Sixth Annual Concertina Workshop

[Dan Worrall]

Winter chilling your fingers? Not to worry. Springtime will soon come to the beautiful Pineywoods of east Texas, which means bluebonnets, dogwood blossoms, azaleas--and old time music on fiddles, banjos, and concertinas! We are gearing up for the Sixth Annual Concertina Workshop at the Palestine Old Time Music Festival, in Palestine Texas, March 25-27, 2010. As always, there will be two and a half full days and evenings of jam sessions, workshops, and concerts.

 

This year's featured visiting concertina player is John Roberts, renowned Anglo and English concertina player and singer of English and American music and song. A native of England, John has lived in the northeastern US for years, where he and cohort Tony Barrand have entertained several generations with ballads and songs of the sea, of rural pursuits, of social and sociable situations, of industrial toil and strife, and much more. He will give four workshops at Palestine as well as appear in several concerts and jam sessions during the festival. His workshops will treat

• Anglo playing techniques

• Song accompaniment styles (for all concertina systems),

• Master's class

 

Reappearing for another year is English concertina artist Mark Gilston, of Austin,with a workshop on song accompaniment for English concertina.

 

Other workshops and sessions tailored to concertina crowd (in addition to all the other fiddle, banjo, guitar and dulcimer workshops and jams) will include

 

• Ensemble playing, for intermediate to advanced players

--parts playing in four part harmony

• Slow jam sessions, tailored to beginning to intermediate players

--old time and Irish music pre-sent to confirmed registrants

• Duet systems workshop; our usual attendees play Hayden, Crane, and Jeffries duets

• Irish/Scots/Ragtime/Bach - Jamming with the dots (EC and other systems)

• English tunes jam session --for your inner morris!

• Repair workshop with noted Texas builder Harold Herrington

 

And, for the second year, our Annual Concertina Banquet! where concertina players with their spouses and friends dine together and then regale each other with favorite party pieces of all types on all sorts of concertinas.

 

All this in addition to nightly and lunchtime concerts by Old Time musicians from the southern Appalachians to the Texas plains, and of course, jam sessions unlimited. Total fees include $35 for concertina workshops and $70 for the two-and-a-half day festival.

 

Concertina attendees are requested to pre-register, and for that will receive pre-festival distributions of sheet music, schedules of workshops, logistics and lodging details, etc. For more information, lease send Dan Worrall an email or PM via this forum/website

 

Hope to see you there!

 

--The Palestine concertina workshop planners (Dan Worrall, Mark Gilston, Kurt Braun, Stephen Mills, Gary Coover, Ron Wilson, and Nancy Bessent)

 

ps. Search this forum (keyword Palestine) for reports on previous workshops. And here is the Palestine main festival site: http://www.jerrywrightfamily.com/oldpal.htm

Edited January 18, 2010 by Dan Worrall

[Kurt Braun]

Dan,

 

I have my bags packed and can't wait to see everyone.

 

Kurt

[Stephen Mills]

Dan, it looks like you’ve organized another winner. John Roberts has an outstanding reputation as performer and teacher, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. The Morris session looks interesting, since I seldom play that genre, so I’ll be there with bells on (or maybe no to the bells).

 

I think your schedule this year is the best yet – something for everyone from beginning Anglo and English players to advanced and also something for the duet players. (We almost always have a Crane, a Jeffries and 2 Hayden players, but never a Maccann. Any Maccann players in the vicinity?)

[Dan Worrall]

Dan, it looks like youve organized another winner. John Roberts has an outstanding reputation as performer and teacher, so Im really looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. The Morris session looks interesting, since I seldom play that genre, so Ill be there with bells on (or maybe no to the bells).

 

I think your schedule this year is the best yet something for everyone from beginning Anglo and English players to advanced and also something for the duet players. (We almost always have a Crane, a Jeffries and 2 Hayden players, but never a Maccann. Any Maccann players in the vicinity?)

 

Stephen,

I've heard from another duet player...Hayden I believe...so you duettists are growing.

 

By the way, my new two volume History of the Anglo is fully completed (proofs and all) as of tonight, so I'll have some copies with me at Palestine for sale. I'll have an announcement on this site in a couple of weeks with lots of details, when all the publishing ducks are in a row. Meanwhile I've cracked open a bottle of Black Bush and am quietly celebrating tonight! That was a long slog.

 

We are attempting to get a concert for John Roberts set up in Austin, the Sunday after the festival; watch this space for more on that.

Cheers,

Dan

Edited January 22, 2010 by Dan Worrall

[michael sam wild]

Great news about the book Dan, hope you take Paypal or have a Stirling account!

[Dan Worrall]

Great news about the book Dan, hope you take Paypal or have a Stirling account!

Michael,

Thanks. It will be on Amazon at first, so there will be no problems with international orders. Or, just send me a spare Jeffries or two and I'll make sure you get a copy!

Dan

[Dan Worrall]

Winter chilling your fingers? Not to worry. Springtime will soon come to the beautiful Pineywoods of east Texas, which means bluebonnets, dogwood blossoms, azaleas--and old time music on fiddles, banjos, and concertinas! We are gearing up for the Sixth Annual Concertina Workshop at the Palestine Old Time Music Festival, in Palestine Texas, March 25-27, 2010. As always, there will be two and a half full days and evenings of jam sessions, workshops, and concerts.

 

This year's featured visiting concertina player is John Roberts, renowned Anglo and English concertina player and singer of English and American music and song. A native of England, John has lived in the northeastern US for years, where he and cohort Tony Barrand have entertained several generations with ballads and songs of the sea, of rural pursuits, of social and sociable situations, of industrial toil and strife, and much more. He will give four workshops at Palestine as well as appear in several concerts and jam sessions during the festival. His workshops will treat

• Anglo playing techniques

• Song accompaniment styles (for all concertina systems),

• Master's class

 

Reappearing for another year is English concertina artist Mark Gilston, of Austin,with a workshop on song accompaniment for English concertina.

 

Other workshops and sessions tailored to concertina crowd (in addition to all the other fiddle, banjo, guitar and dulcimer workshops and jams) will include

 

• Ensemble playing, for intermediate to advanced players

--parts playing in four part harmony

• Slow jam sessions, tailored to beginning to intermediate players

--old time and Irish music pre-sent to confirmed registrants

• Duet systems workshop; our usual attendees play Hayden, Crane, and Jeffries duets

• Irish/Scots/Ragtime/Bach - Jamming with the dots (EC and other systems)

• English tunes jam session --for your inner morris!

• Repair workshop with noted Texas builder Harold Herrington

 

And, for the second year, our Annual Concertina Banquet! where concertina players with their spouses and friends dine together and then regale each other with favorite party pieces of all types on all sorts of concertinas.

 

All this in addition to nightly and lunchtime concerts by Old Time musicians from the southern Appalachians to the Texas plains, and of course, jam sessions unlimited. Total fees include $35 for concertina workshops and $70 for the two-and-a-half day festival.

 

Concertina attendees are requested to pre-register, and for that will receive pre-festival distributions of sheet music, schedules of workshops, logistics and lodging details, etc. For more information, lease send Dan Worrall an email or PM via this forum/website

 

Hope to see you there!

 

--The Palestine concertina workshop planners (Dan Worrall, Mark Gilston, Kurt Braun, Stephen Mills, Gary Coover, Ron Wilson, and Nancy Bessent)

 

ps. Search this forum (keyword Palestine) for reports on previous workshops. And here is the Palestine main festival site: http://www.jerrywrightfamily.com/oldpal.htm

 

The latest info on Palestine is that we have a very good-sized crowd of concertina players signed up to attend, along of course with John Roberts and Mark Gilston. Activities are as indicated in the note above...there are lots. Advance sheet music has been sent out on some of the workshops, so if you want to have that ahead of time, please be sure to confirm attendance with me via an email from this Forum site. If you include your real email address in that note, I'll be able to send you the music faster.

 

All of us 'regulars' are looking forward to getting back together, and to meeting all the new folks. And it looks like we have solid representation on just about every system of six- or eight-sided concertinas....even a Jeffries duet!

 

If you have already confirmed, don't forget to make your hotel reservations; the Best Western is a usual haunt for us but there are other choices. Also, remember to bring a portable folding chair of some sort...seating in the meeting rooms is sometimes at a premium.

 

Best,

Dan

 

ps. I'll have a number of copies of my book on the Anglo concertina with me (see www.angloconcertina.org or the thread elsewhere on this Forum)...just in case anyone wants to see or (preferably!) buy a copy. Just sayin'!

Edited February 18, 2010 by Dan Worrall