Our Friday Night Concerts feature acts performing eclectic roots music. Concerts are scheduled for most Fridays, check the website calendar to be sure. All are welcome at our concerts and dances; vaccinations and masks are not required.
Upcoming Concerts:
FRIDAY, May 5, 2023 at 7 p.m. – Groundbreaking traditional artists, Elizabeth LaPrelle & Brian Dolphin.
Elizabeth LaPrelle of Southwestern Virginia, is a singer and banjo-player. She began winning prizes for her singing at a young age, and has dedicated research, passion, and a powerful voice to the ancient art of Appalachian ballad-singing. She learned from family and tradition-bearers like Sheila Kay Adams and Ginny Hawker. At the College of William and Mary, she graduated with a self-designed major in “Southern Appalachian Traditional Performance”.
Brian Dolphin is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Fulbright recipient, and doctoral student of Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has studied folk music, lived with indigenous musicians, and performed all over the world. He leads an active life as a songwriter, performer, producer, and song leader, uniting diverse communities through the Ukrainian Village Voices choir. For more info visit briandolphin.com
This concert will be in the Folk School’s Keith House Community Room
FRIDAY, September 15, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. – William Jackson – Scottish Harper and Composer
Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and now based in Mayo, William Jackson has been at the forefront of traditional music for nearly 40 years. He has recorded and toured alongside many well know Irish and Scottish musicians and has also performed and taught at many festivals in the USA and Canada. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Swannanoa Gathering ‘Master Music Maker award for Lifetime Achievement’ (Swannanoa, North Carolina USA). His most recent collaboration is with Irish harper and concertina player Gráinne Hambly from County Mayo, and they released their first CD as a duo in 2009.
He was a founding member of Ossian in 1976, which became one of Scotland’s best-loved traditional bands. The band, whose music influenced a generation of musicians, toured extensively throughout the U.S.A. and Europe. While his main instrument is harp, he also plays whistle and bouzouki. William is also a trained Music Therapist, specialising in working with children.
While working with Ossian, William also established himself as a composer and he has steadily knit together traditional influences with classical instrumentation in a style uniquely his own. His impressive list of commissioned works and subsequent recordings includes “The Wellpark Suite”, “St. Mungo”, “Inchcolm” and “Duan Albanach”. His composition “Land of Light” won the international Song for Scotland competition in 1999, organised by The Herald to find a new Scottish Anthem. His music has also been choreographed by the Irish National Ballet. His most recent composition is a 4-part suite of music inspired by the connections between Ireland and Scotland (supported by the Arts Council of Ireland).
Audience Faculty & Staff, General Public, StudentCost suggested $5-10 donation, per adult
Folk School Location: Festival Barn: John C. Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Rd, Brasstown, NC 28902
FRIDAY, September 22, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. – Red-Haired Mary – Irish Band
Knoxville-based Irish band Red-Haired Mary delivers traditional and contemporary Irish and Celtic songs and tunes, sometimes in Irish and often in three-part harmony. Members of the band include Nancy Acuff, flute, tinwhistle and vocals; Alycia Petrone, fiddle and vocals; Terry Schomer, bouzouki, guitar, bodhran and bones;
Margaret Scanlan, keyboards and vocals; and Tom Scanlan, bass, bodhran and vocals.
Please visit website for more information at folkschool.org/calendar
