The Workshop and Craft tents offer an opportunity to learn new skills, observe artists in action, and encounter other cultures. Even if you don’t play an instrument, you are welcome to listen and watch during musical workshops. Musical Workshops are open to listeners and players of all ages.
Saturday June 18 – Old Time Day
Workshop Tent
2:00pm -Old Time Tunes from New York with Bobby Henrie
3:00pm – Intermediate Fiddle Workshop Featuring the Youth Fiddle Club with Jessica Boss Collins Jessica is not only a consummate fiddler, she is also a Middle School music teacher! This workshop is for beginners and novices of all age and will feature several students from Jessica’s Fiddle Club. Bring your fiddle and your questions. Jessica will contour the workshop to the needs of the group.
4:00pm – French Canadian Fiddle Tunes with George Wilson A talented, multi-instrumentalist and singer, George Wilson’s repertoire samples a wide variety of traditional and folk styles. His dynamic fiddling, strongly influenced by Cape Breton and French Canadian styles, has been popular with contra dancers and concert-goers since the late 1970s. George teaches private lessons on fiddle and banjo at home in Wynantskill, New York. georgewilson.oldsongs.org
5:00pm – Instrument Repair and Luthier Workshop with Dylan Race. Dylan Race will lead a workshop on basic instrument repair and maintenance. Race Orchestral Strings has been serving Ithaca and the surrounding communities since 2007. Dylan Race specializes in the repair and adjustment of violins, violas, cellos and basses. Other services include the sale of new and historic instruments and their bows, custom new violin commissions www.raceorchestralstrings.com
Craft Tent
Ongoing: Catatonk Valley Woodcarvers: The Catatonk Valley Woodcarvers will be demonstrating all day Saturday at the Craft tent. Come watch and ask them about their woodcarving secrets.www.catatonkvalleywoodcarvers.org
Sunday June 19 – Nordic Folk Arts Day
Workshop Tent
2:00pm – Sauna Stories with Scarlet Duba, Rob Licht, and the Finger Lakes Finns:. Discover the heritage of the Sauna in Central New York and join in this panel conversation about the meaning and use of the Sauna historically and today. Learn about traditional Saunas, an essential part of Finnish culture. Rob Licht learned about the tradtions of the Sauna from local Finnish entrepreneur Osmo Heila of the Podunk Ski Shop and now builds saunas for local residents. Scarlet Duba was inspired to design a mobile sauna (on display at the workshop!). The Finnish community has built and used saunas since settling in Central New York in the early 1900, a tradition that was detailed in a project by the Dewitt Historical Society in The Sauna in Central New York by Melissa Ladenheim. Check out Rob Licht’s website: http://roblichtcustomsaunas.com. Scarlet Duba’s website: http://lakesauna.com/the-sauna-project.
3:00 pm – Swedish Fiddle Tunes with Stefhan Olstrom.
4:00pm – Norwegian Fiddle with Toby Weinberg In Setesdal Norway they evolved a style of music that can be and still is played equally well on both ordinary fiddle and Hardanger fiddle, although the Hardanger fiddle is now predominant in the valley. In this worksop we will learn the Setesdal Gangar tune (slått) “Halvbror til Reven” (“Half-Brother to the Fox”). Teaching will be at A440, rather than the usual Hardanger fiddle pitch of A494, to accommodate learning the tune on ordinary fiddle. The tune is in the open tuning ADAE (lowest string to highest).
Craft Tent
Ongoing – All Day – Meet the Finger Lakes Finns – The Finger Lakes Finns will have a display of photographs and traditional costumes. Stop by a learn about this cultural community centered in Spencer-Van Etten, Newfield, and Trumansburg.
1:00pm – Finnish Lace Making with Maija de Roche – Maija learned this delicate craft from her Father in one of the only lace-making communities in Finland. Watch her mesmerizing craft.
3:00 pm – Finnish Games and Flower Wreaths with Shirley Barton: Join Shirley Barton of the Finger Lakes Finns for Finnish lawn games and making daisy wreaths for the celebration of midsummer.
Main Stage
4:30pm – Finnish Dances with Katrina Mackey: Katrina Mackey grew up in the Finger Lakes Finnish community. Come learn some of the traditional Finnish dances that were once part of the community’s social life at the dance hall.
