We are a 501(c)3 Non-Profit community organization that
"educates - unifies - promotes & presents"
"ARTS - CRAFTS - MUSIC and DANCE"
For 2009, Bluegrass Week coordinator, Marilyn Rea, brings together a spectacular lineup for the 2009 Music Camp Week. A staff of legendary figures will share their talents with students in workshops, demonstrations, special presentations, concerts and picking sessions throughout the weekend. Informal picking sessions at all levels will go on as students get together with old friends and make new ones. Evening concerts will feature exciting combinations of master bluegrass artists with special guests. Picking time with the teaching staff will be part of the program for all students.
Cassandra
Sotos / Fiddle
Cassandra (Cat) has been playing the violin since she was four years old. She was instructed in the Suzuki method for the first seven years and extended her classical training privately at Carnegie Mellon University Preparatory for five years where she also trained in Chamber music with a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony. She has attended Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp in Nashville, Tennessee for ten consecutive years, starting at age eight. Her first "paid" gig was with the League of Arts Square Dance band, and she played fiddle for that band for several years. She has also played with several Pittsburgh area country bands, but spent four years as the lead fiddle for the country band NOMAD (North of Mason Dixon). NOMAD’s debut CD, "Born and Raised" was released in April , 2006. She has also done studio recording for other area artists and produced her own solo Christmas CD in December, 2007. Cassandra is currently pursuing a solo career as a violinist and recently played at the Apollo Theater in New York City with her "Viper", an electric violin custom made for her by Wood Violins ( Mark Wood, owner) Cassandra is also a full time honor student in the Schreyer Honors College, majoring in Engineering, at Penn State in State College. She is currently on leave from Penn State to work as a co-op at Johnson & Johnson in northern New Jersey.
There has been a mandolinist in the Rappaport family for each of the last three generations. When Charley Rappaport's grandfather stepped off the boat at Ellis Island in 1907, he had an Odessa-made mandolin in a pillowcase among his sparse luggage. Charley's mother, his first teacher, took mandolin lessons as a teen from a boarder in her family's apartment in Coney Island. Soon after that he was introduced to mandolin great Martin Kalisky, who became his lifelong teacher and mentor. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Charley began playing in colleges and coffeehouses in the early '60s. Through the years he has perfected his own style of Gypsy music in a number of groups including - The Tzigane Folk Orchestra, The House Band of the Two Guitars Nightclub, The Tzigane Balalaikas, The Cyrelle Forman Trio, The Elan International Folk Theater, The Gypsies, The Great American Gypsy Band, Meridian, Yasha and Sasha, and most recently The Great American Gypsies with Joseph Kovach and Kelly Armour. Charley has appeared as a soloist in New York's Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Town Hall, in Washington's Kennedy Center and in many other important venues in North America and Europe. As a soloist on the Domra he has appeared with Balalaika Orchestras in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Tucson, San Francisco, Reno and Vancouver. Charley was the founder of the Houston Balalaika Society and the Atlanta Balalaika Society and the co-founder of the Balalaika and Domra Association of America and the Atlanta Mandolin Orchestra. He has 5 recordings to his credit, the most recent being "Before I Had a Red Tomato" on Caravan Recordings. In 2004, he was named a Master Folk Artist by the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, in conjunction with their Master/Apprentice program. In October of 2006, he assumed the post of Music Director of the Pittsburgh Mandolin Society and he conducts the Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra. He resides in northwestern Pennsylvania
Joe Kovach / Guitar It's easy to think of Joseph Kovach as the cosmic Gypsy hitchhiker. He spent almost 2 years hitchhiking across America with a guitar over his shoulder, swapping tunes with migrant workers, cowboys, truckers, preachers, hippies and anyone who could sing and many who couldn't. Joe has had two passions since childhood - music and travel. He has used music as a key to open the door to the world. He has played and traveled in more than 30 countries - in cafes in Guatemala City, Munich, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paris and in the pubs of Ireland and Australia. He has appeared in concerts in more than 50 churches of all denominations and has taught English to immigrants by teaching them American folksongs. Joe was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. His accordion-playing father was of Slovak heritage and his folksong-singing mother was of Polish. Joe played his first recital on the piano in the 4th grade. Since the time he first started playing the guitar he has spent countless hours experimenting, trying to stretch the limits of technique to bring the instrument to its ultimate capacity. He has studied Folk, Swing, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Latin, Eastern European, Gypsy and other forms in an attempt to bring together elements to shape a unique sound in performance. The critics all agree he has succeeded. When Joe is not concertizing with The Great American Gypsies, you are likely to find him doing musical therapy with persons with mental trauma or playing for the folks in an Alzheimer's unit. He has played for over 20 years in nursing homes on a regular basis and considers this his highest calling. For the musician, the journey of music is endless. For Joseph Kovach, the cosmic Gypsy hitchhiker, the journey has only just begun.
Native of Western Pennsylvania, Jason has been playing 5 string banjo since age 8 years and has continued to play becoming extremely proficient, for the past 28 years. Having an associate degree in music, he played with "Monroe Crossings" for several years and Francine Michaels and the Mountain Top Bluegrass Band. In 2002 at Merle Fest International, Jason placed second in 5 string banjo, then in 2007 he placed second. Also in 2007, he placed second at the Walnut Valley Fest in Winfield, Kansas.
Chet Hogue / Dobro Chet Hogue is a
graduate of the United States Naval School of Music in Little Creek, Va.
Ric Chamberlin / Guitar Ric Chamberlin is a full-time musician, coming to you from Kodiak Alaska. Music has been his forte since grade school when he started playing saxophone where he learned to read music and participated in bands, concerts, and orchestras. When he was 14, Ric learned to play guitar and continued through high school taking his first professional job with a band right out of high school. After two years of college, Ric became a road musician, traveling the Northwest, traveling to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana with his band. He signed on with the Department of Defense doing USO tours to the Philippines, Okinawa, and Korea, until he landed in Kodiak thirty years ago. He has a band that plays every weekend in Kodiak, and often you will see him at other festivals and events in Kodiak. Ric has been a professional since 1975 and teaches guitar, bass, and saxophone. He can teach various styles of music including Rock, Blues, Finger Picking, Classical, Country, and Bluegrass. His mission has become to instill a love for music in young people and he works patiently with beginners, intermediates, and other professionals. He also plays guitar at his church each week. In his spare time Ric likes to draw and works in pastels and watercolors, and plays his grand piano for relaxation.
Scott & Cathy Pearson are an instrumental duet from Warren, PA who play a mix of bluegrass, Celtic, old time, and swing music and have been performing together since 1992. Scott & Cathy first met while playing together in the Friends & Neighbors band from West Virginia and both play the fiddle, mandolin and guitar and have played for many venues throughout the years including craft shows, fairs, senior centers, theatres, festivals, resorts, weddings, and many other events. In addition to playing music, they are proud parents of 4 children. Individually both have played music in different capacities for many years and have been a part of a variety of recording projects. Cathy originally from West Virginia has won championships at the Winfield National Fiddle Contest, Vandalia Fiddle Contest, Galax Fiddle Contest, Mid Atlantic Fiddle Contest, and has placed in the prestigious Grand Masters Contest in Nashville, TN along with winning state championships in Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. She also enjoys playing the mandolin in her spare time and has placed in the Mid Atlantic Mandolin Championships as well as the Mayville Bluegrass Festival Mandolin Championships. She has also got to perform for Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia and be an instructor at the Houghton College in New York and the College of Davis & Elkins in Elkins, WV. Scott originally from Pennsylvania has played for the last 30 years in a variety of bluegrass bands in his lifetime (Beaver Creek, Crooked Creek Grass, Heart to Heart, Friends & Neighbors Band, and the Church Street Blues Band). He has been fortunate to tour the eastern United States with those bands opening for Ricky Skaggs, Kathy Mattea, Mark O’Connor, and others and has been fortunate to play on stage with Del McCoury, Bill Monroe, Tim Stafford, and Lynn Morris. He has also had the good fortune to win the Merlefest Mandolin Contest as well as become a 2 time Mayville Mandolin Champion, 3-Time New York State Guitar Champion, Mid Atlantic Mandolin Champion, Maryland State and Pennsylvania State Fiddle Champion, 6-time place winner in the National Mandolin Contests in Winfield, Kansas, and a place winner in the Wayne Henderson Guitar Contest and Rockygrass Guitar and Mandolin Championships. In addition, this year Scott’s band “Church Street Blues” won the South Carolina State Band Championship held at the Renofest Bluegrass Festival. Scott has also been an instructor for guitar and mandolin at the University of Edinboro, Houghton College, and the Mayville Guitar Convention.
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Charley Rappaport /
Mandolin
Jason Ericson /
Banjo - 5 string
Armstrong County League of Arts
461 Slate-Lick Road
Kittanning,16201-8718
Phone: 724-763-1722
Contact Us at marilynrea@alltel.net
©2007-2009 Armstrong County League of Arts - All Rights Reserved