For enthusiasts of early banjo

HARPERS FERRY VIOLIN, BONES, AND BANJO WORKSHOP WEEKEND

Hello everyone,

The following link (2011%20Music%20November%20Blank%20Registration_092711.pdf) will provide you with the essential information about the event I am co-organizing in Harpers Ferry, WV on November 12-13. Our capacity for this event is 20 people, so if you will be in the area and want to participate, please register!

THE HARPERS FERRY 19^th CENTURY MUSIC ACADEMY

Presents

VIOLIN, BONES, AND BANJO WORKSHOP WEEKEND:

19^th century techniques for 21^st century players

Featuring Greg C. Adams, Rowan Corbett, and Chuck Krepley

Saturday and Sunday, November 12 and 13, 2011

This is the second in a series of workshops designed to bring together specialists, musicians, and interested individuals to discuss, explore, and play 19^th century American popular music. The November 2011 event features three notable musical instruments in American popular culture in the 19^th century—the violin/fiddle, rhythm bones (bone castanets), and 5-string banjo. Now in the 21^st century, each instrument holds an iconic status in different revival and traditional music scenes, including bluegrass, old-time, Irish session music, Civil War reenacting, and living history circles. Become part of a growing community that inclusively seeks to understand how 19^th century music reflects America’s diverse musical heritage and relates to our performances in the present. Workshops will include discussions about context, explorations of historical music and material culture, and tutorial sessions about period techniques and performance practice.

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FOR MUSICIANS and Interested Individuals: 19^th Century Techniques for 21^st Century Players: If you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced musician and have an interest in 19^th century popular music, then you will enjoy learning about the music, history, and contexts that shaped America’s musical past. More importantly, you will have a chance to explore how this past relates to our musical practices now in the 21^st century. If you play violin or fiddle music, percussion instruments, or the banjo (e.g., bluegrass, old-time, classic fingerstyle), then you can learn how the violin, bones, and banjo are depicted in 19^th century sheet music and instructional materials, period images, and historical texts and reminiscences. Banjo scholar Greg C. Adams, bones player and multi-instrumentalist Rowan Corbett, and violinist/collector Chuck Krepley invite you to experience what makes 19^th century performance practice similar to but distinct from popular 21^st century playing techniques.

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REGISTRATION AND TUTION: Tuition is FREE to registered participants, but limited to 20 participants.

Contact Park Ranger, Melinda Day (melinda_day@nps.gov or 304-535-6063) and provide the following information:

Name
Email Address
Mailing Address
Preferred Phone Number
Brief statement about your musical background as it relates to the violin/fiddle, bones, banjo, or other musical instruments

ADDITIONAL COSTS:

Travel Costs: To and from Harpers Ferry, WV
Lodging and Meals (lodging information link) http://historicharpersferry.com/directory.php?type_id=4

Music and Content-Related Questions: Contact Greg Adams (gregcadams@gmail.com)

Logistical Information and Registration: Contact Living History Offices (304-535-6063) or Park Ranger Melinda Day (melinda_day@nps.gov)

EVENTS INCLUDE:

Workshops (for individual instruments and ensemble settings)
Mentoring and jamming
Opportunity to publicly share in a group performance on Sunday afternoon

PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

Saturday, November 12

Pre-Workshop Social: (9:00-9:30 AM) (Registered participants)
Workshop 1: Introductions (9:30-10:30 AM) (Registered participants)
Workshop 2: Presenting the Past and Present: The banjo as a case study (10:30-11:30 AM) (Registered participants)
Lunch: (12:00-1:00 PM)
Workshop 3: Exploring fundamentals (Bones): (2:00-3:00 PM) (Registered participants)
Workshop 4: Exploring 19^th century violin music (3:30-4:30 PM) (Registered participants)
Dinner, Discussions, and Jamming: (5:00-8:30 PM)

Sunday, November 13

Workshop 5 (9:30-11:30 AM) (tbd) (Registered participants)
Lunch: 12:00-1:00 PM)
Pre-concert Preparation (1:00-2:00 PM) (Registered participants)
Public Concert (2:00-3:00 PM)
Post-Concert Activities: Wrap up, Jamming, Discussion

ABOUT FEATURED OUR FEATURED SPECIALISTS:

Greg C. Adams, of Germantown, MD, is one of the driving forces behind the current revival of interest in the early banjo (ca 1620-1870). Greg is a highly-acclaimed player of nineteenth century stroke style down picking and Grand Prize winner at the 2009 Charlie Poole Music Festival (Eden, NC) for his classic ‘finger-style’ up-picking (ca 1866-1920). As a musician, archivist, and researcher, Greg’s focus is on information sharing between musicians, scholars, and the public. As part of his interest in the banjo’s African heritage, he has made two trips to West Africa to study the Jola ekonting (akonting) (2006, 2008) and was co-recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council FY2009 Apprenticeship Award to study the 4-string ngoni with renowned griot and historian Cheick Hamala Diabaté. Greg is currently a graduate student in the Ethnomusicology Program at University of Maryland, College Park and is also Project Director of the Banjo Sightings Database Project.

Rowan Corbett, of College Park, MD, is a distinguished bones player and multi-instrumentalist for the Celtic/Appalachian band Tinsmith. As a performance artist and collaborator, he regularly works with musicians in both traditional and modern performance circles, connecting the old with the new, and cross-pollinating idioms to find their common qualities. Rowan often interacts with music learners of all skill levels to instill an appreciation of how the rhythm bones tradition is being used in a wide variety of contexts. In addition to his bones playing, Rowan plays guitar, Irish bouzouki, and hand percussion as a member of the musical groups ilyAIMY, The Acacia Sears Band, Io, and The Great Outdoor Fight.

Chuck Krepley, of Waynesboro, PA, has been an historical reenactor for over 30 years and is also a collector of popular music of the 18th and 19th centuries. He has performed solo for many historical societies, presented historical music topics at universities, and was the music director for the French and Indian War documentary film, "Washington's First War: The Battles for Fort Duquesne," by Paladin Communications. Chuck was also the driving force behind the creation of the music program at Old Economy Village, a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission site in Ambridge, PA. In addition, Chuck is a founding member of the 19^th century music performance ensemble, Home Front, which was prominently featured in the 2010 Stephen Foster documentary, Doo Dah Days! by John Kirch (http://www.lhs15201.org/dvd.htm).

Thank you,

Greg

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Permalink Reply by Greg Adams on November 14, 2011 at 9:27pm

I think that because the photos were posted on Melinda Day's facebook page, you might have to be "friends" with her in order to see the pictures. I did ask Melinda to make the photo album "public," so see if you can log into Facebook and search for "Harpers Ferry Music Academy." Please let me know if this works.

Greg

Terry Bell / Bell & Son Banjos said:

Greg, I can't see the facebook pics. The link here on Ning is incomplete, it has three dots at the end -

(my browser probably)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2487243867849.134584.14552...