This just in:
Joanie Blanton, director
Upper Potomac Music Weekends
PO Box 1474
Shepherdstown, WV 25443
www.upperpotomacmusic.info
(304) 263-2531
updf@earthlink.netDear Upper Potomac Students and teachers:
Happy Holidays! This note is to let you know about the true status of our upcoming programs and to encourage you to sign up. We have three great programs coming up in the next few months and we are at a real turning point. Our numbers are low, lower than they’ve been in our 22 year history and it is not just a poor economy that is affecting them, although I am sure it has had a profound effect.
After our spring programs, we will either be rolling up the rug, taking a hiatus from programs or rethinking our current plan and programs. What we do will actually be determined by what we hear from you and how you respond to our winter/spring offerings. If we have lost our sense of mission, or our ability to meet your needs or interests, then we need to change, but if these programs are important to you, you need to participate in order to keep them strong and vibrant.
Over the last two decades we have striven to provide some of the finest teachers and performers for the dulcimer, fiddle, pipes, and a wide variety of traditions. We think that our programs are unique and offer something of value to students in our region.
If you care about these programs, you can participate and help us keep them alive, regardless of what your current financial status is or whether you actually make it in person to a weekend. We rely not only on your attendance, but on your feedback and communication as well. It is the grist that feeds the mill and helps us keep up with your needs and wishes!
You can help us by signing up for a weekend! If you can’t come … then you could help us by:
- Asking about our scholarship opportunities if you need help. Find out what we offer, let us know what you need. We want you to come!
- Too busy? Attend part of a weekend, or help someone else attend: Donate to our Scholarship fund! (It is tax-deductible).
- Encourage others to come… share our brochure and website with your friends, students and colleagues.
- Help us get the word out: Print out and post a brochure at a music store, library, or other place. Announce it at a jam session, concert or dance. Post an announcement in a newsletter, web chat group, or post a link on your Facebook page. Email us for content.
- Let us know how you want us to change, for change we must in order to survive these tumultuous times.
We have never needed your help as much as we do right now… next year may be too late for us.
These kinds of support activities help the programs to thrive and get the information to new students. Even if you are at a point where you can’t come frequently… others can come in your place if you help us get the word out… but if students don’t come, then our mission has failed.I recognize that these are extraordinary times and may be our last days… I plan to give more scholarships than ever to our upcoming programs if people ask for them, so if it helps you to attend, please don’t hesitate to ask. Teachers, tell your students about these opportunities.
I am planning what will happen next year in the next few weeks, so if a type of program is valuable to you… vote with your presence, so that we can continue it.
- If you like the dulcimer classes, sign up early for spring (even with just a deposit) or take Maggie’s one day class at the Piper’s weekend.
- Are fiddle programs of interest? Sign up for a fiddle class at any one of the upcoming weekends.
- Miss the Irish weekend? Take some of the Irish music classes at the Pipers Weekend or Fiddle Retreat, or try out the Acadian Fiddle or Sampler class at the Spring Music Weekend.
Send us a check or use our new PayPal account: Upper Potomac Dulcimer Fest. We can invoice you to make it easier.
I can’t say how much I have enjoyed working with all of you students, teachers and friends over the years. If this year is our last for a long time, I want to say thanks for all of your warmth, good cheer and music over these last two decades, if it is not… then it is a true honor to serve all of you in providing a small piece of musical opportunity here in Shepherdstown.
Thanks for reading this… and for those of you who do something about it, double thanks! And I do hope to hear from you or see each and every one of you in the coming season.All the best,
Joanie Blanton
This just in from Dan Milner!
I just got some potentially good news from Smithsonian. Happy to report that Irish Pirate Ballads is one of 5 recordings to receive a nomination in the Indie Music Awards “World Traditional” category.
Smithsonian Folkways tells me there are actually two trophys in this category. One, an academy-like award conferred by professionals; and the other a popular vote award. I know nothing about the ins and outs of this but they sent along the webpage with the suggestion that I spread the word. The page is http://www.independentmusicawards.com/imanominee/default.aspx?maincat=6&yr=2010&scat=19
In the days of Tammany Hall, when “our people” fought for their place in the sun, the cry was “Vote early and vote often!” Need I say more. If you have time, perhaps you could pass the suggestion along. Thanks in advance.
Filed under: Classes / Lessons / Education, General Announcement, Ireland
Comhaltas Archive Online
From Breandán Ó Nualltáin and the CCE headquarters in Dublin:
I’m happy to announce the public availability of the Comhaltas Traditional Music Archive, online today at
http://ComhaltasArchive.ie
The core of the Comhaltas collection is a set of tapes collected by Séamus MacMathúna, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. These have been digitised, and we’re working on other collections from Cois na hAbhna in Ennis, Co. Clare and Ceoláras Coleman in Gurteen, Co. Sligo. We’re also scanning the 40-year history of Treoir, our own quarterly journal.
The website is a unified window into the Comhaltas Archive, including audio, video, magazines, print and biographical data. Of course, we’re just at the beginning of posting the content, and we have lots more information ready to go up in the next few months. In January, for example, you can look forward to the full collection of Comhaltas-produced LPs and cassettes.
One thing that we’re particularly excited about is the level of interaction that we’re expecting. As a user of the archive you can suggest people, tunes and keywords for all of our tracks, helping to fill in the gaps for other researchers. You may also leave general comments on anything that you see.
You are all welcome to browse freely without registering, though audiovisual media will be limited to 30 seconds. If you create an account (available today), you can hear tracks at their full length, comment on items and request copies of media. For many of our tracks, agreements with the musicians have meant that we’ve interrupted the audio every 30 seconds, just to make sure that recordings are not exploited commercially. If you visit a Comhaltas Regional Resource Centre, you can listen to items in their entirety. You are always welcome to come by and have a chat with our regional Archivists.
I’d encourage you all to have a look, and let me know (via archive@comhaltas.ie) about any problems that you have. Of course, as with all new software, we can expect some growing pains as we get everything settled in, so I appreciate your patience in the first few months.
Ádh mór,
Breandán
Breandán Ó Nualltáin
Oifigeach Tionscadail
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Promoting Irish Culture.
Web: http://comhaltas.ie
Email: breandan@comhaltas.ie
From Jesse Winch:
Hi folks,
It doesn’t seem like it, but our membership year is at an end and elections for all offices on the Branch Executive Board are just around the corner.Below is a partial list of some of the exciting things we accomplished in 2009:
* Hosting the Kerry Ramblers
* The best festival yet!
* An exciting expansion of fiddle week (now MAD Week).
* Another highly successful feis.
* A thriving session group .
* A successful move to the Grange Hall and Frying Pan Park for the ceili .
* A Spotlight on the Arts event that was a huge community success.
* Starting instrumental music classes at Glen Echo under the Branch’s “Capitol Region Academy of Irish Culture” (CRAIC).
* Sponsoring and supporting the Old Bay Ceili Band in their quest for the All-Ireland including Josh Dukes’ winning the All-Ireland in the guitar accompaniment.
* Hosting the Paddy Keenan concert at McGinty’sAnd much more
DO YOU ENJOY THE EMAIL NOTICES? DID YOU ATTEND OUR FREE WORLD-CLASS FESTIVAL? DID YOU ATTEND THE FREE SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS EVENT LAST SPRING? – WHAT IS ANY OF THAT WORTH TO YOU? AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP IS ONLY $25
PLEASE JOIN THE O’NEILL-MALCOM BRANCH OF CCE OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW AND CONTINUE TO HELP SUPPORT OUR MANY PROGRAMS AND RECEIVE DISCOUNTS TO BRANCH PAID EVENTS AND A SUBSCRIPTION TO TREOIR MAGAZINE.
Attached is an application form which can be mailed in with your check or go to our website www.ccepotomac.org where you can pay the membership dues using PayPal.
For those who have never used PayPal, click the link on the bottom of the invoice page. You will then be asked to enter all the appropriate info as one would normally do when paying for something online. You have the choice of paying as a guest or of signing up for PayPal and paying with them. You do not have to “join” PayPal to make a payment.
Coinnigh na prátaí friochta ag dó. Keep the home fries burning!
Jesse Winch
Cathaoirleach (Chair)
The man who helped put the North American Province of CCE on the map, the late Jack Pendergast, RIP will be buried tomorrow at Arlington National Cemetery following a service at Ft. Myer. For those who may not have met him, Jack was on the cover of the last issue of Treoir, and his extensive contributions to CCE in this country are discussed in two articles inside.
The note, below, from Jack’s daughter Kay contains the details the memorial service:
We have finally received the information for my father’s service-it will be held on Thursday, 22 October 2009 starting promptly at 0845 in the morning. The service will begin at the Ft. Myer Chapel, then we will proceed to Arlington National Cemetery for the burial. (The gate for access to Ft Myer is just past the Iwo Jima Memorial on Marshall Drive.)
Following the service we will convene at the Dubliner Pub in Washington DC, across from Union Station, approximately 1100 am to celebrate my father’s life with good food, drink, tears and laughter. (Dad went to school with the owners of the Dubliner Pub when growing up in Syracuse NY-the Coleman brothers.)
There is a metro stop at Arlington National Cemetery and also parking should you want to take the metro to the Dubliner Pub near Union Station rather then attempting to drive into DC. However, for those brave patriots, there is paid parking at Union Station.
We have arranged for a block of rooms at the Hyatt Arlington, VA. It is located on Wilson Blvd, across from the Rosslyn Metro stop. Again we selected it for its convenient location to Ft Myer, Arlington National Cemetery and the metro. This way, if you desire, you can easily get from the hotel to the service and then onto the Dubliner Pub and back again with very little driving.
The hotel website…www.arlington.hyatt.com, go the the left side of the home page under “Find rooms and rates”, input the selected dates and then below that you will put the group code, G-CJPF, in the corporate group slot. Also if you want to make reservations over the phone please dial 800-233-1234 and ask for the Colonel John Pendergast Block.
We recommend making hotel reservations as soon as possible if you think you may be able to join us…the weekend following the funeral is the USMC Marathon and hotels will fill up very quickly.
DC Metro web site: http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm
Arlington National Cemetery is on the blue line; Hyatt (Rosslyn) is on the blue and orange line and Dubliner Pub (Union Station) is on the red line.
Arlington National Cemetery:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/Visitor_information/index.htmFt Myer Chapel:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/interactive_map/section13.htmlIf you think you may be able to attend the funeral and the celebration, please let us know with an email or phone call. We will be arranging for food at the Dubliner and want to make sure we order enough. Dad was very specific and made me promise to ensure whoever participated, we fed them well! Help me keep the promise…thank you.
Blessings, Kay Pendergast Wolf and Dan Pendergast
Crawford and Vallely in NJ DATE CHANGE!
As previously posted, Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely are touring the east coast.
The gig that was originally supposed to have taken place on September 14 in Voorhees, NJ has been rescheduled to September! This is a You Gotta Have Harp Productions house concert. Contact Kathy DeAngelo to reserve tickets and get directions at 856-795-7637.
Special Offer!
20% Off Pride of New York CD!
Don’t forget to click here and read Earle Hitchner’s review in this week’s Echo!
Sad news on the passing of Mary LaMarca:
Beth Curren sent the note below to Tom Scullen, President of the Greater Washington Ceili Club, for those who may remember Mary LaMarca from the early days of GWCC and the Washington Irish and Folk Festivals.
Dear Tom,
I’ve forwarded this to you because it is about a life worth noting: Mary LaMarca was a founding member and, I believe, the first secretary of the Greater Washington Ceili Club. Mary and her husband, George Stephens, worked tirelessly at setting up and running both the Washington Irish Festival and the Washington Folk Festival. Mary was also a regular stage manager and dispatch coordinator for the National Folk Festival until she had to retire because of her decreased mobility. Until 2008, when things just got too tough, she and George performed at the Washington Folk Festival as part of singer/songwriter workshops. She was a researcher in a biology lab at NIH. Over the years she invited many children to participate in Bring a Child to Work Day; Meredith was the lucky participant two years ago. Mary was an avid bird-watcher and fascinated by reptiles. We went together to MARS (not the planet, silly: the Mid-Atlantic Reptile Show) each year in Timmonium, MD. Thanks to Mary, I am the proud and frightened foster parent of a Leopard Gecko, and Bearded Dragon and a Tarantula (which we named ‘LaMarca’ in her honor). She was a remarkable friend and a wonderful supporter of both the GWCC and the FSGW. Below is a letter we received from George. who is the shyest person on the planet. It says a lot about their relationship that he is able to write so movingly about her.
Beth
From George Stephens:
Dear Friends,
This afternoon, August 10, my beloved singing partner, life partner and wife, Mary LaMarca died after a five year battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. I believe she died peacefully, at home with her parents, me and her favorite cat around her. Monarch butterflies have been coming to the milkweed she planted for them by the front door, and from which she harvested many of their eggs to nurture to butterfly-hood and release. I had an almost palpable sense of her spirit breaking free from its chrysalis, spreading its wings and joining them on their mysterious journey to a far distant and unknown home.
Mary taught me how to both observe and participate in life; nature, music, friends, plastic pink flamingos – eh, no, scratch that last. Truly, she made possible the full and rewarding life we’ve had, and we will be ten times less by one for her leaving. Please forward this news on to any one who would want to know.
Love to all,
George Stephens
Sad news on the passing of Kevin Moyna:
MOYNA, Kevin, age 57 died July 31 in New York City. Irish musician, (“The Back of Beyond”), dear husband to Deborah Meehan, brother of Gerard, father of Mary, Ciara, Dubhan, grandfather of Seamus. Please visit the Notice for Kevin Moyna.
Along with Niall O’Leary and Marie Reilly, Kevin Moyna helped found the Úll Mór CCE, Comhaltas’s Manhattan branch, in October 1997. An accomplished fiddler, singer, guitarist, and composer, he played sessions regularly in New York City from 1997 onwards in places such as O’Lunney’s on 43rd Street, Doc Watson’s on 2nd Ave., O’Neill’s on 3rd Ave., Flannery’s on 14th Street, and Gibbon’s in Rego Park, Queens. He also guested with various bands in NYC over the years. His last public appearance was in concert with Tommy Peoples at Mr. Dennehy’s in Greenwich Village in January 2009. He was suffering with lung and bone cancer before his untimely passing. Kevin was an inspiration to all who knew him and will be sadly missed.
From Niall O’Leary
Sad news from Paul Keating:
With great sadness I must inform you that Comhaltas lost one of its North American legends today with the passing of Jack Pendergast early Thursday morning. As many of you know he waged a long and valiant battle with cancer in recent years. Fittingly the issue of Treoir that is being processed now for mailing contains a wonderful tribute from his longtime friend and colleague, Bill McEvoy extolling the various roles and contributions that Jack Pendergast made to CCE from his earliest days in the Craobh Dugan Branch in upstate New York to helping pilot the Northeast Region and building a structure that led to the North American Province under Provincial Chair Bill McEvoy. As the Province grew in strength under Chairs Hugh Smith and Frank Kennedy, Jack provided steady leadership, commitment, teamwork and encouragement that made progress a certainty for CCE North America until 2004 when he was ready to step aside after setting a solid example of administration for all of us to follow. Not only was he the key right-hand administrator for all the Provincial,Regional and Branch officers as Provincial Secretary but he was a very effective and well-respected voice for CCE NA in Ireland as a long-time delegate to the Ardhchomhairle where he is remembered fondly throughout Ireland for his service to Comhaltas.
At this time there are no plans for a memorial service for Jack according to Bill McEvoy and Larry Reynolds but eventually there will be a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington D.C.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his devoted wife Vickie and family and your notes, mass cards and communications can be send to:
Vickie Pendergast
14 N.E. Isles Drive Apt. A
North East, MD 21901-3100
