General news from the Montana Folk Festival.
Tibetan Opera, Folk Song, and Dance | San Francisco, California Chaksampa, the Tibetan Dance & Opera Company was founded in 1989, in San Francisco, California, and is considered the most successful professional performance group outside of Tibet. Chaksampa is led by its artistic director Tsering Wangmo. All the members are trained …
Ukrainian | New York, New York Andriy Milavsky, clarinetist and master piper, is an Eastern European folk musician par excellence. One reviewer has called him “the Charlie Parker of Ukraine.” His experience in Carpathian folk music spans 30-plus years as a performer, soloist, and orchestra leader/arranger with the top traditional …
Tejano Conjunto Fiddle | San Antonio, Texas When Texas Folklife and the Festival of Texas Fiddling honored Belen Escobedo with the 2017 Texas Master Fiddler Award, they praised her for “single-handedly keeping alive” the tradition of conjunto fiddle, “a rare and beautiful style of Mexican-American fiddling which has almost disappeared …
Dhol and Brass | Brooklyn, New York Red Baraat is a pioneering band from Brooklyn, New York. Conceived by dhol player Sunny Jain, the group has drawn worldwide praise for its singular sound, a merging of hard-driving North Indian bhangra with elements of hip-hop, jazz, and raw punk energy. Created …
Bluegrass | White’s Creek, Tennessee Many folks remember the great bluegrass records from the 1950s and ‘60s. The power and soul of that music has won the hearts of people across the globe. Few bands have come along in recent years that directly draw their influence from that classic era …
Son Cubano | Seattle, Washington Son cubano is one of the most popular musical styles in Cuba and Kiki Valera is one of its foremost exponents. Over the last century, this style of traditional Cuban music has contributed to many other genres of music including jazz, cha cha cha, mambo, salsa, …
Zydeco | Lafayette, Louisiana Growing up in a Creole-speaking home in St. Martinville, Nathan eagerly sought out the music of Zydeco originators such as HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Chenier” Clifton Chenier. Later, while recovering from a serious illness, Nathan decided to dedicate himself to learning the accordion. That dedication blossomed into an illustrious …
Afghan Music | San Francisco, California The Heart of Afghanistan project consists of Four Afghan musicians; Ahmad Fanoos on Vocals & Harmonium, and his two sons Elham on Piano and Mehran on Violin, with Hamid Akbar on tabla. Together they will tell the story of Afghanistan from its pre-islamic Buddhist …
Gospel | Charlotte, North Carolina Ken Heath was born in Petersburg, Virginia, where he was raised to the sounds of the gospel music of the Black Holiness Church. His grandfather Moses Lee Tucker sang with numerous local gospel quartets from his rural hometown of Dinwiddie, Virginia. Eventually, he formed the …
Québécois | Quebec, Canada Musique à bouches is a vocal ensemble composed of David Bélanger, Olivier Brousseau, Jérôme Fortin, Sylvain Trudel, and Michel Grandmaison who also brings his personal twist on foot-tapping (podorythmie). Humming with a cappella rhythms of traditional musical arrangements, this vocal quintet is the fruit of years of …
The Contributions of Immigrants to the Heritage and Traditions of Montana and the West By Aubrey Jaap, Director, Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives From the anonymous saying: “If you are more fortunate than others, it is better to build a longer table than a taller fence.” Long before the first Euro-American …
Ed Ronningen, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Chip Carving is an international tradition, although Scandinavia has the preponderance of carvings. It is a centuries-old craft, used by many peoples worldwide to decorate wooden objects—spoons, bowls, boards, doorways, boats, paddles, and more. Chip carving uses special knives to remove small chips of wood …
The Tiernan Irish Dancers were founded in 2001 when a local céilí club was adopted by the Trinity Irish Dancers of Chicago. Trinity arrived to perform at AnRiRa, Montana‘s annual Irish festival. Founder Mark Howard was fascinated by Butte’s heritage and history. He soon formulated a plan to adopt Montana Irish dancers and send Trinity instructors to …
Pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated with traditional folk designs using a wax-resist method. The word pysanka comes from the verb pysaty, “to write” or “to inscribe,” as the designs are written (inscribed) with beeswax, not painted. The designs are written on the egg using melted beeswax and a stylus, the egg is dipped in colored dye, and the …
The Big Sky Lace Guild was started in the fall of 2014 and is the only lace guild currently in Montana. The last lace guild in Montana existed in the early 1900s. Although based in Butte, the Big Sky Lace Guild is open to lace-makers statewide. The Guild became a …
The Montana International Folk Dancers join together from communities around the state to share an appreciation of the music, dance, dress, and language of traditional world cultures. Since the 1960s, their activities have always included recreational dancing, but at times have expanded to exhibition dance and musical performance. Dancers come …
LuWaana Marjamaa Johnson and Norma Pylypuw | Butte, Montana The tradition of weaving rag rugs was brought to Butte in the early 1900s by the Finnish miner families who settled in the east Butte neighborhood called “Finn Town.” Large floor looms were easily constructed, and being very frugal, the …
The Celtic Quintet brings Gaelic musical cultures from both Ireland and Scotland together with strong Iberian and Nordic influences. They play in Bozeman and the surrounding Gallatin Valley delivering ‘live’ music and a jig or two! They strive to bring community and culture together. The Celtic Quintet was organically formed …
Blues/Soul | Los Angeles, CA A chance meeting in Memphis laid the groundwork for a unique musical partnership between soul-blues powerhouse Sugaray Rayford and producer/songwriter Eric Corne. Combining classic soul melodies with funky R & B grooves, raw blues power, and mashed up with modern sensibilities, the pair’s first collaboration, …
Chinese Traditional | San Francisco, CA Melody of China is a San Francisco-based Chinese chamber ensemble. Begun in 1993 by a group of enthusiastic musicians from Mainland China, Melody of China’s mission is two-fold: “to provide rich musical entertainment through the synergy of ancient Chinese tradition with youthful, diverse American …
Traditional Sephardic Ladino | Amsterdam, Netherlands Noam “Nani” Vazana is one of the only artists in the world who writes and composes new songs in the endangered Ladino language which is a remnant of the rich heritage and tradition of Sephardic Jews, expelled by Queen Isabella from Spain and Portugal …
Native American Drumming | Harlem, MT The Assiniboine Cree singers are a family-based drum group from both the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boys reservations in Montana, traditional homes of the Assiniboine and Cree tribes. Immigrants to Montana, the Assiniboine and Sioux were both gradually pushed westward onto the plains from …
Acoustic Blues | Greenville, GA and Richmond, VA Hailing from Greenville, Georgia, Jontavious Willis grew up singing Gospel music at the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church with his grandfather. From an early age, he had the talent and passion for music and the ability to sharpen his skills fast. At the …
Appalachian Piano | Salisbury, NC Jeff Little is an award-winning musician from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. With few exceptions, the piano does not play a prominent part in Americana or Appalachian music and is rarely the lead instrument. But Jeff Little is an exception and a remarkable one. …
Quebecois | Montreal, Quebec Over the past 18 years, the Quebec group Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk and Celtic music circuit. The band’s six albums have been met with critical acclaim in Canada, the United States and Europe. Known for its energy and its …
