the swannanoa gathering postcard from swannanoa fall 2011 newsletter

5
Dear Friends, Welcome to this year’s edition of our newsletter, the Postcard from Swannanoa. Our fall foliage is gorgeous, but muted after too little rain this summer. In our office we’ve been busy develop- ing a brand-new program for next year. More on that below. We’re looking forward to a fantastic summer next year, and you can read more about how things are shaping up in the “Coming Next Summer” section elsewhere in this newsletter. Our spring Celtic Series, a part of the Mainstage Concerts at Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre, presents some of the world’s finest Celtic artists, and last year featured concerts by Cathy Ryan, Dervish, The Paul McKenna Band, and Liz Carroll & Daíthí Sproule. See the “P.S.” section below for details on next spring’s Celtic Series. This summer we marked our 20th Anniversary , and a record group joined us to help celebrate. Everyone got a free anniversary t-shirt and each week featured a commemora- tive cake during the student showcase. There was a 3.5 x 5 foot ‘memory board’ full of photos of Gatherings past, and each week included at least one of the 93 brave souls who attended the first Gather- ing in 1992, who came back as our guests to share their reminiscences with us at Orientation. The Kerrville Folk Festival, (www.kerrville-music. com) now funds one of our Youth Scholarships, and there was a drawing each week for two free registrations to next spring’s SERFA conference at nearby Montreat. Visit the SERFA website (www. serfa.org) for more details. Our vocal program, Traditional Song Week, under the capable leadership of coordinator Julee Glaub, got our Anniversary year off to a rousing start with a program that featured our friend, Thistle & Shamrock host Fiona Ritchie, who conducted several interviews, recorded for later broadcast on her show. The program also featured blues & gospel singers Rev. Robert & Bernice Jones, Irish singer Brían Ó hAirt, maritimes singer Claudine Langille, early country & honky-tonk specialist Mark Weems , Appalachian singers Sheila Kay Adams and Bobby McMillon, multi-talented Appalachian musician Josh Goforth, and Americana roots singer Peter Siegel. The progam shared with Fiddle Week the services of the bluegrass duo Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, cajun fiddler and vocalist David Greely and New Eng- land fiddler & singer Pete Sutherland. Radio host Matt Watroba traced the history of American roots music, and the week was highlighted by a special presentation on songs & singers of the Blue Ridge Mountains by multiple Grammy-winner David Holt. Denisa Rullmoss offered a pirate- themed program for children during Traditional Song/Fiddle, Celtic, and Old-Time Weeks. Fiddle Week was again paired with Traditional Song Week, and coordinator Julia Weather- ford’s stellar staff included swing fiddle master Buddy Spicher, improvisational wild man Joe Craven, Cape Breton virtuoso Kimberley Fraser, old-time fid- dlers Emily Schaad and Adam Tanner, bluegrass fiddler Bar- bara Lamb, New England fid- dler Lissa Schneckenbuger, Irish fiddlers Patrick Ourceau and Andrew Finn Magill, Scandina- vian specialist Ruthie Dornfeld, Scottish fiddler Jamie Laval , Cover: Each July and August, the NC mountains are home to the Swannanoa Gathering, held on the campus of Warren Wilson College, near Asheville. With the sweet sounds of fiddles, guitars, banjos and songs filling the air, the only thing missing is you! Fall 2011 21st Doug & Jim cut our 20th Anniversary cake Next year.... Cirucs Week!! First notes...

Upload: jim-magill

Post on 06-Mar-2016

226 views

Category:

Documents


5 download

DESCRIPTION

The Swannanoa Gathering Fall 2011 Newsletter, Postcard from Swannanoa, containing a recap of our 20th Anniversary summer (2011), News of the Family and our Coming Next Summer section listing the staff we have confirmed for 2012.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Swannanoa Gathering Postcard from Swannanoa Fall 2011 Newsletter

Dear Friends, Welcome to this year’s edition of our newsletter, the Postcard from Swannanoa. Our fall foliage is gorgeous, but muted after too little rain this summer. In our office we’ve been busy develop-ing a brand-new program for next year. More on that below. We’re looking forward to a fantastic summer next year, and you can read more about how things are shaping up in the “Coming Next Summer” section elsewhere in this newsletter.

Our spring Celtic Series, a part of the Mainstage Concerts at Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre, presents some of the world’s finest Celtic artists, and last year featured concerts by Cathy Ryan, Dervish, The Paul McKenna Band, and Liz Carroll & Daíthí Sproule. See the “P.S.” section below for details on next spring’s Celtic Series.

This summer we marked our 20th Anniversary, and a record group joined us to help celebrate. Everyone got a free anniversary t-shirt and each week featured a commemora-tive cake during the student showcase. There was a 3.5 x 5 foot ‘memory board’ full of

photos of Gatherings past, and each week included at least one

of the 93 brave souls who attended the first Gather-ing in 1992, who came back as our guests to share their reminiscences with us at Orientation. The Kerrville Folk Festival, (www.kerrville-music.com) now funds one of our Youth Scholarships, and there was a drawing each week for two free registrations to next spring’s SERFA conference at nearby Montreat. Visit the SERFA website (www.serfa.org) for more details.

Our vocal program, Traditional Song Week, under the capable leadership of coordinator Julee Glaub, got our Anniversary year off to a rousing

start with a program that featured our friend, Thistle & Shamrock host Fiona Ritchie, who conducted several interviews, recorded for later broadcast on her show. The program also featured blues & gospel singers Rev. Robert & Bernice Jones, Irish singer Brían Ó hAirt, maritimes singer Claudine Langille, early country & honky-tonk specialist Mark Weems, Appalachian singers Sheila Kay Adams and Bobby McMillon, multi-talented Appalachian musician Josh Goforth, and Americana roots singer Peter Siegel. The progam shared with Fiddle Week the services of the bluegrass duo Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, cajun fiddler and vocalist David Greely and New Eng-land fiddler & singer Pete Sutherland. Radio host Matt Watroba traced the history of American roots music, and the week was highlighted by a special presentation on songs & singers of the Blue Ridge Mountains by multiple Grammy-winner David Holt. Denisa Rullmoss offered a pirate-themed program for children during Traditional Song/Fiddle, Celtic, and Old-Time Weeks.

Fiddle Week was again paired with Traditional Song Week, and coordinator Julia Weather-ford’s stellar staff included swing fiddle master Buddy Spicher, improvisational wild man Joe Craven, Cape Breton virtuoso Kimberley Fraser, old-time fid-dlers Emily Schaad and Adam Tanner, bluegrass fiddler Bar-bara Lamb, New England fid-dler Lissa Schneckenbuger, Irish fiddlers Patrick Ourceau and Andrew Finn Magill, Scandina-vian specialist Ruthie Dornfeld, Scottish fiddler Jamie Laval,

Cover: Each July and August, the NC mountains are home to the Swannanoa Gathering, held on the campus of Warren Wilson College, near Asheville. With the sweet sounds of fiddles, guitars, banjos and songs filling the air, the only thing missing is you!

Fall 2011

21st

Doug & Jim cut our 20th Anniversary cake

Next year.... Cirucs Week!!

First notes...

Page 2: The Swannanoa Gathering Postcard from Swannanoa Fall 2011 Newsletter

Family News.... Any of you with notable news you’d like to share with the Gathering community should send a copy to the Gathering office, and we’d be happy to publish it here.... This is the first print opportunity we’ve had to welcome our new Office Manager, Nicole Veilleux. Many of you met Nicole last summer as she managed to come through her first Swannanoa Gathering with flying colors! .... In late June we received the sad news that NC fiddling legend Benton Flippen had passed away. He had appeared several times as a Guest Master Artist during Old-Time Week, and was scheduled to do so again. Another of this year’s Guest Master Artists, Kentucky fiddling great Paul David Smith, passed away only a few weeks after the end of the Gath-ering. We mourn their passing and will miss their artistry.... Congratulations to longtime Gathering attendee Richard Geller, who had one of his songs used as the soundtrack for a TV ad last Christmas for the Norwegian Cancer Society.....This summer, our Youth Scholarship Fund sponsored 22 stu-dents: Chloe Landolphi (Traditional Song); Noah Coffin, Priya Patel, Breanna Norton, Libby Rodenbough, and Madeline Foley (Fiddle); Livia & Emily Safko, Bridget Flynn, Ian Davoren, Dylan Richardson, Ceilidh Briscoe, David & Daniel Mehalko, and Kyle Burghout, (Celtic); Aubrey Moore, Ethan Morris, Ethan W.

guitarists Owen Morrison and Hank Bones, man-dolinist Orrin Star, and it shared with Trad. Song Week the services of Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, David Greely and Pete Sutherland.

Celtic Week welcomed several new staff members including Irish singer & flute player Nuala Ken-nedy, fiddler Rose Flanagan, fiddle & accordion player Damien Connolly, dancer Erin Duffy Martorano and piper Michael Cooney. We also welcomed back fiddlers Martin Hayes, Patrick Mangan, Kevin Burke, Brian Conway, Andrew Finn Magill, Kimberley Fraser and Laura

Risk, guitarist/singer John Doyle, percussionist Matthew Olwell, Scottish singer/folklorists Ed Miller and Margaret Bennett, guitarist Eamon O’Leary, harpers Billy Jackson, and Gráinne Hambly, flutist Kevin Crawford, multi-instrumentalists Robin Bullock and David Surette, tinwhistle player Kathleen Conneely, Irish singer Cathie Ryan, banjo player Claudine Langille, and a special homecoming by Scottish fid-dler Brian McNeill, who was our fiddle instructor at the very first Swannanoa Gathering. John Skel-ton once again served as Celtic Week Host. The Seasonal School of Culinary Arts ran in tandem with Celtic Week, offering a night of tasty treats for our folks, while our staff members provided songs about food.

Old-Time Music & Dance Week was our big-gest single program again this year, and featured a few new staff members including Rick Good and Sharon Leahy. Returning from our very first year was Dirk Powell, who joined veterans Paul Brown, Susie Goehring, Rayna Gellert, Terry McMurray, Bruce Greene, John Holland-sworth, Paul Kovac, coordinator Phil Jamison, John Herrmann, Gordy Hinners, Alice Gerrard, Jesse Wells, Beverly Smith, Wayne Erbsen, Trevor & Travis Stuart, Meredith McIntosh,

folklorist and shape-note singer Ron Pen, clogger Rodney Sutton, dulcimer ace Don Pedi and Carol Elizabeth Jones . This year’s Guest Master Artists were the Green Grass

Jones and Kaia Kater-Hurst, (Old-Time); and Shelby Phan, Moses Nelligan and Tony Lawrence (Guitar). In addition to these, the Charlotte Folk Society sponsored two Marilyn Meacham Price Youth Scholars, David A. Fee (Guitar), and Jake Bartholomew (Guitar), and their Spencer-Bryant adult scholar David McGuirt (Trad. Song), while the Kerrville Folk Festival sponsored Luke Preston (Contem-porary Folk), and Tosco Music Parties sponsored Maddie Shuler (Contemporary Folk), and Tyler Mitchell (Guitar)..... Key deposit donations to our Youth Scholarship fund this year totaled $5,704, and the total for all donations was $13,584. Our profound thanks to all of you who gave financially to help cultivate a love for traditional music and dance in the next generation.... Teachers please note that the Swannanoa Gathering offers teacher renewal certification hours for any of our weeks. Contact your local school board for prior approval.... Don’t forget to support your local Public Radio and Television stations. Where would we hear our music without them? For other folk news, don’t forget the magazines Sing Out!, The Old-Time Herald, Acous-tic Guitar, Dulcimer Players News, Fingerstyle Guitar, Acoustic Musician, Mandolin Magazine and Fiddler.

Cloggers, who were celebrating their 40th year as a group, ballad singer Bobby McMillon, singers Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz, The Toast String Stretchers and Kentucky fiddler Paul David Smith who passed away just weeks after the Gathering concluded. We all feel fortunate for the opportunity to have heard his music.

Guitar Week welcomed new staff Don Alder, Richard Smith, Jordan McConnell, Duck Baker and John Doyle, who joined staff alums Adam Rafferty, coordinator Al Petteway, Rolly Brown, Doug Smith, Mike Dowling, blues players Scott Ainslie, Steve James & Mary Flower, bluegrasser Ed Dodson, Celtic fingerstylist Robin Bullock, percussive guitarist Vicki Genfan, and slack-key guitarist Patrick Landeza. The week also fea-tured demonstrations from instrument repairman Randy Hughes and daily displays of the guitars of master luthiers Bill Tippin, Gerald Sheppard, John Slobod, and Mark Blanchard along with selected inventory from Dream Guitars, a local shop specializing in high-end instruments. The highlight of the week was the auction of a special commemorative guitar built by master luthier Gerald Sheppard at our now-traditional luau, coordinated by Patrick Landeza. The guitar fea-tured our logo inlaid on the headstock and “20th Anniversary” inlaid on the fingerboard. Proceeds from the sale were generously donated by Gerald to our youth scholarship fund.

Contemporary Folk Week fea-tured an instructor staff that will be difficult to top. In addition to such household names as Janis Ian, Tom Paxton and Kathy Mattea, coordinator David Roth recruited folk legend Patty Larkin, Jack Williams, Red Molly’s Abbie Gardner, the effervescent Sara Hickman, Catie Curtis, award-winning song-writer Jon Vezner, Danny Ellis, Siobhan Quinn, and Ray Chesna. During the staff concert’s finale, a friend pointed out there were no fewer than six Grammy-winners on stage! The close partnership with Guitar Week program continued as many took classes in each program, and the combined programs again proved to be our biggest week.

Dulcimer Week featured a terrific staff that included hammered dulcimer masters Ken Kolod-ner, Randy Marchany, Wes Chappell and Cindy Ribet. The mountain dulcimer staff was led by week coordinator Lois Hornbostel, and included Butch Ross, Jan Hammond, and Rob Brereton. The week also featured guitar & banjo classes from Patrick Crouch, and Mike Fenton offered auto-harp classes. This year’s guest artists included ballad

singer and psaltery master Betty Smith, Indian san-toor master Nandkishor Muley, and Doug & Darcy Orr, who helped lead some of the jams and singalongs.

Check out the “Coming Next Summer” section below for a sneak preview of the 2012 lineup.

Coming Next Summer...Traditional Song Week, July 8-14Celtic Week, July 15-21Old-Time Music & Dance Week, July 22-28Contemporary Folk Week, July 29-Aug. 4Guitar Week, July 29-Aug. 4Fiddle Week, August 5-11Mando & Banjo Week, August 5-11

Each year, we continue to try to fine-tune the way we do things in response to the needs of a con-stantly expanding program. New for 2012:

Paul David Smith

The Green Grass Cloggers

Feelin’ it...

Nevr too young to bust a move...

Erin in flight...

Sheppard 20thAnniversary guitar

Santoor - the Indian dulcimer

Page 3: The Swannanoa Gathering Postcard from Swannanoa Fall 2011 Newsletter

• We proudly announce our brand-new program, Mando & Banjo Week, debuting in week five. Fiddle Week moves from week one to week five to be paired with the new program.• For those families bringing small children, we will continue to provide evening childcare at no additional cost.•We will again offer a full Children’s Program, coordinated by Denisa Rullmoss next summer, during our Traditional Song, Celtic and Old-Time Weeks.

The Swannanoa Gathering is structured around what we call an ‘open format’, which allows stu-dents to create their own curriculum and take as many classes as there are periods in the day. We require that students register for specific classes, but allow them to switch after the first day into another, open class if they find they have made an inappropriate choice. After this ‘settling-in’ period, we expect that students will remain in those classes, and we discourage dropping in and out of classes during the week. This structure allows students considerable flexibility, and is an essential element of our program’s character and appeal. Many of our classes may include musical notation or tablature, though in general, we emphasize learning by ear.

In general, classes have a maximum of 15 students. Some may have more or less than this figure due to the nature of the subject or the discretion of the instructor, and limits for each class will be indicated in our catalog. Several of the 2011 workshops filled up early last year and we expect that trend to continue as more of our programs approach their limits, and although our schedule of classes is not currently complete, pre-registrations from this newsletter are encouraged. Folks may register with a tuition deposit of $100 and may reserve housing without a deposit. The deadline for pre-registration is Feb. 17. Pre-registrants will be sent a class schedule as soon as it is ready and given

priority in class assignments. Full payment is required by June 8 to guarantee a space. After that date, class reservations will be unconfirmed until we receive the balance. If we are holding a space for a student in a class that is full, and their balance is unpaid after June 8, we may release that space to another student.

At present, we are completing our staff selections for next year, but many of our instructors have already confirmed. The online version of this news-letter will be continually updated with the most cur-rent staff roster. Here’s a peek at the 2012 lineup....

Our vocal program, Traditional Song Week, July 8-14, promotes a wide variety of traditional singing styles. This year’s program will feature a special appearance by one of the true legends of bluegrass music, Dr. Ralph Stanley. Coordinator Julee Glaub Weems and husband Mark Weems of Little Windows, are busily completing a staff that also includes legendary Scottish singer Jean Redpath, Riders in the Sky’s master of the cowboy yodel, Ranger Doug, four-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley, Irish singer Brían Ó hAirt, Bobby Horton, the man behind the music for thirteen of Ken Burns’ films including The Civil War and Baseball, multi-talented Appala-chian musician Josh Goforth, Irish radio host and writer Aidan O’Hara, Gathering favorites Kim & Reggie Harris, dulcimer player and singer Anne Lough, shape-note leader Matt Wojcik, gospel singer Shirley Smith and Sing Out! Radio founder Matt Watroba.

Celtic Week, July 15-21, is shaping up to have another banner year with a staff that features a good mix of veterans and new faces including Irish fiddlers Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes, Liz & Yvonne Kane, Liz Knowles and Andrew Finn Magill, Scottish fiddlers Brian McNeill and Jeremy Kittel, Irish guitarist and singer John Doyle, Lúnasa’s piper Cillian Vallely and flute player Kevin Crawford, button accordionist Damien Connolly, Irish singer/flute player Nuala Kennedy, guitarist Eamon O’Leary, Celtic Week Host John Skelton, Scottish singer Christina Stewart, Cape Breton singer & folklorist Angus MacLeod, harper/concertina player Gráinne Hambly, Irish singer Cathie Ryan, whistle player Kathleen Conneely, Cape Breton fiddler Kimberley Fraser, tenor banjo and mandolin player Pio Ryan, harper Billy Jackson, string wizard Robin Bullock, dancer Erin Duffy Martorano and percussionist Paddy League, with more to be added.

For Old-Time Music & Dance Week, July 22-28, coordinator Phil Jamison adds a few newcomers to his usual all-star lineup, which includes Paul Brown, Terri McMurray, Carol Elizabeth Jones, Wayne Martin, Rodney Sutton, Alice Gerrard, Gordy Hinners, Paul Kovac, Ron Pen, Meredith McIntosh, Don Pedi, Joseph Decosimo, John Herrmann, Ginny Hawker, Tracy Schwarz, Mike Fenton and Mike Bryant, with several more to be added. We will continue our tradition of visits by special Guest Master Artists from the senior gen-eration of local traditional performers throughout the week. Classes will include fiddle, clawhammer

banjo, guitar, man-dolin, bass, clogging, square dance, dance calling, southern har-mony singing, string band, shaped-note singing and more.

Contemporary Folk Week, July 29-August 4, offers a week in artist development for all acoustic performers. Classes will include songwriting, per-formance, vocal coaching and more, taught by an incredible lineup of performers passionate about their art and equally passionate about inspiring others to develop their own unique gifts. Coor-dinator David Roth is still assembling this year’s staff, but we’ll be welcoming newcomers Cheryl Wheeler and Buddy Mondlock, who’ll be joining Cliff Eberhardt, Danny Ellis, Jon Vezner, Siob-han Quinn, and guitar theory guru Ray Chesna, with more to be added.

Guitar Week, July 29-August 4, offers classes in fingerstyle and flatpicking in a wide variety of styles. Coordinator Al Petteway welcomes for their first time at Guitar Week, gypsy jazz player Greg Ruby, fingerstylist Mark Hanson, former Doc Watson sideman Jack Lawrence, and jazz guitarist Sean McGowan, who join veterans Marcy Marxer, Tony McManus, Mike Dowling, Steve Baugh-man, Rolly Brown, Doug Smith, Adam Rafferty, Scott Ainslie, Robin Bullock and Vicki Genfan, Hawaiian slack key stylist Patrick Landeza and bluegrass guitarist Ed Dodson. Guitar tech Randy Hughes will offer maintenance tips, and this year’s Luthier’s Exhibit will once again feature the guitars of master luthiers John Slobod (www.circagui-tars.com), Bill Tippin (www.tippinguitar.com),

Michael Bashkin (www.bashkinguitars.com), and Gerald Sheppard (www.sheppardguitars.com) as well as amazing instruments from the inventory of Dream Guitars (www.dreamguitars.com) located in nearby Weaverville, NC.

Next year’s Fiddle Week, August 5-11, will con-tinue to explore a variety of fiddle styles and also integrate in several ways with our new program in mandolin and banjo. Coordinator Julia Weath-erford has recruited the bluegrass legend Byron Berline, the great Cajun fidler Michael Doucet, creative force-of-nature Joe Craven, Irish fiddle great Winifred Horan, gypsy jazz artist Jason Anick, Scottish fiddler Ryan McKasson, New England fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger, old-time fiddlers Rayna Gellert & Emily Schaad, mult-instrumentalist Josh Goforth and guitarist David Surette.

Next summer, our new Mando & Banjo Week, August 5-11, will debut featuring classes in blue-grass, old-time, Celtic, swing/jazz, newgrass & more for both instruments as well as a few classes in guitar accompaniment. The program will be integrated with Fiddle Week through common jams and Band Sessions that encourage players in both programs to form bands that will work up a few tunes throughout the week. For this first year, we’ve assembled a superstar staff lineup. On the banjo side, that currently includes banjo innovator Tony Trischka, bluegrass greats Alan Munde and Pete Wernick, clawhammer experts David Holt and Ken Perlman, and Irish tenor banjo wizard Seamus Egan. The mandolin staff includes mandolin vituoso Mike Marshall, bluegrasser Mike Compton, swing player Don Stiernberg, Irish player Marla Fibish, classical mandolinist Cata-rina Lichtenberg, and old-time picker Adam Tanner. Bluegrass guitarist Jack Law-rence will provide accompa-niment, and Joan Wernick will help teach players how to jam . We’ll be adding features as the program continues to take shape.

Lunchtime serenade

Recharging for the next class...

Nuala Kennedy rocks out!

This was the last straw...

Page 4: The Swannanoa Gathering Postcard from Swannanoa Fall 2011 Newsletter

Please send me a copy of your 2012 catalog.

Name_________________________________ Sex ______Address_____________________________________________ City___________________ State_______ Zip______________Phone(s)_______________Email_________________________

Please register me for: Traditional Song Week, July 8-14 Celtic Week, July 15-21 Old-Time Week, July 22-28 Guitar Week, July 29-Aug. 4

I would like to reserve housing _________________________________________________________ Accompanying me will be the non-student (name) __________________________________________ I am registering (#)_________ children in the Children’s Program (Traditional Song, Celtic & Old-Time only)

Enclosed is my: check/money order, Check#:___________ VISA/MC/AMEX/DISCOVER #:__________________________________ Exp. date:__________ Cardmember name:___________________________ Security code (last 3 digits on reverse, or AmEx, last 4 digits on front): _____

Tuition deposit, $100/week ....................................................... ___________ Non-student deposit, $50/week................................................. ___________ Children’s Program deposit, $25/week per child....................... ___________

TOTAL........................... ___________

• Children under 12 may continue to stay in a room with two adults, at least one of whom is a registered student, at no charge. The accompanying adult should provide bedding and the second adult must agree to the arrangement, otherwise it will be charged as a single room.

If you got this newsletter in the mail, you’re already on our mailing list. Please check to make sure that we have your current address and notify us if we need to update it. If this newsletter came to you by some other means, be sure to call or send in the form below to make sure that you’ll receive a copy of our catalog in March. If you’re online, you’ll find that the text of this newsletter and our catalog will appear at our website around the time hardcopies appear in the mail. It’s a good idea to check the website occasionally for any pro-gram and/or staff updates, and also for additions to the list of concerts we sponsor throughout the year. From the course schedule found in our catalog, each student can plan a curriculum tailored to his or her needs and interests. Although it’s possible to register for as many courses as there are class periods for that week, we recommend that students consider carefully how many classes they want to take, since too many may not leave enough opportunity and/or practice time to absorb all the material presented. Those taking a double-length fiddle class during Celtic Week, for example, may find it to be all they can handle. Also, because class space is limited, we ask that students adopt a “take all you want, but want all you take” attitude out of consideration for their fellow students. That said, however, overachievement is certainly avail-able for those type-A’s who thrive on that sort of thing. Evening activities might include open mikes, dances, staff concerts, picnics, student showcases, jam sessions, song swaps and more. Each week’s schedule has its own characteristic variations, but in general, the sample schedule on the next page shows what a typical day’s activities might be.

P.S.• Currently scheduled Gathering-sponsored concerts for 2012 include the Celtic Series of Mainstage Concerts featuring Solas on February 10, Lúnasa on March 24, Téada on May 11, and The Teetotallers on May 24. All shows will be in Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre. For tickets, contact (828) 257-4530, or visit <www.dwtheatre.com> for details.• If you know someone who’s considering a col-lege, our Admissions Office would like to know about them! Contact them at 1-800-934-3536 or <[email protected]>• If you’re considering joining us and are wonder-ing what kind of environment you can expect, just remember that the Swannanoa Gathering is not a conference center or resort, but a music camp held on a college campus (remember camp? remember college?). Although the college does a great job accomodating our requests, we do not control their schedules and facilities. We may not be Club Med, but we work hard to make everyone feel welcome. And, unfortunately, we still can’t afford that biodome, so I’m afraid we can’t control the weather, either.• Free airport shuttles will run at set times to be published in our catalog, so that those requiring shuttle service may make their flight plans around those times. Shuttle space is on a first come, first served basis.• If you’re interested in carpooling to the Gather-ing, check out the ‘RideShare’ page at our website.• One common question on our evaluations con-cerns why different instructors teaching the same class are scheduled at the same time, since many folks expressed a desire to study with both. The reason we have additional sections of the same class

is not to provide a double shot of the course to the same group of students, but to allow more students to take the class. To achieve this, we schedule them at the same time to make people choose. The good news is that we work hard to ensure that any choice will be a winner. And for you Celtic and Old-Time Week fiddlers, Fiddle Week should offer you a second opportunity

to take classes in your favorite styles.

Registration, fees, etc.If you would like us to send you our free catalog when they become available early next year, or have a friend you’d like us to add to our mailing list, or want to go ahead and pre-register for next summer, fill out the form below and send it to us. There is no deadline for general registrations, but class enrollment is limited, and we expect some weeks to be full next year. Pre-registrants will be sent a class schedule as soon as it is printed and given priority in class assignments. The deadline for pre-registration is Feb. 17. Tuition is $475 per week. The optional housing fee of $370 includes lodging in campus dormitories for six nights and 3 buffet-style meals a day in the college cafeteria. Non-students may accompany an enrolled student for the housing fee of $370 and an activities fee of $130. A tuition deposit of $100 is required for student registration, with a $50 deposit required for non-students. Tuition for our Children’s Program is $170 with a $25 deposit required. Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferrable, and payable by check, money order or VISA/MC/AMEX/ DISCOVER. Full payment at registration is greatly appreciated. If sending deposits, remember that full payment is required by June 8 to guarantee your class choices.

Send my friend one too!

Name_________________________________ Sex ______Address___________________________________________City___________________ State_______Zip_____________Phone(s)______________Email________________________

Mail to:The Swannanoa GatheringWarren Wilson CollegePO Box 9000Asheville, NC 28815-9000phone/fax: (828) 298-3434 [email protected]

Contemporary Folk Week, July 29-Aug. 4Fiddle Week, August 5-11Mando/Banjo Week, August 5-11

2012 Pre-Registration Form

THE DEADLINE FOR PRE-REGISTRATIONS IS FEB. 17. DEPOSITS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE AND NON-TRANSFERRABLE.

All photos by Arlin Geyer, www.aestheticendeavors.com

7:30-8:30 Breakfast 9:00-10:15 Class Session 1 10:15-10:45 Coffee break 10:45-12:00 Class Session 2 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-2:00 Communal Gathering (announcements & special events) 2:15-3:30 Class Session 3 3:45-5:00 Class Session 4 5:00-6:30 Supper 6:30-7:30 Slow jams, Group singing, Tutorials etc. 7:30-11:00 Evening events (concerts, dances, open mikes, etc.) 11:00-? Jam Sessions

Two legends -Tom Paxton & Janis Ian

It’s so the aliens can’tread my thoughts... and steal my songs!

Page 5: The Swannanoa Gathering Postcard from Swannanoa Fall 2011 Newsletter

Warren Wilson CollegePO Box 9000Asheville, NC 28815-9000

Non-Profit Organization US Postage

PAIDPermit # 26

Swannanoa, NC28778

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Wish you were here!