacher for the last 15 years, and was a preschool and elementary classroom teacher in New York City for 10 years before that. Her music and dance programs for all ages bring her to preschools, libraries, camps, homeschooling groups and her sons’ elementary school. Deirdre is a member of the dance education group Pourparler; is certified in Level One Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroize music education; and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Hunter College in New York. Deirdre also performs, with her husband Sean, in Strange Potatoes, an Irish traditional and old-time music duo; and as a member of the maritime and sea chantey group The Johnson Girls (www.thejohnsongirls.com). She has also been a member of two Revels productions. Deirdre lives in Norwalk, CT with Sean and their sons Brendan and Graham, who will join her for Campers’ Week! |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Bill | Peek |
Bill PeekBill Peek is the Music Director and Organist at the historic First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, New York. He also teaches at the Portledge School in Locust Valley, NY, where he directs the choral music program, teaches music theory and coaches chamber and jazz ensembles. He has been playing music for English country dancing for many years and can be heard on several recordings. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Sally | Rogers |
Sally Rogers
Sally Rogers is no ordinary public school music teacher. From 2001 to 2010 she taught PK-4, and she is currently teaching K-2 music at the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School. But her tenure as a teacher was preceded by twenty years of performing throughout the country and overseas. She has made fourteen recordings, for which she has received three Indie awards, two Parent’s Choice Gold awards, and other honors. Sally’s songs are included in both the Unitarian and Quaker hymnals. She has produced a kids’ video, and one of her songs was published by E.P. Dutton as the children’s picture book Earthsong. She also wrote a chapter in Ellipsis Arts’ book, Open Ears, which includes chapters by such other luminaries as Shari Lewis, Baba Olatunji, Mickey Hart and Pete Seeger. Her four albums for children are released on Thrushwood Kids, her own label. Sally is also known for her work as a Master Teaching Artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. Her residencies have included many school visits teaching students how to collect oral histories and transform them into songs. She is past president of the Children’s Music Network and has earned her master’s degree in Integrated Curriculum Through the Arts at Lesley University. http://www.sallyrogers.com/ |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Julia Josephine | Slone |
Julia Josephine Slone
Julia Josephine Slone is a vocalist, voice coach, choral director, and indie rock artist. She has worked with singers of all ages for over a decade, directing ensembles of adults and teens in schools and communities around New England. Specializing in original arrangements of traditional and contemporary folk, pop and soul songs, Julia brings the dazzling harmonies of world music to her pop arrangements, and the excitement and drive of rock to her folk pieces. She lives in Southern Vermont with her husband, Tristan Roberts (of http://www.buildinggreen.com/), and their new baby son, Felix. The three live and homestead off the grid, in a solar powered house they built by hand. Julia is currently in production on her new record, Wow Me. You can visit Julia’s website and hear her 2010 release, The Baby And The Bath Water. “Trading in an intriguing blend of soul, funk and American roots balanced by a delicate pop sensibility, southern-Vermont-based songwriter Julia Josephine Slone is staking her claim to be among the state’s top young female stars.” ~ Vermont’s Seven Days |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Jonathan | Van Gieson |
Jonathan Van GiesonJonathan Van Giesen of New York City is a theatrical producer and performer who has created or performed shows all over the place, including New York, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Seattle, England and - perhaps most importantly - Skit Night. He has been attending Campers’ Week since 1986. |
Campers' Week | 08/18/12 | |
| Lisa | Greenleaf |
Lisa GreenleafLisa Greenleaf has been treating dancers across the country to her high spirited, witty calling and is known for precise walk-throughs of zesty and flowing dances. Whether she is presenting cool contras, hot squares, or focused callers' workshops, Lisa engages the crowd with her humor and community spirit. |
Program Director | Contra Dance Callers | 07/28/12 |
| Frances | Fitch |
Frances Fitch
Frances Conover Fitch has performed extensively in North America and Europe, and recorded for Swiss, German, Dutch, and French National Radio as well as for the BBC and NPR. Her ground-breaking ensemble, Concerto Castello, won critical acclaim as well an Honorable Mention in the Deutsche Schallplatten Preis of 1983. A particularly sensitive and inventive continuo player, she has worked and played with Spiritus Collective, Cantata Singers, Emmanuel Music, Aston Magna, Boston Cecilia, Handel and Haydn Society, Concerto Palatino, and the Boston Camerata, among others. Ms. Fitch has participated in major music festivals, including the Gilmore Festival, the Festival d'Art Lyrique/Aix-en-Provence, Pepsico Summerfare, Tanglewood, Boston Early Music Festival, Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), the Castle Hill Festival and the Festival de Musica Antigua in Mexico City, where she also gave master classes at the National Conservatory. She has over twenty solo and ensemble recordings on the EMI-Reflexe, Titanic, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Centaur, Koch International and Wild Boar labels. Ms. Fitch teaches at Tufts University and The England Conservatory of Music and for many years was Chair of the Early Music Department at the Longy School of Music, teaching harpsichord, organ, chamber music, figured bass improvisation and bibliographic research. She has also served on the faculties of Wellesley College and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Ms. Fitch has degrees from Bard College and New England Conservatory, and pursued studies with Gustav Leonhardt and Veronika Hampe at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. Her playing has been praised as “perceptive”, “stylish” and “spectacular”, and noted for its “precision and delicacy of wit”. |
Program Director | Early Music Week | 08/11/12 |
| Scott | Higgs |
Scott Higgs
Scott Higgs has been composing and teaching English dances for over 25 years -- delighting novices and experts alike. From Seattle to Antwerp, dancers praise Scott's engaging programs, dynamic presentation, and emphasis on fun. His ten-word business card: Playful, spirited, elegant, zesty, joyful contra, English and couple dancing. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Judith | Linsenberg |
Judith Linsenberg
Judith Linsenberg, recorder, is one of the leading exponents of the recorder in the United States and has been acclaimed for her "virtuosity," "expressivity," "fearless playing, and combination of “masterly control with risk-taking spontaneity." She has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe, including solo appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center; and has been featured with such leading American ensembles as the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco and Los Angeles Operas, the Oregon Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, the Portland and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, the Oregon and Carmel Bach Festivals, Musica Angelica of Los Angeles, and others. She is the winner of national performance awards, and has premiered several pieces for the recorder. Judy is Artistic Director of the Baroque ensemble, Musica Pacifica, whose performances and nine recordings on the Virgin Classics, Dorian, and Solimar labels have received international acclaim, and have caused the ensemble to be described by the press as "some of the finest baroque musicians in America" (American Record Guide) and “among the best in the world" (Alte Musik Aktuell). Judy has also recorded for harmonia mundi usa, Koch International, Reference Recordings, Musical Heritage Society, Drag City Records and Hännsler Classics. A Fulbright scholar to Austria, she was awarded the Soloist Diploma with Highest Honors from the Vienna Academy of Music. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, holds a doctorate in early music from Stanford University, and has been a visiting professor at the Vienna Conservatory and Indiana University’s Early Music Institute in Bloomington. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Ellen | Delahanty |
Ellen Delahanty
Ellen Delahanty has been praised in the international press as a “wonderfully clear soprano” and “a singer of great charm and perfect diction”. She studied voice with the renowned English voice teacher Jessica Cash in London. At the Mannes College of Music in New York she graduated with a Masters Degree in recorder and early music. She then furthered her recorder studies with distinction at the conservatories of Utrecht, Leuven and Antwerpen. In addition to her solo career, she is a member of medieval ensemble Quadrivium, and performs renaissance and baroque repertoire with the ensemble Sospiri Ardenti. With both ensembles she has recorded CDs for Kattenberg Recordings. She is a regular guest on several early music festivals in Europe and America. For many years while living in NY, Ellen was active playing recorder for English Country Dance. She was a member of the band Musical Cheers, playing weekly for Fried Herman and Christine Helwig in Westchester. She performed regularly for dances in New York City, including several Playford Balls in NYC, Westchester, and up and down the East Coast. Since 1983, Ellen has resided in Antwerp, Belgium. She is active as a performer and teacher of Early Music. She also maintains her Country Dance connection – performing regularly for dances taught by Philippe Callens and Frieda Van Vlaenderen. Since 2008 she has taught the course Folk Music at the Music Academy of Borgerhout, Antwerp. In addition to exploring Irish and American folk music as part of this course, she has organized several English Dance evenings (dances led by Philippe Callens), coaching her students in the art of playing for dancing. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Eric | Haas |
Eric Haas
Eric Haas has taught at New England Conservatory, Tufts University and Wheaton College, as well as numerous early music workshops, including Amherst Early Music, the Long Island Recorder Festival and the Mideast Workshop. Mr. Haas is well known for his many transcriptions and editions for recorder. He performs on recorder and early flutes with lutenist Chris Henriksen as Pentimento and with the Renaissance flute consort Travessada. He served for many years as Music Director of the Boston Recorder Society and manages the retail division of the von Huene Workshop, Inc. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Jane | Hershey |
Jane Hershey
Jane Hershey began her training in the Boston area, with Gian Silbiger (viol) and Marleen Montgomery (recorder.) She continued her studies at The Hague Conservatory, where she studied with Frans Brueggen, and Sigiswald and Wieland Kuijken. For some time, she was a member of the Boston Camerata, performing, recording and touring in the U.S. and Europe. She has played both violone and viola da gamba with Arcadia Players of Western Massachusetts since its founding in 1986. As a player of both of these instruments, she has performed with many ensembles and in festivals, such as Monadnock Music, Hesperus, Emmanuel Music, the Santa Fe Baroque Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra and Aston Magna. Her viol playing is well known to Boston audiences through her many performances with Laura Jeppesen in Trio Charivary, and in the Carthage Consort of Viols. Their performances, with Emily Walhout, of music from the court of Henry VIII, for the Cambridge Society for Early Music, were applauded in a Jan. 2010 Boston Musical Intelligencer review: "… their deft and subtle playing spread smiles and shared delight among the audience." The Carthage Consort also performed in a 2005 production of Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. As a soloist on the viol, Ms. Hershey can be heard on a 2005 Centaur release of music by E. Jacquet de la Guerre, with Frances Fitch and friends. An active teacher, Ms. Hershey accepts private students of all ages of the Powers Music School, where she also coaches viol consort classes. At The Longy School of Music, she teaches in both the Conservatory (M.Mus.) and Community Programs divisions; in addition, she has directed the Tufts University Early Music Ensemble since 1995. A frequent coach for the VDGSA Annual Conclave and an active member of the New England chapter, Ms. Hershey currently serves on the Board of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Joan | Kimball |
Joan Kimball
Joan Kimball, artistic co-director and a founding member of Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, has toured and concertized with the ensemble throughout the U.S., Europe, and parts of South America, and has performed with many of the leading early music artists and ensembles in this country. She gave full time to early music performance in 1980 after a number of years as an educator, and still treasures her work with students of all ages. She teaches recorder and early winds to children and adults and is on the music faculty of The Philadelphia School, an elementary and middle school, where she has a full roster of private recorder students and recorder ensembles. Joan also organizes Piffaro’s educational programs, initiated a residency in a Philadelphia School district elementary school where she taught recorder and percussion to third grade classes, and plans special outreach projects built around Piffaro’s concert series. In addition, she collaborates with instrument maker Joel Robinson of New York City on the construction of Medieval and Renaissance bagpipes and is a maker of double reeds for Renaissance shawms, dulcians and capped winds. Joan teaches bagpipe, recorder and double reed classes at summer music workshops and festivals. In addition to her recordings with Piffaro she can also be heard on Vanguard Classical, Eudora and Vox Amadeus. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Larry | Lipkis |
Larry Lipkis
Larry Lipkis is a Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence at Moravian College, where he directs the early music ensembles at the college and also teaches composition. Since 1986, Larry has performed and recorded with the Baltimore Consort, an internationally acclaimed early music ensemble specializing in popular music of Shakespeare’s time. This fall, the group will release its fifteenth CD—a collection of Renaissance Christmas music. Their previous release, entitled Adio España, focused on music from the Iberian Peninsula, circa 1500. Larry has composed over eighty works for chamber ensembles, choir, and orchestra. His bassoon concerto Pierrot, which was premiered by the Houston Symphony, marked the completion of a trilogy of concerti based on characters from the Commedia dell’Arte. Scaramouche for cello and orchestra was recorded by Carter Brey and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra on the Koch International label. Harlequin for bass trombone and orchestra was premiered by Jeffrey Reynolds and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Larry is a music director for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley, and serves on the Board of Managers of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. He often leads workshops in both recorder and viola da gamba performance practice, and gives presentations on musical rhetoric and composition. Last month, he lectured on the topic of Bach’s Mass in B Minor at a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute in Leipzig, Germany. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Sarah | Mead |
Sarah Mead
Sarah Mead first encountered early music in high school, when she danced and sang as Queen Elizabeth in a production led by Ingrid Brainard. After studying music history and choral conducting at Yale, she pursued graduate study in early music at Stanford both as a player viol and a choral conductor. She and her spouse were musicians at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival before moving east in 1979. She began teaching viols at Brandeis University in 1982, and is now Associate Professor of the Practice there, directing the Early Music Ensemble, teaching music history, and serving as a frequent guest choral conductor. In 2007 Early Music America recognized her with the Thomas Binkley Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Collegium Director. Her handbook on 16th-century music theory is a staple in performance practice programs, and she is recognized throughout North America as a clinician in historical performance. She has taught early music ensembles at Tufts & Northeastern Universities in the Boston area, as well as at Trinity College of Music in London, and has taught theory & performance practice in the graduate program in early music at Longy School of Music in Cambridge. She has been a guest International Tutor for workshops in Australia and Great Britain. Formerly Program Director for Early Music Week at Pinewoods, she now directs the annual Conclave of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. Most recently she has performed as a guest with Exsultemus! in Boston and Parthenia in New York City. She serves on the boards of the VdGSA, Early Music America, and Pinewoods Camp, Inc. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Daphna | Mor |
Daphna Mor
Daphna Mor has performed throughout Europe and the U.S. as a soloist and as an ensemble player. Her appearances include solo recitals in Croatia, Germany and Switzerland; Recitals at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Trinity Church, New York; Soloist with The New York Collegium; Soloist with New York Early Music Ensemble; Soloist at Carnegie Hall with Little Orchestra Society, Orchestra member with the New York Philharmonic; City Opera, Mostly Mozart. Lincoln Center; Piffaro- The Renaissance Band and Repast. Awards include First Prize in Settimane Musicali di Lugano Solo Competition and two-time winner of The Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition. Ms. Mor received her Bachelor of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory with highest honors as Valedictorian of the class of 2000. Ms. Mor acts as musician to the education department of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is a frequent teacher in early music workshops around the U.S. Ms. Mor is frequently involved in performing of contemporary music. This season she was featured as a soloist with The Metropolis Ensemble, performing the world premiere of Tears, Puffes, Jumps, and Galliard by David Bruce. In 2009 she joined St Luke’s Orchestra to perform the NY premiere of The Flowering Tree, composed and conducted by John Adams. Ms. Mor is an active World Music musician as well. Ms. Mor has appeared on such prestigious stages as Summer Stage, Central Park, NY; and in festivals all over the U.S., Canada, Poland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and Israel. She appears on Sting’s New CD If On a Winter’s Night on the Deutsche Gramophone label and is a musician at residence at B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue in New York City. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Dorothy | Olsson |
Dorothy Olsson
Dorothy J. Olsson has given numerous workshops in historical dance and has choreographed for and/or performed with Piffaro, the Folger Consort, Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, SUNY Stony Brook, Mannes Camerata, Wake Forest University and Princeton University. Dorothy directs and teaches at the Historical Dance Program at the Amherst Early Music Festival where she has directed several historical theatrical productions, and choreographed for more than thirty theatre projects or operas. Dorothy received her B. M. in Music Education, major in Bassoon, from the Crane School of Music (State University College at Potsdam, NY), and received her Master of Music in Musicology from Manhattan School of Music. She completed her Ph.D. in Performance Studies at New York University, with a dissertation on early twentieth-century dance. She was an Assistant Professor of Dance Education at New York University for ten years. Dr. Olsson has co-authored seven books on historical dance, including Terrstepery, A Primer for Historical Dance. Her article on Seventeenth-Century Dance appears in A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music (ed. Stewart Carter, Schirmer Books). She is the Founder and Director of the New York Historical Dance Company. The company performed in October 2010 in Philadelphia for Piffaro’s 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration, The Royals’ Baptism & Ballet, along with Parthenia & The Blue Heron Renaissance Choir. In March 2010, Dorothy presented a lecture demonstration at The Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled The Jigge Is Up: Dance in Shakespeare’s Time; the musical ensemble Flying Forms provided musical accompaniment. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Pat | Petersen |
Pat PetersenPat Petersen is Director of Fortuna vocal ensemble (recorded on the Titanic label); she has also recorded music of Heinrich Isaac with the Amherst Festival Choir, and appears with the Solstice Assembly on three recordings. She is the assistant director of Amherst Early Music and director of the Collegium at U of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as director and faculty member at many early music and dance workshops. She has been a guest soloist with Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra. She regularly teaches and plays for English country dance at home in Durham, NC, and at early music workshops |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Tim | Rayborn |
Tim Rayborn
Tim Rayborn, an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, plays dozens of musical instruments from medieval Europe, the Middle East, and the Balkans. In addition to solo work, he co-directs the medieval ensemble Cançonièr with Annette Bauer, performs with harpist Patrick Ball, and regularly works with Shira Kammen. Tim lived in the U.K. for seven years, and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds. He has toured in the U.S. and Europe (from Ireland to Turkey) extensively, performing at both the York and Beverley Early Music Festivals (U.K.), Alden Biesen Castle (Belgium), Bunyola (Majorca), and the Spitalfields Festival (London). He has given a number of performances for BBC in the U.K. and Channel Islands, toured in Canada and Australia, and worked with folk musicians in Marrakech and Istanbul. Recent concerts include the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh, the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress, and World Arts West. Future performances include the MusicSources' 2012-13 season, the SFEMS concert series, and a 2013 tour of Australia. Tim has taught at the SFEMS Medieval & Renaissance workshop and Pinewoods Early Music week in Massachusetts, and has collaborated and performed with a number of early and world music professionals, including Ensemble Alcatraz, Margriet Tindemans, Sinfonye, Kitka, and many others. His music has been heard on BBC, NPR, and Harmonia radio. He has recorded to date on over 35 CDs for a number of labels, including Gaudeamus, Wild Boar, Magnatune, and Harmonia Mundi. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Mary | Springfels |
Mary SpringfelsMary Springfels is a highly respected an player of the viola da gamba, professor, and director of early music programs. She is a founding member and former director of the Newberry Consort and the former director of Northwestern University Early Music Ensemble. She has also played with the New York Pro Musica and the Waverly Consort as well as many other U.S. and European ensembles and is a founding member of the ensembles Elizabethan Enterprise and Les Filles de Sainte-Colombe. She has recorded for the Harmonia Mundi USA label as member of the Newberry Consort, as a soloist in a set of Stradella solo cantatas (with Christine Brandes and Paul O'Dette) and in solo instrumental works with recorder player Marion Verbruggen. She has also appeared on the Decca, Columbia, Nonesuch, and Titanic labels. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Geert | van Gele |
Geert van Gele
Geert Van Gele has been a recorder artist for about three decades. As a beginning soloist, he explored the solo recorder repertoire accompanied by his father. During his conservatory years, he co-founded the world-famous Flanders' Recorder Quartet with which he concertized and recorded for ten years. Since 1995 he pursues a solo career, co-founding new and exciting ensembles like Sospiri Ardenti (staged baroque music: www.sospiri.com) and Quadrivium (medieval repertoire: www.quadrivium.net). Recently he started up his own record label Kattenberg Recordings (www.kattenberg.net). |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Peggy | Vermilya |
Peggy VermilyaAt six years of age, Peggy Vermilya whirled about her basement, listening to Peter and the Wolf, longing to be both a ballerina and an orchestra. She took lessons in tap, ballet, and acrobatics as a child; as a teenager she jitterbugged, strolled, twisted, and did things called “the mashed potatoes” and “the monkey.” Subsequently, international folk dance, contra and squares, and eventually English country dance claimed her heart. For more than a decade she has enjoyed teaching English country dance at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, being described by Marshall Barron as an “exciting,” “sensitive,” “inspiring” and “skillful” teacher. Peggy has attended many dance weeks at Pinewoods and has become a regular at Early Music Week where she began her love affair with the recorder and performances of early music. With her husband Peter she sails a Beetlecat named Poussette and a cruising catboat named Purcell. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Bob | Wiemken |
Bob Wiemken
Bob Wiemken began his musical life as a French hornist many years ago and continued pursuing modern brass for some 18 years. Eventually, however, he became inexplicably enamored of the double-reed instruments and leapt at the chance to begin playing early reeds in the Collegium while a graduate student in Classics at the University of Pennsylvania. That began a long love affair with medieval through early Baroque double-reed instruments that has only crescendoed over the past 27 years of playing, exploring, studying, maintaining, servicing and, above all, making reeds for shawms, dulcians, bassoon, krumhorns and more, for himself and many others. As Artistic Co-Director of Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, he has performed worldwide, recorded extensively, built over 100 programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music and commissioned new works for early winds and chorus. He has been very fortunate to perform with many of the world’s leading early music ensembles, in festivals in North and South America and throughout Europe, and in spaces contemporary with the music that helped him define the role, sound and capabilities of double reeds in historic performance settings. He is an eager and well-appreciated teacher and lecturer in college and university settings, having directed the Early Music Ensembles at the Esther Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University for 20 years, bringing the world of early reeds to modern players. He also teaches regularly at festivals and workshops throughout the country. Currently, in addition to his performing, researching, recording and educating responsibilities, he continues to attempt to plumb the depths of early reed construction, design and technique in an effort to understand the mysteries of these glorious instruments. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Tom | Zajac |
Tom Zajac
Multi-instrumentalist, Tom Zajac is a member of the well-known Renaissance wind band Piffaro and is a frequent guest with the Folger Consort, Newberry Consort, Hesperus, Boston Camerata, Cançonièr, and the Texas Early Music Project among other U.S. ensembles. He has toured extensively, having appeared in concert series and festivals in Hong Kong, Guam, Australia, Israel, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, and throughout Europe and the U.S. He can be heard on over 40 recordings of everything from medieval dances to 21st-century chamber music. With his group Ex Umbris, he performed 14th-century music at the 5th Millennium Council event in the East Room of the Clinton White House and 18th-century music for the score of the Ric Burn's documentary on the history of New York. He's played hurdy gurdy for the American Ballet Theater, bagpipe for an internationally broadcast Gatorade commercial and serpent in a PDQ Bach piece live on Prairie Home Companion. He also performs on santur, miskal and zurna with the Boston-based Turkish ensemble, Dünya. This last August, he was invited by the Polish government to take part in a research visit to hear and meet Polish early music ensembles and wrote an article for the Winter 2012 issue of EMA magazine of his experiences there. Tom teaches at recorder and early music workshops throughout the US, and directs the Medieval & Renaissance week of the SFEMS workshops as well as the early music ensembles at Wellesley College near his home in Boston. |
Early Music Week | 08/11/12 | |
| Owen | Morrison |
Owen MorrisonOwen Morrison is an accomplished rhythm and lead guitarist, at home in many styles of traditional music. His playing, laced with rhythmic power and skillful finesse, has made him popular among dancers and fiddlers alike. Owen has toured the U.S. and abroad with bands such as Elixir, Airdance, Night Watch and The Morrison Brothers Band. A frequent staff member at Pinewoods, Ashokan, Augusta, and many other camps, Owen is excited to be directing his first English & American Dance Week. |
Program Director | English & American Dance | 08/04/12 |
| Gillian | Stewart |
Gillian StewartMost 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Steve | Hickman |
Steve Hickman
Steve Hickman is a world class fiddler, a passionate historian, a family homesteader, a master hambonist, an organic farmer and a midnight weeder. He has been the backbone of untold numbers of mid-Atlantic dance bands and has taught hambone to several generations of Family Week campers. He has toured internationally with groups including Childsplay. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Karen | Axelrod |
Karen Axelrod
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Daron | Douglas |
Daron Douglas
Daron Douglas is a captivating fiddler for American and English dance traditions. She plays with the dance bands Foxfire and Goldcrest. Daron also brings a rich repertoire of songs from her great-grandmother, who was one of Cecil Sharp's informants in the southern mountains. She has been on the staff at CDSS dance camps, at Ashokan and at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. She now lives and plays music in New Orleans. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Yaëlle | Azoulay |
Yaëlle AzoulayBorn in Quebec, with a Moroccan-French background, Yaëlle Azoulay is a professional dancer/choreographer specialized in Quebecois traditional dancing and percussive dance (jig). She started dancing with Pieds Légers de Laval and Reel et Macadam folk ensembles. She then joined the professional dance group ZOGMA where she’s been dancing since 2003 and travelling in Canada, the U.S., Africa and Asia. She started her own work as a choreographer in 2006, with Turque-oise, a blend of Quebecois stepdancing (jig) and Turkish folk dance. Her most recent piece, Sax Addict, is a grooving reggae stepdancing choreography that toured in Quebec. Despite her young age, she has been teaching stepdancing and calling social dances for the past 10 years all over Quebec and the U.S., which has given her a recognition as one of the best in her field on the Quebec scene. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Doug | Creighton |
Doug Creighton
Doug Creighton is an inspiring musician on the button accordion and flute. He has a wealth of experience as both dancer and musician for numerous display dance teams, plays in the English dance band Pleasures of the Town and joins in as a guest in numerous contra bands. Doug is internationally known as the guru of The Button Box, where he keeps the world safe for accordions and concertinas. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Kimberley | Fraser |
Kimberley FraserKimberley Fraser was born on Cape Breton Island, and nurtured within its rich musical heritage. She first began to impress audiences at the age of three with her step-dancing talents. Soon after that she took up both the fiddle and the piano. Though still in her 20s, Kimberley’s already has a distinguished career. She has traveled the world, from Victoria to Afghanistan, performing at venues such as The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. bringing Cape Breton music with her wherever she goes. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Leela | Grace |
Leela GraceLeela Grace is a Missouri native, and Portland, Oregon transplant, who has performed and taught nationally for over 25 years, first with her family, and now as a solo performer and in a duo with her sister, Ellie Grace. Leela’s soaring vocals, driving old-time banjo playing, powerful percussive dance and disarming teaching style make her a favorite at venues and camps across the continent. As a teacher of music and dance, Leela has inspired literally thousands of school children, banjo students, percussive dancers and singers of all ages through the classes, school assemblies, camps and lessons that she has taught across the U.S. and Canada over the years. Leela is known as a kind, entertaining, experienced teacher who offers clear, understandable instruction to singers, musicians and dancers of all levels. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Dave | Langford |
Dave LangfordFiddler and guitarist Dave Langford, a founding member of The Latter Day Lizards, also performs with Big Bandemonium, Les Z Boys and others. A veteran of 25 plus years of playing for public dances, concerts, weddings, late night sessions and anyplace there is fun to be had, Dave combines multiple styles of fiddling with fierce energy and drive. He has been a staff member for numerous music and dance weeks and weekends all across the U.S. and beyond. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Susan | Michaels |
Susan MichaelsSusan Michaels is a writer, mostly of non-fiction television. In the past 25 years I have written about 60 broadcast documentaries and over 500 hours of episodic non-fiction TV. As a TV writer and producer, she has been to 38 countries, been waist-deep in a bog in Siberia, lost in an underground tunnel in Vietnam, dancing with school children at “Land’s End” in Ushuaia, Chile, 600 feet under the Pacific in a nuclear submarine, and on the salt during Speed Week at Bonneville. Susan is also a teacher of contra and square dancing, having called and taught at local evenings, weekend workshops and week-long camps throughout the U.S. and Canada. Her “calling” in life is to teach people how to hold hands in a circle. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Jim | Morrison |
Jim MorrisonJim Morrison's preoccupation with traditional dance and dance music customs over the past 40 years has enlivened folk events, provided a basis for the creation of morris, sword and historic dance groups, and generally kept things interesting for contra, square, ritual and historic dance enthusiasts. Long ago he worked for CDSS; now he dances with the Albemarle Morris Men and plays fiddle in the Morrison Brothers Band. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Naomi | Morse |
Naomi Morse
Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by music and dance in the folk communities of New England. She is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for both contra and English dancing in many bands, including Night Watch, Housetop and the mega-fiddle-band Childsplay. She has toured extensively with the world music ensemble Northern Harmony and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where she sings professionally. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Joanna | Reiner |
Joanna Reiner
Joanna Reiner has taught English dance, Scottish dance and longsword for over a decade. Her calling has taken her from Amherst to Ann Arbor, from NEFFA to NOMAD, including several Pinewoods sessions. Joanna co-leads Germantown Country Dance's English country demonstration team, is an avid dance gypsy, and in her spare time, works to support her dance habit. |
English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | |
| Julie | Vallimont | English & American Dance | 08/04/12 | ||
| Brad | Foster |
Brad FosterBrad 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. |
Program Director | English Dance Leaders | 07/21/12 |
| Brad | Foster |
Brad FosterBrad 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. |
Program Director | English Dance Week | 08/25/12 |
| Karen | Axelrod |
Karen Axelrod
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Harry | Cowgill |
Harry CowgillHarry Cowgill is a step dancer from Lancashire, the protege of the late great step dancer Sam Sherry. Sam started dancing with his brothers on the vaudeville, variety and music hall stage in the late 1920s while still a boy. Commencing at the advanced age of 19, Harry immersed himself in the Sherry family steps and style, and having been totally inspired by Sam, now aims to pass this inspiration on to all in his dancing and by his teaching. A three-time Lancashire & Cheshire clog champion, Harry has been on staff at English Week and danced for the New York Revels in 2000. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Judith | Linsenberg |
Judith Linsenberg
Judith Linsenberg, recorder/whistle, is one of the leading exponents of the recorder in the U.S. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, including solo appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center; and has been featured with such leading American ensembles as the San Francisco Symphony, the SF and Los Angeles Operas, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, the Portland and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, the Oregon and Carmel Bach Festivals, and others. She is Artistic Director of the Baroque ensemble, Musica Pacifica, whose performances and eight recordings on the Virgin Classics, Dorian and Solimar labels have received international acclaim. She has also recorded for harmonia mundi usa, Koch International, Reference Recordings, Musical Heritage Society, Drag City Records, and Hännsler Classics. She was introduced to English country dance music when she was first on staff at Pinewoods Early Music Week in 1993, and has been in love with it, playing for dances and balls in the San Francisco Bay Area, ever since. This passion led her to include a set of English country dances on her ensemble’s most recent CD, Dancing in the Isles. Peter Barnes is one of her idols. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Anna | Patton |
Anna PattonAnna 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Eden | MacAdam-Somer |
Eden MacAdam-Somer
Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians performing and teaching today. Her music transcends genre. She has been a featured soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and Eastern European and American folk ensembles. She has been an artist at the Aspen and Beijing International Music Festivals, and, with her contemporary folk duo, NotoriousFolk, has traveled across the continental U.S., and visited Alaska, Hawaii, India, Iceland, the U.K., and Afghanistan. In 2009, Eden was accepted as the first doctoral student of the groundbreaking Contemporary Improvisation department of the New England Conservatory of Music. There, she has pursued explorations of composition and improvisation across genres, including works for solo performer on violin, voice, and dance. In between studies, performances and teaching, Eden maintains an active recording career and continues to tour, beguiling audiences with a style that is truly her own. Family Week at Pinewoods , CDSS at Timber Ridge American Dance Musicians Course , English Dance Week at Pinewoods |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Laurie | Andres |
Laurie AndresLaurie Andres, from Seattle, WA, has delighted dancers all over the U.S., Canada and Europe with his irrepressible drive, rhythm and fervor on accordion and piano. He plays for English country, contra, square, morris and clog dancing and also plays klezmer and classical music. He has been a frequent staff member at one Pinewoods session or another for over 30 years and has been calling and playing at a monthly English country dance in Seattle for 28 years. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Jeremy | Carter-Gordon |
Jeremy Carter-Gordon
Jeremy Carter-Gordon grew up singing and dancing at Pinewoods. He studied Ethnomusicology at Bard College, where he also taught rapper dancing and shape-note singing and called contras. During 2011-12, Jeremy traveled around Europe on a Watson Fellowship, studying different forms of sword dancing (starofswords.wordpress.com). He sings with Renewal, a small world music ensemble, and is known for his powerful bass voice and constant smile. His joyous enthusiasm for singing and dancing is infectious! |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Nikki | Herbst |
Nikki Herbst
Nikki Herbst is a well-known dance gypsy who spends at least as much time on the road as she does at her home in Iowa City, Nikki has led English country dancing and dance leader workshops at numerous festivals and camps and at community dances across the map. Her teaching style blends dance instructions with the presentation of historical information, demonstrations, style tips, memory aids, and cheerleading, all in the hope of inspiring dancers to have the most meaningful dance experience possible. Her enthusiasm for dance is extraordinary, and she loves to share it with dancers of all ability levels. Nikki has been helping Andrew Shaw convert his hand-written reconstructions to book-ready copy, which has led to considerable detail-wrangling in an exchange of spirited emails, snail mail posts, and transatlantic telephone calls. She is eager to share reconstructions from Andrew’s four published books as well as those being prepared for the next book. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Jonathan | Jensen |
Jonathan JensenJonathan Jensen is an inspired pianist in musical styles ranging from English country and contra to ragtime and jazz. Jon is a composer of brilliant dance tunes and waltzes, a frequent performer at dance events and a bassist with the Baltimore Symphony. When not playing piano at camp he is often filling in on whistle, recorder, ocarina or mandolin and offering his original songs, both silly and serious. http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=4,4,1,1&id=JonathanJensen |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Tom | Kruskal |
Tom Kruskal
Tom Kruskal plays Anglo concertina for the Pinewoods Morris Men and Orion Sword. His playing for display dance is strong, driving, rhythmic and attentive to the needs of the dancers and the dance. Tom has been inspiring young people to dance English ritual since 1990 when he started Hop Brook Morris and Sword. This group of 10-13 year olds continues today. In 1996 he started a high school-aged rapper team, Velocirapper, which rapidly exploded into Great Meadows Morris and Sword - a consortium of teen rapper teams - including Candyrapper, Beside the Point, Scrambled Six, Pocketflyers etc. Tom is the founder of Dance America Rapper Tournament, CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award recipient, and a past board member for both CDSS and Pinewoods Camp. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Gene | Murrow |
Gene MurrowGene Murrow has been an English country dancer and musician since 1965 and has taught and called since 1988 at clubs, workshops, festivals and balls throughout the U.S. as well as Britain, Europe and Japan. In 1996, he organized the Amherst Assembly, a week-long conference devoted to a scholarly and practical look at the origins and evolution of the country dance. Sought out for his deep understanding of both music and dance and for his exceptional clarity when teaching, Gene has written a resource guide and training curriculum on musicianship for English country dance leaders. He has also performed on four recordings as a member of MGM, produced the CDS Boston English Country Dance series featuring Bare Necessities and served on the Board of Directors of CDSS and Early Music America. Gene is the Executive Director and Founder of Gotham Early Music Scene. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Gary | Roodman |
Gary Roodman
Gary Roodman has been English country dancing for more than 35 years, and in 1982, he began writing English and American country dances. There are now nine books in his Calculated Figures series, with a tenth one in process, and four CDs of music for his dances (the most recent one with Bare Necessities). In his non-dance life, Gary is a retired college professor who taught, among other subjects, Statistics and Applied Mathematics. Some people have said that his analytical orientation influences the dances he writes. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Cynthia | Whear | English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | ||
| Paul | Woodiel |
Paul WoodielLeonard Bernstein described Paul Woodiel as "a first-class performer - one who combines spirituality with intellect". A busy purveyor of a broad range of violin/fiddle music, he has appeared as soloist at music festivals from Bard College in New York to the red rocks of Moab, Utah. A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion, he is a noted exponent of traditional fiddle styles, and teaches traditional fiddle at Wesleyan University. In this vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero. As a studio player, his fiddling appears in myriad controversial contexts including Woody Allen films, Dixie Chicks releases, and advertisements for weight-loss medications. He has been on staff at Pinewoods in the past for the English/Scottish and Scottish programs. |
English Dance Week | 08/25/12 | |
| Andy | Davis |
Andy Davis
Andy Davis is a music educator in three Vermont public schools, dance musician, caller, storyteller and singer. Andy plays piano, accordion and banjo. He leads community contra and square dances, performs with Nowell Sing We Clear, and is a member of the New England Dancing Masters - publishers of books and recordings for teachers of traditional dance. |
Program Director | Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 |
| Robin | Davis |
Robin DavisRobin Davis has been participating in community folk music and dance activities much of her life, including healthy doses of Cotswold and Northwest clog morris. A retired professional baker, Robin now teaches preschool. She enjoys gathering children and adults together to DO ART, such as modular origami, Ukranian egg dying, bookbinding, printing and paper collage. She sings with the River Singers, a large multi-cultural choir, and a hospice singing group called Hallowell. She has led children's classes at Pinewoods, Ogontz and Lady of the Lake family weeks. |
Program Director | Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 |
| Brad | Foster |
Brad FosterBrad 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. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Karen | Axelrod |
Karen Axelrod
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Daron | Douglas |
Daron Douglas
Daron Douglas is a captivating fiddler for American and English dance traditions. She plays with the dance bands Foxfire and Goldcrest. Daron also brings a rich repertoire of songs from her great-grandmother, who was one of Cecil Sharp's informants in the southern mountains. She has been on the staff at CDSS dance camps, at Ashokan and at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. She now lives and plays music in New Orleans. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Becky | Tracy |
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. http://www.blackislemusic.com/ |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Mary Cay | Brass |
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 |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| David | Cantieni |
David Cantieni
David Cantieni has brought innovative spice to contra dancers for more than 20 years with his prowess and musicality on flute, saxophone and bombarde in bands including Swallowtail and Wild Asparagus. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Anne | Glover |
Anne GloverAnne Glover is a storyteller, dance leader and string artist from Victoria, B.C. She has performed to spell-bound audiences across Canada and the Northwest U.S. for years, incorporating her love of languages, dance and folklore. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Susan | Kevra |
Susan Kevra
Susan Kevra began calling in New England in the early '90s and quickly became known for her warmth, clear teaching and diverse repertoire of singing squares, Western patter calls, contras and English country dances. In 2000-2001, Susan lived in France where she toured throughout Western Europe calling dances, many en français, introducing eager French dancers to American dance and song. Susan teaches French and American Studies at Vanderbilt University, where she has developed a new course, American Social History through Dance. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Jane | Miller |
Jane Miller
Jane Miller, a “teacher's teacher,” founded the Price Farm School in Antrim, NH and is on the faculty of Antioch University New England. Jane has been involved with traditional dance and song for most of her life. http://www.antiochne.edu/directory/employee_detail.cfm?id=7160076205 |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Ann | Percival |
Ann Percival
Ann Percival is a pianist, guitarist and singer, erstwhile social worker and artist. From the time her Norwegian grandparents took her dancing at the Sons of Norway hall in Brooklyn to Girl Scout Camp, where Ann discovered that she loved singing, Ann has been a leader. She has in recent years found special enjoyment teaching visual arts and crafts. She is a founding member of Wild Asparagus and the O-Tones and is an exceptional dance musician for contras, squares and swing. Her vivacious personality and amazing repertoire of swing, gospel and other songs of many traditions are sure to keep everyone in camp jumpin' and jivin'. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Sarah | Pilzer |
Sarah Pilzer
After growing up attending CDSS Family Week at both Buffalo Gap and Pinewoods, Sarah is excited to be making her Ogontz debut. She is enthusiastic about all forms of traditional dance but is an especially avid morris/sword dancer. Sarah has danced with many teams both past and present, including Rock Creek Morris, Dreadknot Rapper, Ring O'Bells Morris, and Half Moon Sword. She currently teaches Ducklington tradition for Muddy River Morris, dances with Maple Morris, and was one of the organizers for the 2011 Dancing America Rapper Tournament. In addition to dancing, she loves to sing in several different styles, from pub songs to pop songs. While not engaged in folk activities, Sarah studies marine biology at Boston University. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Bettie | Zakon-Anderson |
Bettie Zakon-AndersonBettie Zakon-Anderson has been dancing most of her life and enjoys sharing the fun of music and dance with people of all ages. She has taught a variety of couples dances, from hambo and waltz to swing and Zydeco, at camps and weekends throughout the U.S. She can often be found in the classrooms at her children's school teaching and leading songs as part of their all-school sings and the arts enrichment program she helps coordinate. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Peter | Siegel |
Peter SiegelPeter Siegel does it all -- old-time, bluegrass, Celtic and Québécois tunes, swing, political satire and the blues. Playing mandolin, banjo, guitar, foot percussion and singing, Peter is a member of the Beverwyck String Band, Greenfield Dance Band, the new old-time trio Underbelly and a general mainstay of the fiddle tune scene, and now tours as a solo musician. His knowledge, energy, insight and wry sense of humor make him a great teacher. |
Family Week at Ogontz | 07/28/12 | |
| Becky | Tracy |
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. http://www.blackislemusic.com/ |
Program Director | Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 |
| Keith | Murphy |
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. |
Program Director | Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 |
| Andy | Davis |
Andy Davis
Andy Davis is a music educator in three Vermont public schools, dance musician, caller, storyteller and singer. Andy plays piano, accordion and banjo. He leads community contra and square dances, performs with Nowell Sing We Clear, and is a member of the New England Dancing Masters - publishers of books and recordings for teachers of traditional dance. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Robin | Davis |
Robin DavisRobin Davis has been participating in community folk music and dance activities much of her life, including healthy doses of Cotswold and Northwest clog morris. A retired professional baker, Robin now teaches preschool. She enjoys gathering children and adults together to DO ART, such as modular origami, Ukranian egg dying, bookbinding, printing and paper collage. She sings with the River Singers, a large multi-cultural choir, and a hospice singing group called Hallowell. She has led children's classes at Pinewoods, Ogontz and Lady of the Lake family weeks. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Karen | Axelrod |
Karen Axelrod
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Eden | MacAdam-Somer |
Eden MacAdam-Somer
Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians performing and teaching today. Her music transcends genre. She has been a featured soloist with symphony and chamber orchestras, jazz and swing bands, and Eastern European and American folk ensembles. She has been an artist at the Aspen and Beijing International Music Festivals, and, with her contemporary folk duo, NotoriousFolk, has traveled across the continental U.S., and visited Alaska, Hawaii, India, Iceland, the U.K., and Afghanistan. In 2009, Eden was accepted as the first doctoral student of the groundbreaking Contemporary Improvisation department of the New England Conservatory of Music. There, she has pursued explorations of composition and improvisation across genres, including works for solo performer on violin, voice, and dance. In between studies, performances and teaching, Eden maintains an active recording career and continues to tour, beguiling audiences with a style that is truly her own. Family Week at Pinewoods , CDSS at Timber Ridge American Dance Musicians Course , English Dance Week at Pinewoods |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Sam | Bartlett |
Sam Bartlett
Sam Bartlett is an irrepressible mandolin, banjo and guitar player, known to dancers across the country for his fine musicianship and philosophy of stuntology. His original music has been profiled by NPR's All Things Considered and Sing Out! magazine declared him a member of “the rhythm players hall of fame.” The inventor and most distinguished practitioner of stuntology, Sam will amaze and delight us with his latest discoveries. Sam's community art projects bring the whole camp into the creative process. Mr. Bartlett has made large scale paper sculptures and puppets for more than 30 years, from the hills of West Virginia to the public school in Gustavus, Alaska. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Susan | Kevra |
Susan Kevra
Susan Kevra began calling in New England in the early '90s and quickly became known for her warmth, clear teaching and diverse repertoire of singing squares, Western patter calls, contras and English country dances. In 2000-2001, Susan lived in France where she toured throughout Western Europe calling dances, many en français, introducing eager French dancers to American dance and song. Susan teaches French and American Studies at Vanderbilt University, where she has developed a new course, American Social History through Dance. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Abby | Ladin |
Abby Ladin
Abby Ladin grew up immersed in the traditional folk music revival of the ‘70s on the East coast. She was clogging by the age of six, performing with her sister Evie by age 10 and touring nationally at 18 with the renowned dance and music company Rhythm in Shoes. 20 years later she continues to teach the fundamentals and possibilities of clogging to all who crave rhythm in their feet. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Peter | Amidon |
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. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Lui | Collins |
Lui Collins
Lui Collins has been performing, writing and recording since the 1970s, earning international recognition for her music and releasing several highly-acclaimed recordings. In 2003, after training with the international early-childhood music program Music Together, she founded the educational branch of her work, now called Lui Collins’ Upside-Up Music. Along with teaching Music Together and her own curriculum for older children, Kids’ Jam, Lui’s current focus is on adapting this 8-season traditional music based curriculum for use by home-schooling families - and others - with lower elementary-aged children. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Tom | Kruskal |
Tom Kruskal
Tom Kruskal plays Anglo concertina for the Pinewoods Morris Men and Orion Sword. His playing for display dance is strong, driving, rhythmic and attentive to the needs of the dancers and the dance. Tom has been inspiring young people to dance English ritual since 1990 when he started Hop Brook Morris and Sword. This group of 10-13 year olds continues today. In 1996 he started a high school-aged rapper team, Velocirapper, which rapidly exploded into Great Meadows Morris and Sword - a consortium of teen rapper teams - including Candyrapper, Beside the Point, Scrambled Six, Pocketflyers etc. Tom is the founder of Dance America Rapper Tournament, CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award recipient, and a past board member for both CDSS and Pinewoods Camp. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Lily Kruskal | Leahy |
Lily Kruskal Leahy
Lily Leahy grew up dancing and singing at Family Week at Pinewoods and is very excited to be returning after a long hiatus. She has taught longsword, morris dancing, and other traditional songs and dances to children for both Revels Education Programs and at the Wellesley Community Children’s Center After School Programs, where she worked full time up until having her first daughter 4 years ago. Since then she has been busy being a mother of two. Lily also danced on Boston-area based Orion Longsword for 14 years. She currently resides in the Cork area of Ireland with her husband and two daughters and enjoys singing in the local choir and dancing around her living room with her girls. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Emily | Troll |
Emily TrollEmily Troll plays fiddle and accordion at dances around New England and is a proud member of the all-girl band Anadama. She recently graduated from Wesleyan University and has started a community music program in Middletown, CT, where she makes her home. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Bettie | Zakon-Anderson |
Bettie Zakon-AndersonBettie Zakon-Anderson has been dancing most of her life and enjoys sharing the fun of music and dance with people of all ages. She has taught a variety of couples dances, from hambo and waltz to swing and Zydeco, at camps and weekends throughout the U.S. She can often be found in the classrooms at her children's school teaching and leading songs as part of their all-school sings and the arts enrichment program she helps coordinate. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Steve | Zakon-Anderson |
Steve Zakon-AndersonSteve Zakon-Anderson has been calling contras, leading workshops for callers and teaching couples dance for over 25 years. He has performed at dance camps and festivals in 36 states, including Pinewoods, Ogontz, Buffalo Gap, Lady of the Lake, Augusta and Brasstown. His own dance compositions are well known to dancers and other callers. Steve's clear teaching, energetic calling and sense of humor have made him a favorite of dancers of all ages and abilities. |
Family Week at Pinewoods | 07/14/12 | |
| Peter | Amidon |
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. |
Program Director | Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 |
| Mary Alice | Amidon |
Mary Alice Amidon
Mary Alice Amidon is a warm and engaging music educator who is passionate and dedicated to song, dance and storytelling with young children. She is a multi-instrumentalist, an accomplished singer of traditional song, and a composer of new songs. As a performer she is gifted in forging a bridge between story, music and listener. As a song leader she inspires open-hearted, full throttle participation. |
Program Director | Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 |
| Becky | Tracy |
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. http://www.blackislemusic.com/ |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Keith | Murphy |
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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Karen | Axelrod |
Karen Axelrod
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Arthur | Davis | Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | ||
| Brad | Foster |
Brad FosterBrad 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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Mary Cay | Brass |
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 |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| David | Jones | Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | ||
| Anna | Patton |
Anna PattonAnna 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Gillian | Stewart |
Gillian StewartMost 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. Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Ethan | Hazzard-Watkins |
Ethan Hazzard-WatkinsEthan 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/index.html |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Suzannah | Park |
Suzannah ParkSuzannah 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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Nils | Fredland |
Nils FredlandNils 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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Stefan | Amidon |
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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Kathy | Bullock |
Kathy BullockKathy 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. |
Harmony of Song & Dance | 07/21/12 | |
| Gaye | Fifer |
Gaye Fifer
Gaye Fifer has been calling at dance weekends for several years. Her pleasant style and graceful teaching put dancers at ease and set the stage for a great dance experience. She has also taught numerous waltz workshops at virtually every dance weekend in the East. She now lives in Pittsburgh, PA. and travels whenever she gets the opportunity. |
Program Director | Leadership for Young Adults | 08/12/12 |
| Adina | Gordon |
Adina Gordon
Adina Gordon finds an outlet for her loves of travel, music, dance and silliness by calling and dancing at festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada, creating joy and minor chaos wherever she goes. Combining a voice that makes you WANT to do what she says with a commitment to using that power for good and not evil, Adina calls contras and squares both old and new that cause spontaneous eruptions of joy on dance floors. She counts it as a job well done whenever anyone says, "I don't really like squares, but I like your squares." |
Program Director | Leadership for Young Adults | 08/12/12 |
| Ralph | Sweet |
Ralph SweetRalph Sweet has been calling square dances since 1948, and contras since 1952. His specialty these days is singing and patter square dance, as part of his contra dance programs. He has taught workshops in calling squares at Buffalo Gap Camp, at his Powder Mill Barn, and at the Dance Flurry Festival. His new book "On the Beat with Ralph Sweet", co-authored with Nils Fredland, is loaded with fun square dances for every level of dancer experience, with essays on how to get started in calling squares to contra dancers, or to complete beginners. http://www.sweetheartflute.com/Barn/ralph.html |
Program Director | Singing Squares Callers | 08/12/12 |
| Nils | Fredland |
Nils FredlandNils 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. |
Program Director | Singing Squares Callers | 08/12/12 |
| Jane | Miller |
Jane Miller
Jane Miller, a “teacher's teacher,” founded the Price Farm School in Antrim, NH and is on the faculty of Antioch University New England. Jane has been involved with traditional dance and song for most of her life. http://www.antiochne.edu/directory/employee_detail.cfm?id=7160076205 |
Program Director | Teachers Training | 07/28/12 |
| Mary | Springfels |
Mary SpringfelsMary Springfels is a highly respected an player of the viola da gamba, professor, and director of early music programs. She is a founding member and former director of the Newberry Consort and the former director of Northwestern University Early Music Ensemble. She has also played with the New York Pro Musica and the Waverly Consort as well as many other U.S. and European ensembles and is a founding member of the ensembles Elizabethan Enterprise and Les Filles de Sainte-Colombe. She has recorded for the Harmonia Mundi USA label as member of the Newberry Consort, as a soloist in a set of Stradella solo cantatas (with Christine Brandes and Paul O'Dette) and in solo instrumental works with recorder player Marion Verbruggen. She has also appeared on the Decca, Columbia, Nonesuch, and Titanic labels. |
Program Director | Viol Intensive | 08/11/12 |

