Performers (alphabetical order) |
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Malcolm Austen
is from the South East of England and has a particular interest in music and song from that area. He is a compere and committee member of the Maidenhead folk club, has recorded and helped to produce some local CDs, loves unaccompanied singing and source singers and plays melodeon mainly for his own enjoyment.
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Joy Bennett
has been involved in folk music for most of her life. As a member of the quartet Water Sign for 13 years and the all female acapella group, The Johnson Girls, for the past 15 years, she has explored the close-knit harmonies of both traditional and contemporary folk music. Joy has performed solo, with Water Sign, the Johnson Girls, with Chris Koldewey, and with guest artists in the US, UK, Canada, and across Europe.
She served on the board of the Folk Music Society of New York for many years, ten of them as president.
Joy, with Alison Kelley, Bonnie Milner, and Deirdre Murtha, is a member of The Johnson Girls.
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Margaret Bennett
was brought up in a family of tradition bearers — Gaelic (from the Isle of Skye) on her mother's side and Lowland Scots on her father's. Folklorist, ethnologist, and prize-winning author, she is also well known as a singer and broadcaster. She lectured for 15 years at the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh where the late Hamish Henderson said, "Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland". Widely regarded as Scotland's foremost folklorist, she is recipient of several prestigious awards and now teaches part-time at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Margaret sings at festivals and lectures on both sides of the Atlantic. The National Theatre of Scotland is currently touring the USA with the acclaimed production 'Black Watch' featuring Margaret's voice, accompanied by her son, the late Martyn Bennett. As a collector, she has a special interest in Howard Glasser's Scottish collection.
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Ralph Bodington
is a superb performer of banjo tunes and ballads from the old-time Southern mountain tradition. He has a laid-back, easy style that comes right out of the old tradition.
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Claire Boucher
is a native of Sarzeau, on the Presqu'Ile de Rhuys in southern Brittany, the Celtic region of France. She sings traditional songs in French and Breton, a Gaelic language similar to Welsh. Now living in Montréal, Claire sings with the group Coureurs de Minuit and performs at festivals and festou-noz (evenings of traditional Breton dance). She sometimes performs with her partner, Brad Hurley.
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Joanie Bronfman
fell in love with folk music as a child. After graduating from college, she went to Pinewoods Camp where she was introduced to many traditional singers and fell in love with traditional songs and ballads. She has continued to seek out sources — recordings, books, and tradition bearers — all over the U.S. and the U.K. She has also been known to play guitar, concertina and Northumbrian Small Pipes. Joanie sings and plays with Neal MacMillan
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Allan Carr
was born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland. He brings his amazing Celtic guitar, bass playing, and powerful voice to the Americana music of Red Hen Stringband.
He has a wonderful store of songs from the British Isles and has adapted many to Red Hen Stringband's style.
With wife Jane Rothfield, Allan has performed for 30 years, beginning as a duo and in Scottish band Rothfield, Hadden and Carr (with Silly Wizard bassist Martin Hadden) and in NY-based band Atlantic Bridge.
He is a masterful lyricist as well as an accomplished bass and guitar player. Allan plays with Red Hen Stringband.
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Dennis Cook
spends most of his music time as a sound engineer: recording,
mixing, mastering, and doing occasional fun live-sound mixing. He
learned backup piano in the early 1990s, and accompanies Judy (on
concertina) for fun and as background for the occasional fundraiser.
He prefers music for comfort, not speed. He has led slow jams over the
last decade for the enjoyment of all.
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Judy Cook
brings a powerful voice, a great-unaccompanied style and a deep respect for tradition to her performances of a huge repertoire of (mostly) American songs and ballads. Judy’s singing is marked by a command of narrative that pulls the audience in to really understand what the song is about. Her style and presentation are a credit to her sources.
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Moira Craig
is from East Kilbride, Scotland, where her family has lived for generations. Music and singing were an intrinsic part of family life and everyone took turns singing and playing — anything from the latest pop song, the old songs and ballads, to music hall. Moira has long been recognised by club and festival goers for her superb interpretations of Scottish, Irish, and English songs and ballads. A winner of the "Sidmouth Festival Singer of the Year" award, Moira became more widely known through her contributions to the Pastimes albums. She has a solo album, On Ae Bonny Day and recently a compilation CD, Times Past. Moira has appeared in Britain, Germany and the USA, charming audiences with her clear ringing voice and wonderful repertoire both solo and as part of the well-known a capella group Craig, Morgan, Robson.
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Chris Davis
has played Hawaiian steel guitar for over 30 years. He co-wrote the Mel Bay instruction book The Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar, Volume 2, with Grammy winner Stacy Phillips. Credits included performing with, opening for, or recording with Vince Gill, Pure Prairie League, Kelli O'Hara, Greg Naughton, James Naughton, Southside Johnny, and Billy Rush. Chris played on several instructional CD's for Mel Bay Publications and on the album Bare Bones by legendary rock group Wishbone Ash. He also played in an opening act (featuring Andy Wang and Bill Wynne) for The Makaha Sons. Chris currently plays ukulele in the Hawaiian trio Three Finger Poi with Stacy Phillips and Deb Schmidt. Chris is also the steel player for Hawaiian hula troupe Pua Ali'i 'Ilima and recently toured the Northeast with them, performing at La Mama ETC, Jacob's Pillow, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Chris performs with Claudia Goddard and Jason Poole.
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Phyllis Elkind enjoys many different styles of music as a singer, guitarist, and pianist. She notes that her early influences were the Weavers and Pete Seeger, and the weekly "hootenanny" at her high school. She has worked as a music teacher for children and taught members of pre-teen rock bands. Phyllis was lead singer in the country Western dance band, "Midnight Rodeo", and brings a lot of great country material to Triboro. She is the founder of "Freddie and the Drumsticks"; a women's rock band. She leads bluegrass jam sessions at Paddy Reilly's in Manhattan and offers singing workshops at NEFFA. Her first love is singing harmony. Phyllis, with Don Friedman and Evy Mayer, is a member of Triboro.
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Jerry Epstein
is a fine singer of (mostly) unaccompanied traditional song of the Eastern US and Canada, and a pretty fair concertina player. He has taken the American traditional songs and ballads to far-flung places around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, China, and Russia. Jerry is a previous recipient of the Eisteddfod Award and is a board member of FMSNY.
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Don Friedman began playing guitar and singing at about eight and realized that he could harmonize at about nine ("hey, you're not singing the tune!"). He played with a high school rock band, but was particularly influenced by the folk music revival of the '60s. In recent years, Don has been exploring old-time, country, and bluegrass music, and enjoys songs with an international flavor. He plays rhythm and lead guitar, a bit of mandolin and is now working on clawhammer style banjo. He served for a number of years as a jam session leader and a guitar instructor at Vocal Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia, and co-teaches a bluegrass harmony singing class at Jalopy in Brooklyn. By day, he is an anti-poverty attorney on Long Island. Don, with Phyllis Elkind and Evy Mayer, is a member of Triboro.
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Alan Friend plays old time music on a variety of instruments (banjo, guitar, concertina) and is also a singer of ballads. He is a founding member of the Chelsea String Band. Alan is a board member of FMSNY.
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Howard
Glasser
is the founding
father of the
Eisteddfod and Festival Director Emeritus. He recorded an important and
impressive collection of songs in Scotland from the original source
singers in the 1960s. He generally provides us with samples of his
collection and his stories of the people he collected from. A noted
calligrapher, Howard designed the Eisteddfod-NY logo. He is a previous recipient of the Eisteddfod Award
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Claudia Kanile’a Goddard
has a style that is a blend of classical training, modern musical influences, and a passion for Hawaiian music and culture. A coloratura soprano, she is known for her ha’i, the art of Hawaiian female falsetto. Claudia is a multi-instrumentalist who plays ukulele and Hawaiian Slack Key guitar. When in Hawai’i, she studies with slack key guitar masters Keola Beamer and Ozzie Kotani (both of whom were featured in the all-slack key soundtrack to the Oscar award-winning film The Descendants) and when in New York, with acclaimed musician Terre Roche (of The Roches). Claudia is one of the musicians for the renowned kumu hula (master hula teacher) Vicky Holt Takamine and her hula group Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima o Nuioka (based both in O’ahu and New York ): they hold annual shows at LaMama ETC in New York, and will be featured at the Kennedy Center this summer.
Claudia performs with Chris Davis and Jason Poole.
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Brad Hurley
has been playing traditional Irish music since the 1970s on the wooden flute, whistle, and Uilleann pipes. He currently lives in Montreal, where he plays for Irish dances with the Siamsa Ceili band; he also performs traditional music and songs of Brittany with his partner, Claire Boucher.
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The Johnson Girls
(Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, Bonnie Milner, and Deirdre Murtha) are renowned international performers of maritime music: powerful chanteys, hair-raising harmonies, lilting ballads and laments. Each member of the group brings a specialty and style to the ensemble.
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David Jones
originally from England and now living in Leonia, New Jersey, gateway to the golden west, has a large repertoire of folksong from both sides of the Atlantic. He has performed in North America, Britain, Australia, and Europe, singing at festivals, concert halls, clubs, maritime museums, and colleges, presenting songs from the great days of sail, Music Hall favorites, traditional ballads, and the works of contemporary writers. He sings both a capella and with guitar accompaniment and involves his audience in refrains and choruses ranging from boisterous to sentimental
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Alison Kelley
Alison Kelley grew up singing traditional music as a chantey brat at South Street Seaport. Bitten by the music bug, she joined her elementary, junior high and high school choruses and hasn’t stopped singing since.
Alison’s diverse repertoire includes sea chanties and maritime music, worksongs, gospel, blues, ladino, troubadour and medieval music, ballads, English, Irish and Scottish songs, rock, American roots music and whatever else inspires her. She occasionally accompanies herself with “The Banshee”, her claw hammer banjo.
Alison is committed to keeping traditional music alive. She leads the open sing in Brooklyn, N.Y. on the first Wednesday of each month.
Alison, with Joy Bennett, Bonnie Milner, and Deirdre Murtha, is a member of The Johnson Girls.
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David Kiphuth
is an outstanding bluegrass and old time banjo player and singer. His tasty playing is unrivaled for backing up a singer and on blazing tunes. David has played with Phil Rosenthal and for years played the bluegrass circuit. David performs regularly with wife Linda Schrade, as well as with John Kirk and Trish Miller and other Upstate NY bands. David plays with Red Hen Stringband.
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Chris Koldewey
has been singing and playing folk music, and sea music in particular, since he was a teenager. He comes from a family rich in maritime traditions, and his lullabies as a child were traditional songs of the sea. Raised on the North Shore of Long Island, he was exposed to a wide variety of folk music. A public school music teacher by trade, Chris spends his "free time" as a Shantyman at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut: one of the few places left where shanties are used for their original purpose — coordinating shipboard tasks. Chris plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, concertina, and other things common to an average garage sale.
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Kenny Kosek
is one of America's finest fiddlers. He has played and recorded with numerous bluegrass and new acoustic bands, including Country Cooking, Breakfast Special, Bill Keith and Tony Trischka. In addition, he has worked with artists as diverse as Laurie Anderson, Steve Goodman, John Denver, James Taylor, Jerry Garcia, Loudon Wainwright III and The New Blue Velvet Band. Kenny has played in several Broadway musicals, including Big River, Foxfire, and The Robber Bridegroom, and is the author of the book Bluegrass Fiddle Styles (Oak Publications). His solo CD, "Angelwood," is on Rounder Records.
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Neal MacMillan
Neal MacMillan plays Northumbrian and Scottish small pipes, Uilleann pipes, concertina, banjo, fiddle and Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. He also has a repertoire of Anglo-American songs and ballads. Neal often performs with Joanie Bronfman.
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Evy Mayer
is a former social worker who started playing guitar at age 13. As a child she didn't know she was singing harmony until someone told her that's what she was doing. After a trip to Hawaii in 1989, she started to play ukulele, and fell in love with the instrument. In addition, she plays dumbek and other percussion instruments, and enjoys international music and folk dancing. Evy also performs on and produces albums. The one before "Triboro" is called "Humor Me!" and presents 17 humorous songs, and she has also produced three albums of rounds. She is enjoying Triboro's musical exploration of Carter family material.
Evy, with Phyllis ELkind and Don Friedman, is a member of Triboro Evy is president of FMSNY.
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Patti McCurdy
is a singer-songwriter who has participated in a variety of choirs and musical ensembles including:
Arthémuse, a 100-member mixed youth band and adult choir, Siamsa Singers, a 25-member Irish choir, Coureurs de Minuit, a five-member Breton group, and Una Vox Mundi, a chamber choir focused on world music. Her passion for world folk music and instruments leads her on a constant adventure of exploration and discovery.
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Bonnie Milner
has a lifetime interest in folk music that began with songs from Carl Sandburg's "American Song Bag." Her interest in sea songs was sparked by hearing chanteys at South Street Seaport and Mystic Seaports, and carried further by her acquaintance with the last working chanteyman, Stan Hugill, and folk song collector William Main Doerflinger, two of her important mentors. Founding an all-woman group in this genre was a particular dream of hers. Bonnie has put together presentations on maritime music for students of all ages. Another interest is unaccompanied ballads, through field recordings, trips abroad, and her "in-house" source, husband Dan Milner. She carries love and respect for the old singers and cherishes their enduring styles. Bonnie dances with the New York-based Ring O'Bells Morris team.
Bonnie, with Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, and Deirdre Murtha, is a member of The Johnson Girls.
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Dan Milner
grew up singing Irish songs of all descriptions in a family setting, some coming from his paternal great-grandfather, Patrick McKay of Ennis Co. Clare. His 1983 Oak book, The Bonnie Bunch of Roses, is considered a classic, as is his CD, Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea with Louis Killen and Mick Moloney. He has toured nationally and internationally with Robbie O'Connell, Bob Conroy, and Bonnie Milner; and taught songs and social history at NYU, St. John's University, and the Augusta Heritage Center Irish Week. Dan's recent CDs are Irish Pirate Ballads and Civil War Naval Songs (Smithsonian Folkways). "A singer who would be welcomed anywhere" — English Dance and Song (UK).
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Deirdre Murtha
has been singing all her life. In her musical family, sing alongs were a normal part of family gatherings. From choirs, church and madrigal groups, musicals, and folk genres, Deirdre learned the joys of harmonizing with others, and much prefers it to singing solo. After school groups, she sang in a folk rock band, the NYC Irish sessions, and an Irish band called All Hands Around. She performed in two Revels productions, and there met other members of The Johnson Girls and The New York Packet, both with whom she's been singing for 15 years. She and her husband, Sean, play as a duo, Strange Potatoes, performing Irish traditional, old-time American and Appalachian, Colonial, Revolutionary, and Civil War songs. Deirdre hosts a monthly Chantey Sing in Connecticut, and is pleased it is drawing out new singers She also loves to sing jazz standards, and aspires to be in a jazz band someday. By day she is a preschool music teacher.
Deirdre, with Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, and Bonnie Milner is a member of The Johnson Girls.
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Sean Murtha
took up the guitar while at art school, initially interested in rock and pop, but an unplanned encounter with a banjo, followed by a musical partnership with a fiddler who played a few Irish tunes, sent him soaking up Irish music in the fertile NYC Irish session scene, taking lessons with Patrick Ourceau, the great French-born Irish fiddler. During this time he met singer Deirdre Gallagher, now his wife. An interest in the old ballads led them both to Appalachian music and Sean was encouraged to do more singing, as well as learning old-time fiddle from Bill Hicks and Bruce Molsky and banjo from Ron Mullenux. Sean's repertoire includes ballads from Appalachia, historical songs, string-band ditties, Irish tunes, work songs, and chanteys, sometimes a capella but most often accompanied by banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bouzouki, or harmonica.
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Caroline Paton
draws upon a vast repertoire developed over many years of collecting
folksongs, with her late husband, Sandy, throughout the English
-speaking world, from the Southern Appalachians to the Ozarks, from
Scotland and England to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Sandy and
Caroline were the founders of Folk Legacy Records and are previous recipients of the Eisteddfod Award.
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Jason Poole
was born in Pittsburgh and trained as a classical singer. He fell in love with the music of Hawai'i. His
kumu (teacher), Pilipo Solatorio, told him his kuleana (responsibility) was to preserve and share what he learned of Hawaiian culture so it might continue to flourish. Jason's repertoire comes from Hawai'i's golden age of song, especially the songs of Molokai. Jason performs with Chris Davis and Claudia Goddard.
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Ann Porcella
offers music that is highly informed by the gospel music she learned at home and in church from her preacher father and large musical family. Her deep, powerhouse voice adapts well to many different traditional styles, though harmony singing is her first love. Since the early '80s, she has performed solo and with a variety of ensembles at folk venues around the country. For the past 12 years, the Blue Moon Cowgirls, with Ann as a founding member, have been entertaining fans with their refreshing approach to acoustic country music in the Washington, D.C. metro area. The overwhelmingly positive reviews of her debut solo project, Gathering Stones, compare her voice to those of Patsy Cline and Sara Carter. This collection of new and old heart songs, along with much of her southern-based repertoire, help carry you through life’s varied journeys with the message find the songs you need, and sing them!
"This is what the music should be about," says old-time banjo player Paul Brown.
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Anne Price
is a versatile and gifted singer born and raised in New York City. She sings a wide variety of traditional folk songs and many songs from contemporary songwriters, as well as songs she has written. Anne is a board member of FMSNY.
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Red Hen Stringband
(Jane Rothfield — fiddle, banjo and vocals; Linda Schrade — guitar, vocals; Scottish native Allan Carr — guitar, acoustic bass, vocals; and Dave Kiphuth —banjo, banjo-dobro, vocals) offers distinctive lead voices, superb instrumentals, and great performance chops. Red Hen Stringband is acoustic Americana at its best —
delving into the deeper roots of American traditional music, playing songs with great harmonies and hot tunes from Appalachian Old-Time and Celtic sources. Their authenticity is enhanced when mixed with award-winning music and songs written by band members.
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Jane Rothfield
has been playing since early childhood. Her classical beginnings included study at Julliard’s pilot Suzuki children’s program, where she met the founder, Shinchi Suzuki. As a teen, she slipped her classical mooring and headed for other shores, along the way mastering an inspiring repertoire of American and Celtic traditional tunes, with a strong smattering of old-time and Scottish-rooted pieces as the centerpiece. With decades of collecting tunes, she still has left room in her heart for lots of original compositions in the many traditions of the roots music she loves. Jane plays with Red Hen Stringband.
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Linda Schrade
is a guitarist and an expressive singer, with a power that stops people in their tracks. Whether singing lead or harmony, her voice rises to the top. She has won Parents' Council awards for two children's albums and has recorded with John and Trish Miller, vocalists Sarah Pirtle, Lui Collins, Cosy Sheridan and many others. Linda is the "Queen of Beads," having operated a bead store (Saratoga Beads) in Saratoga Springs since 1994.
Linda plays with Red Hen Stringband.
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Steve Suffet
is best described as an old-fashioned
folksinger. His repertoire is a mixture of railroad songs, trucker songs, cowboy songs, union songs, old time ballads, ragtime, Gospel, bluegrass, topical-political songs, and whatever else tickles his fancy. He is a tireless researcher into the lesser-known songs of Woody Guthrie. Steve is a board member of FMSNY.
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Triboro
is Phyllis Elkind (Manhattan), Don Friedman (Brooklyn), and Evy Mayer (the Bronx). Although they hail from the boroughs of New York, they look beyond the Hudson, to other places and other times, for songs and inspiration. They are an acoustic vocal trio that applies fine three-part harmony to an eclectic mix of musical genres: old-time, new-time, Carter Family, country, Western, Hawaiiana, bluegrass, and beyond.
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Heather Wood
is a veteran singer from the
English revival for some 40+ years, dating from her days with The Young
Tradition. She retains the YT's belief that folk music should be enjoyed, not enshrined. Heather has a great repertoire of ballads, historical songs,
love and agricultural songs, and a lot from the humorous side. In
addition to the old songs, she has written some dynamite new ones. Heather is a board member of FMSNY.
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Olga Zaric
is originally from Serbia. She sings traditional songs from around the world and particularly a cappella Serbian and Macedonian traditional music. Olga has participated in several choirs with varied repertoires from Serbia to Canada such as the vocal ensemble, “Carpe Diem” in Montreal. In addition to co-directing the vocal ensemble “Union des Bretons,” she has also been the vocal trainer and music arranger for the Breton group, “Coureurs de Minuit”. For the past few years, she has been participating in international festivals such as Eisteddfod, Upper Valley Music Festival and the New England Folk Festival. Her most recent endeavour is the formation of an eclectic singing ensemble, Una Vox Mundi, that aspires to create new sound with traditional world music.
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John Ziv
writes songs, and plays 'em too, mostly to his fiercely loyal, but exceedingly tiny fan club. He wasted the first fifty-some years of his life not writing songs, and is now trying to make up for lost time. John is perhaps better known for baking cookies and other confections. John is a board member of FMSNY.
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Sound Reinforcement |
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Don Wade
has
four decades of experience in sound reinforcement and will be providing
excellent sound, as he has done at all our programs. Don is a board member of FMSNY.
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Concert Emcee |
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Mary Cliff
is the host of "Traditions" on WETA, 90.9 FM, greater Washington area.
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Ron Olesko
has been one of our concert emcees for several years. Ron will not be joining us this year but we hope he will be back in 2013. Ron hosts Traditions,a weekly program on WFDU, with studio guests and recordings from the unique and expansive world of folk music.
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