George Wunderlich to be honored with ALTA AWARD for Wunder Banjos!

[Greg Adams]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to let you know that George Wunderlich is being honored by the Maryland State Arts Council for his work in maintaining the tradition of the early banjo! Any of you who are interested in attending the event, can find the information below.

Thank you,

Greg

From the press release…



MARYLAND TRADITIONS TO PRESENT ANNUAL ALTA AWARD



BALTIMORE, MD (May XX, 2009) – Maryland Traditions, a cooperative program of the Maryland Historical Trust and the Maryland State Arts Council celebrates folklife and living traditions in Maryland through the presentation of the annual ALTA Award. The ALTA Award, named for folklorist and community leader Dr. Alta Schrock, will be given out to three recipients at the Maryland Traditions showcase, Maryland Masters: Down the Block and Around the Globe, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore.

The ALTA Award, which stands for Achievement in Living Traditions and Arts, was created in 2007 to honor the work of Dr. Schrock, who died in 2001. Dr. Schrock, a native of Garrett County, was a biology professor at Frostburg State University. She founded publications, events and lasting institutions designed to share and preserve her region’s traditional art forms. She was the force behind The Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Penn Alps, The Journal of the Alleghenies and the Springs Festival, to name several of her achievements in cultural conservation.

This year’s awardees are Blob’s Park & Bavarian Bier Garten in Howard County; banjo maker George Wunderlich of Washington County; and the Students of the 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade at Swan Meadow School of Gortner in Garrett County.

George Wunderlich lives in Hagerstown and is an internationally acclaimed builder of minstrel era (mid-1800s) Wunder banjos. He is a leading expert on banjo maker William Boucher, who was based in Baltimore and was the world’s first commercial banjo maker. Mr. Wunderlich is upheld by Maryland’s many banjo enthusiasts as a significant facilitator of dialog between Maryland’s banjo makers, performers, historians, and the general public. Maryland is known as a significant center of banjo making and of historical and cultural scholarship of the banjo, and Mr. Wunderlich is credited with creating awareness on local and international levels of Maryland’s important role in the development and study of this iconic instrument.

[Edited for content]

For more information about the ALTA Awards and Presentation, contact Clifford Murphy at 410-767-6450 or [e-mail] or Elaine Eff at 410-514-7653 or [e-mail]

For directions to The Patterson Theater see www.creativealiance.org or call 410-514-7653 for tickets to the Maryland Traditions Showcase.

The Maryland State Arts Council is an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Its mission is to encourage and invest in the advancement of the arts for the people of Maryland. In FY 2006, the Maryland arts industry contributed more than $1.05 billion to the State’s economy and provided more than 13,762 jobs to Maryland residents. For more information about the Maryland State Arts Council call [phone] or TDD/TTY [phone] or visit the MSAC web site at www.msac.org.

[Carl Anderton]

Let's crash the party with a monster minstrel banjo jam session.

[Trapdoor2]

Yeah, too bad it is such short notice. Would be fun to have a big jam on the front steps or something like that.