2026 Schedule & Workshop Descriptions
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YOU can also lead a workshop!
Registered attendees will receive information on how to submit their own workshops in advance and claim a space on the schedule. Info on these workshops will be posted here close to the event. Attendees can also instigate workshops and gatherings during the weekend by adding them to a giant paper schedule posted on the wall. |
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Once the event starts, the most up-to-date version of the schedule will be the giant paper schedule on the wall in the Dining Hall.
Staff Workshop Descriptions
Dan and Claudia Zanes
Haitian Folk Music: Claudia’s Favorites (T)
In this workshop Dan + Claudia will teach some of the Haitian folk songs that Claudia grew up singing with her family. Participants will learn the stories behind the songs, the guitar (or ukulele) chords, basic translations, and pronunciation. It’s 2026, time for everyone to add some Kreyol to their songbag!
Community Music: Young People, Sensory Friendly, and a Service Mindset (P)
In this workshop Dan + Claudia will talk about their experiences performing for people of all-ages - particularly young folks, key aspects of the Sensory Friendly movement, and how keeping a service mindset has helped them find new audiences. And of course there will be singing!
Constructive White Conversations: Examining Racial Conditioning (D)
In this workshop Dan will talk about his experiences with Constructive White Conversations, an organization that started in his living room sixteen years ago. He’ll tell his story to open up a conversation about race, antiracism, and how self examination can help White people find a greater sense of purpose. The focus will be on White antiracism but all are welcome.
Erin Fulton
How to "Bass" a Hymnbook Tune (T)
This session will teach strategies for developing a vocal bassline against a preexisting melody. It is stylistically rooted in the three-voice "hymnbook" singing practiced in the Ozarks. Please note that seven-syllable solfege terminology (do, re, mi, etc.) will be used in this class.
Why Do Some Folk Music Gatherings Outlive Others? Insights from the Big Singing, Benton, Kentucky (P/D)
The Big Singing began as a nostalgic gathering of elders who wanted to sing the tunes they had learned in youth. It has tentatively continued from 1884 to the present day. This session will open with an examination of the strategies used by Big Singing caretakers over the years (and comparison to those adopted in analogous events), then broaden into a free discussion of the "lifecycle" of longrunning musical events.
Building a Hymnbook Repertoire Using the Power of Refrain (S)
To use text-only hymnals, singers not only need to know tunes in multiple hymnodic meters, but to retrieve a tune of the correct meter quickly and accurately. Associating a certain meter with a certain refrain is an easy first step toward developing this skill. The class will teach a small repertoire of refrain-bearing tunes that is sufficient for singing most metrical hymns.
Macdara Yeates
The Brown and the Yellow Ale - Folk Song or Literary Invention? (P)
Macdara will explore the much misunderstood folk song The Brown and the Yellow Ale, detailing its folk origins and its many modern authors, from James Joyce to Luke Kelly.
Townie: Song Collecting and Outreach in Dublin’s North Inner City (P)
Macdara will detail his work in his native north inner-city Dublin, collaborating with schools, retired dockworkers, and local history groups, to uncover lost, unsung ballads, and find ways to reintegrate folk singing in modern communities.
Dublin Slang Songs: The Lost Songs of Dublin's Criminal Underworld (P)
In this workshop, Macdara embarks on a journey to 18th century Dublin, to discover songs of gang warfare, public hangings, and one street criminal's rise from the dead.
Dan and Claudia Zanes
Haitian Folk Music: Claudia’s Favorites (T)
In this workshop Dan + Claudia will teach some of the Haitian folk songs that Claudia grew up singing with her family. Participants will learn the stories behind the songs, the guitar (or ukulele) chords, basic translations, and pronunciation. It’s 2026, time for everyone to add some Kreyol to their songbag!
Community Music: Young People, Sensory Friendly, and a Service Mindset (P)
In this workshop Dan + Claudia will talk about their experiences performing for people of all-ages - particularly young folks, key aspects of the Sensory Friendly movement, and how keeping a service mindset has helped them find new audiences. And of course there will be singing!
Constructive White Conversations: Examining Racial Conditioning (D)
In this workshop Dan will talk about his experiences with Constructive White Conversations, an organization that started in his living room sixteen years ago. He’ll tell his story to open up a conversation about race, antiracism, and how self examination can help White people find a greater sense of purpose. The focus will be on White antiracism but all are welcome.
Erin Fulton
How to "Bass" a Hymnbook Tune (T)
This session will teach strategies for developing a vocal bassline against a preexisting melody. It is stylistically rooted in the three-voice "hymnbook" singing practiced in the Ozarks. Please note that seven-syllable solfege terminology (do, re, mi, etc.) will be used in this class.
Why Do Some Folk Music Gatherings Outlive Others? Insights from the Big Singing, Benton, Kentucky (P/D)
The Big Singing began as a nostalgic gathering of elders who wanted to sing the tunes they had learned in youth. It has tentatively continued from 1884 to the present day. This session will open with an examination of the strategies used by Big Singing caretakers over the years (and comparison to those adopted in analogous events), then broaden into a free discussion of the "lifecycle" of longrunning musical events.
Building a Hymnbook Repertoire Using the Power of Refrain (S)
To use text-only hymnals, singers not only need to know tunes in multiple hymnodic meters, but to retrieve a tune of the correct meter quickly and accurately. Associating a certain meter with a certain refrain is an easy first step toward developing this skill. The class will teach a small repertoire of refrain-bearing tunes that is sufficient for singing most metrical hymns.
Macdara Yeates
The Brown and the Yellow Ale - Folk Song or Literary Invention? (P)
Macdara will explore the much misunderstood folk song The Brown and the Yellow Ale, detailing its folk origins and its many modern authors, from James Joyce to Luke Kelly.
Townie: Song Collecting and Outreach in Dublin’s North Inner City (P)
Macdara will detail his work in his native north inner-city Dublin, collaborating with schools, retired dockworkers, and local history groups, to uncover lost, unsung ballads, and find ways to reintegrate folk singing in modern communities.
Dublin Slang Songs: The Lost Songs of Dublin's Criminal Underworld (P)
In this workshop, Macdara embarks on a journey to 18th century Dublin, to discover songs of gang warfare, public hangings, and one street criminal's rise from the dead.