Wintery Weekend

Take me to the Wintery Weekend recordings!

Dear Friends,

Back in April when we started Ministry of Folk, we thought it might be a useful resource for a few months as musicians waited for gigs to come back. Obviously, we’re still waiting. In the meantime, we’ve figured out a few things about connecting online, and we’re super excited to announce that Ministry of Folk will be hosting its first ever virtual Wintery Weekend Festival, taking place the first weekend in December.

We’ve put together a schedule that features 10 workshops, 5 sessions, and 2 concerts, with 35 Ministry of Folk artists. Over the course of the weekend you’ll get to see all of these artists in conversation with each other, and have the chance to learn tunes, develop technique, ask questions, and hang out with some seriously cool musicians. If you’re a music appreciator, a beginner on your instrument, or an old pro, there’s something here for everyone!

We wanted to make this experience available to fellow musicians and those who might be working with tight budgets this year, so we’re offering all this for the price of $50. If you have extra to spare, your donations will subsidize anyone who isn’t able to pay the full price. This is a wonderfully generous community, and we are so grateful for all of the support people have shown us over the last few months.

Hope you can join us starting on Friday December 4th for a super cozy, music-filled weekend with friends.

Warmly,

Ministry of Folk Team

Sarah Collins, Kate Gregory, Brendan Hearn, and Summer McCall

P.S. Don’t miss out on the limited edition Ministry of Folk merch available to weekend participants!

P.P.S. If you can’t make it to a workshop or session in real time, recordings will be available for all registered attendees.

weekend workshop descriptions

** All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5)**

friday // 12.4.20

Spanish Tunes: Digging deep into the heart of the Iberian peninsula, the Spanish Tune Workshop will focus on the unique rhythms and playing style of Castilla. Join us for a fun splash into mediterranean music and culture with Galen Fraser and Maria San Miguel. 10:00-11:30 AM

Scandi Session: Hosted by Finnish fiddle player Veera Kuisma, nyckelharpa and guitar duo Sandra Wong and Jon Sousa, and mandolinist Ethan Setiawan, this session is the perfect chance to dust off your Scandinavian tunes and maybe learn some new ones. 12:00-1:30 PM

Playing for Dance: In this workshop we will explore the integration of music and dance in our traditions. Alex Cumming, who plays accordion for English morris & clog, ceilidhs, and contra dances, Katie Grennan, who plays fiddle for competitive Irish dance, and Brian Ó hAirt, who plays box and concertina for sean-nós or old-style Irish dance, will discuss that link between music and dance. They will offer some tips for musicians interested in playing with/for dancers, and will delve into some of the differences between their styles of dance music. 2:00-3:30 PM

Tunes for Healing: We’re kicking off the weekend’s evening programming with some feels. In this workshop, we’ll be sharing tunes we’ve been playing during quarantine, tunes that make us feel good, tunes that make us cry. You’ll hear from Scottish harpist Mairi Chaimbeul and fiddler Jenna Moynihan, English fiddler Sam Sweeney, old-time banjo player Brad Kolodner, and nyckelharpa and guitar duo Sandra Wong and Jon Sousa. Come for the tunes, stay for the cozy vibes. 4:00-5:30 PM

The Burren Irish Session: Join fiddle and guitar duos Maura Shawn Scanlin and Conor Hearn, and Sarah Collins and Eamon Sefton, for a throwback to Friday nights spent at the Burren in Somerville. Grab your instruments and celebrate the fact that the sound quality will undoubtedly be better than inside the Burren on a Friday night. 6:00-7:30 PM

A Fine Winter’s Night: We’re teaming up with Club Passim to co-host Matt & Shannon Heaton's annual “Fine Winter’s Night” featuring original and traditional Irish music to usher in the holidays. The Boston Globe called it "a cocoa warm set of carols, wintry jigs, and originals about the snuggling moods of midwinter.” 8:00-10:00 PM

saturday // 12.5.20

Nerd Talk: Grab your coffee and kick off Day Two of the weekend with our favorite nerds. We’ll be hearing from Irish song collector Peter Brice, concertina player and ethnomusicologist Pádraig Mac Aodhgáin, Aberdeenshire ballad collector Iona Fyfe, and English fiddler Sam Sweeny. They’ll be talking about digging into old tunebooks and archives, using digitized collections, and incorporating older material into a contemporary repertoire. They’ll each share some of their favorite tunes and songs they’ve collected, and suggest some tips and resources for anyone looking for new (old) material. 10:00-11:30 AM

Old-Time Crossover: Does it seem like everyone you know is playing a little Old-Time music these days? We’re bringing together three fiddlers who play Old-Time in addition to Scottish/Irish styles. Orcadian fiddler Louise Bichan, Australian fiddler Jeri Foreman, and American fiddler Brennish Thomson, have grown up in various Celtic fiddle traditions and will be sharing their experiences playing and performing in that “crossover” space. They’ll discuss stylistic differences, break down the Old-Time groove, and teach some tunes that have traveled across the traditions. 12:00-1:30 PM

Emmets Scottish Session: Grab your instrument, get your requests ready, and join us for a Scottish session hosted by Calum Bell, Louise Bichan, and Caroline McCaskey. We’ll try to pretend we’re actually playing together at Emmets Scottish pub in downtown Boston, where you could find Scottish tunes every weekend in the days before the pandemic. 2:00-3:30 PM

Boston Tea Party: Take a break from the grueling schedule of workshops for an actual tea party with four of Boston’s most charismatic ladies. Picture this as a trad version of The View. Hanneke Cassel (fiddle), Natalie Haas (cello), Shannon Heaton (flute), and Katie McNally (fiddle) will be chatting, drinking tea, and playing some quintessential “Boston tunes” for us. 4:00-5:30 PM

Rhythmic Stuff: Are you a melody player hoping to add some tools to your accompaniment kit? In this workshop, we’ll hear from five different musicians on their approaches to rhythmic accompaniment. Galen Fraser (fiddle), Andrew Finn Magill (fiddle), Casey Murray (cello), Amy Richter (bodhran), and Ethan Setiawan (mandolin) will talk through some techniques they use to create groove and demonstrate percussive ways to play a melody instrument. 6:00-7:30 PM

Wintery Songs: Join us for peak weekend coziness with some fireside songs from Colin Cotter, Iona Fyfe, Brian Ó hAirt, Eric McDonald, Maria San Miguel, and Jenna Moynihan. Extra points if you light some candles, make a hot drink, and wear your pajamas. 8:00-9:30 PM

sunday // 12.6.20

Old-Time Session at Cafe Hon: Ease into Sunday morning with some Old-Time tunes from Baltimore players Brad Kolodner and Richard Osban. Grab your fiddles and banjos, and get your requests ready. 10:00-11:30 AM

Chord Talk: If you’ve been listening to contemporary trad music, you’ve probably heard the epic chords of Natalie Haas (cello), Conor Hearn (guitar), Eric McDonald (guitar) or Eamon Sefton (guitar). In this workshop, you’ll hear each guitarist demonstrate how they would accompany some Scottish/Irish fiddle melodies (recorded by fiddle virtuoso Maura Shawn Scanlin). Natalie Haas will spend some time discussing how to translate what the guitar players are doing onto the cello. At the end of the workshop, we’ll chat more broadly about approaches to arrangement. 12:00-1:30 PM

Kirwan’s Irish Session: Hosted by Annapolis-based box player Peter Brice, and Cork-based concertina player Pádraig Mac Aodhgáin, this session pays homage to a pre-pandemic session hosted at Kirwan’s pub in Washington DC. All instruments are welcome, and you can pick whether you’re drinking coffee or Guinness. 2:00-3:30 PM

Pipe Tunes: In this workshop for all instruments, we’ll dive into the richness of the piping tradition in Scottish and Irish music. You’ll hear some pipe tunes from uilleann piper Tim Hill, as well as non-pipers Mairi Chaimbeul (harp) and Rebecca Lomnicky (fiddle), and we’ll discuss options for ornamentation and imitating pipes on different instruments. 4:00-5:30 PM

FINALE CONCERT: Your chance to see all of the Ministry of Folk artists involved in this weekend in one place! Streaming live on our Facebook page, this show will be open to the public. Come party with us! 7:00-10:00 PM

** All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time

the details

10 workshops, 5 sessions, and 2 concerts
35 Ministry of Folk artists

Friday morning to Sunday night
(eastern standard time)

December 4 to December 6

all online

recordings available if you miss it

$50 for the whole thing

Buy a Weekend Pass

Looking for new music, tune books, calendars?

Check out Wintery Weekend’s Camp Store

If you purchase an album from a Ministry of Folk artist on Bandcamp, Friday December 4, your entire purchase goes straight to the musician. We also have non-Bandcamp albums and merch for sale! Great place to start your holiday shopping…

Visit the Camp Store

Thanks to Our Sponsors

These institutions have been supporters of traditional and folk music for years, and we’re grateful for their support during this incredibly difficult time for the hospitality and music industries!

If you’re in Davis Square, grab some fish and chips at The Burren and tell them we sent you!

We’re here to help.

Let us know what we can do.

sarah@ministryoffolk.com