Participation Type
Workshop
Session Title
Session 8.16 Music
Session Abstract or Summary
Experience and participate in Jean Ritchie's songs, and explore their context in Appalachian music and culture.
Join the “Forks of Troublesome Band” (an ad hoc group of ASA musicians, scholars and writers including Dana Wildsmith, Deborah Thompson, Ron Pen, Rich Kirby, and Margaret and Beth Folkemer) to experience, sing, and play varied selections from Jean Ritchie’s song repertoire, and to explore their context in Appalachian music and culture. “Song-ballets” with the texts will be provided so that everyone participates! Jean Ritchie, born 1922, Viper, Kentucky, has collected and performed traditional mountain songs, as well as being a songwriter, author, leading figure in the mountain dulcimer revival, recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, and activist for Appalachian environmental and human causes. Song selections will represent the following categories: songs from her family and community traditions; songs addressing Appalachian and world social issues such as peace, economic and ecological sustainability, and human equality; original songs published under the pseudonym “Than Hall;” original songs expressing love for her Appalachian home and culture; songs remade from traditional material; and songs from her Fulbright travel or with roots in the British Isles and Ireland.
Presentation #1 Title
Mountain Born: Jean Ritchie's Musical Voice
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Experience and participate in Jean Ritchie's songs, and explore their context in Appalachian music and culture. Join the “Forks of Troublesome Band” (an ad hoc group of ASA musicians, scholars and writers including Dana Wildsmith, Deborah Thompson, Ron Pen, Rich Kirby, and Margaret and Beth Folkemer) to experience, sing, and play varied selections from Jean Ritchie’s song repertoire, and to explore their context in Appalachian music and culture. “Song-ballets” with the texts will be provided so that everyone participates! Jean Ritchie, born 1922, Viper, Kentucky, has collected and performed traditional mountain songs, as well as being a songwriter, author, leading figure in the mountain dulcimer revival, recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, and activist for Appalachian environmental and human causes. Song selections will represent the following categories: songs from her family and community traditions; songs addressing Appalachian and world social issues such as peace, economic and ecological sustainability, and human equality; original songs published under the pseudonym “Than Hall;” original songs expressing love for her Appalachian home and culture; songs remade from traditional material; and songs from her Fulbright travel or with roots in the British Isles and Ireland.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Margaret Folkemer presents songs and ballads from North America, the British Isles and Ireland. With the band “Dearest Home” she records selections from the unpublished Samuel Bayard Collection, along with other Appalachian and Civil War era music. A graduate of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, she professionally performs medieval, baroque and classical music, and she is Director of Music Ministries at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hanover, PA.
Mountain Born: Jean Ritchie's Musical Voice
Experience and participate in Jean Ritchie's songs, and explore their context in Appalachian music and culture. Join the “Forks of Troublesome Band” (an ad hoc group of ASA musicians, scholars and writers including Dana Wildsmith, Deborah Thompson, Ron Pen, Rich Kirby, and Margaret and Beth Folkemer) to experience, sing, and play varied selections from Jean Ritchie’s song repertoire, and to explore their context in Appalachian music and culture. “Song-ballets” with the texts will be provided so that everyone participates! Jean Ritchie, born 1922, Viper, Kentucky, has collected and performed traditional mountain songs, as well as being a songwriter, author, leading figure in the mountain dulcimer revival, recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, and activist for Appalachian environmental and human causes. Song selections will represent the following categories: songs from her family and community traditions; songs addressing Appalachian and world social issues such as peace, economic and ecological sustainability, and human equality; original songs published under the pseudonym “Than Hall;” original songs expressing love for her Appalachian home and culture; songs remade from traditional material; and songs from her Fulbright travel or with roots in the British Isles and Ireland.
