Touring Group March Update
The Young Tradition Touring Group has been preparing for the April Tour of New England since September, and now it is right around the corner! At this point in the season, Touring Group musicians have come together for seven full-day rehearsals, three concert performances, a contra dance, and several workshops. It is exciting to see their growth as individual musicians and to hear their performance set become tighter and more nuanced–more harmonies, clear voices, and settled arrangements.
The Touring Group has also been forming bonds socially. As they listen to each other carefully on stage and during rehearsals, they are building trust and comfort. Silliness at snack time, downtime between rehearsing and lining up to perform, sharing meals, singing together, and playing outside when the weather cooperates all become part of the Touring Group experience.
April is an excellent time to take the show on the road, which is where you’ll find the Touring Group in a few short weeks. Audiences of all ages will be dancing in their seats to energetic jigs and reels, thrilled by mesmerizing fiddle harmonies and inspired by the full sound of the ensemble from ukulele and guitars to harp, banjo, keyboard, and a chorus of violins as the Touring Group brings their show around New England.
They kick off their tour on Wednesday, April 23rd, with workshops, a jam with local musicians, and a performance from Palaver Strings. Their first concert of the tour is at Trinity Church in Lewiston with special guests including Maine fiddler and tradition-bearer Ellen Gawler & Friends!
The next day the Touring Group will play for a local retirement community and then travel to the Midcoast trad music hub of Belfast for more workshops and a double-feature concert at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast with Springtide. They’ll get to enjoy a seat in the audience to watch this year’s mentors Elsie Gawler and Ethan Tischler perform high energy traditional Celtic and Scandinavian fiddle music and heartfelt original tunes and songs with their bandmate Willy Clemetson.
Friday the 25th will find the group heading down to Portland for more workshops and, hopefully, a picnic at the iconic Portland Head Light. Their last concert in Maine is at one of Portland’s premier listening rooms, One Longfellow Square. They will have another double-feature show, this time with the Pine Tree Flyers, four of the finest voices in New England's traditional music scene who shine a renewed light on the tunes of the Northeast with excitement and respect, who will also be performing with the Touring Group on May 10, at this year's Young Tradition Festival in Burlington, VT.
Saturday the 26th: Boston! The Touring Group will make a stop at Boston Common for a bit of exploration before heading over to Melrose, MA, for a workshop from the Opening Doors Project, which amplifies voices of color and advances interracial conversations about race through the arts. The Touring Group’s evening performance is at the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church.
Finally, on Sunday the 26th the Touring Group will turn towards home, but not before one final matinee concert at the Upper Valley Music Center. Sunday also includes a visit to another retirement community and a jam with local musicians!
The mission of this Vermont Folklife program is to nurture youth involvement in traditional music and dance, provide opportunities to learn from tradition bearers and each other, build connections with artists and communities from Vermont and beyond, and perform traditional repertoire in a variety of locations and settings. This mission informs the development of the tour schedule, as can be clearly seen from this itinerary. It is the culmination of many months of commitment from Touring Group musicians and their families, their mentors and teachers, and Vermont Folklife staff.
One parent of a Touring Group member in their first year of participation recently remarked that “I don’t think they realize that the bonds they have been creating through these months of rehearsals will solidify into something even more meaningful throughout the tour. I don’t think they realize how many people are touched through the group's sharing of music and how that affects people’s lives or how the sharing of music strengthens the bonds of culture and community.” How wonderful to be on this journey!
There is still time to support these fabulous teenage musicians: hop on the bus (virtually!) to get exclusive content from the tour; become a sponsor & we’ll share information about your organization with our audiences; or make a general donation.
To learn more about the Touring Group, please visit the Touring Group webpage. To hear the group perform, we invite you to check out our YouTube playlist or find a show near you.
