Folk College

May 23-25, 2025

Taste of Folk College

Friday, January 3, 2025 -- Contradance, 7 pm

Saturday, January 4, 2025 -- Taste of Folk College --Workshops, Jams, Potluck, Concert

Both events at the American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA, 10 minutes outside of State College​

Here is your opportunity to get a small sampling of Folk College!
Spend a glorious musical time with Simple Gifts and friends, jamming, hearing music, and getting a Taste of Folk College.

TWO DAYS

NEW THIS YEAR!   
Friday Night Contra & Square Dance at 7 pm.
Come to dance, to play, or some of each
CONTRADANCE:
Friday, January 3, 2025, 7 p.m.
COST:
FREE! (with donations & snacks gratefully accepted)
MUSIC:
Music for the contradance: folkgathering.com/contradance.pdf
 
TASTE OF FOLK COLLEGE DATE:
Saturday, January 4, 2025
TIME:
1 pm to 8:30 pm but drop by anytime
COST:
FREE! (with donations gratefully accepted)

Taste of Folk College is:

  • a fun party with lots of jamming
  • an opportunity for people who haven’t been to Folk College and Pennsylvania Folk Gathering to see what it’s about in a free 1-day event
  • a reunion for Folk College and Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering attendees
  • a fantastic event for people who play an instrument, people who wish they played an instrument, and people who just like to listen

Register for Taste of Folk College

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  • Morocco+212
  • Mozambique+258
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  • Niger+227
  • Nigeria+234
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  • Norway+47
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  • Palestinian Territories+970
  • Panama+507
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  • Samoa+685
  • San Marino+378
  • Saudi Arabia+966
  • Senegal+221
  • Serbia+381
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  • Sierra Leone+232
  • Singapore+65
  • Sint Maarten+1
  • Slovakia+421
  • Slovenia+386
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  • Spain+34
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  • St. Helena+290
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  • Tanzania+255
  • Thailand+66
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  • Togo+228
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Minimum Price: $10.00

Pot Luck

There is a potluck involved. HOWEVER, we have NO access to kitchen facilities. Please bring a crock pot if your dish needs to stay warm or some way to keep your items cold if it needs that.
 
We ask everyone to clean up their potluck items right after the meal.

Instrument Exchange

Here is an opportunity to sell the instruments you’re ready to part with.

 

The Huntingdon County Arts Council will act as the sales agent. The Arts Council will give the seller 90% of the sales price (so price accordingly), and we have to charge 6% sales tax to the buyer. 

There will be a form to fill out when you arrive for any instruments you want to sell.

Featuring

Moonlighting

Moonlighting was founded in 2015 in Pittsburgh by Mimi Jong (erhu) and Keith Cochran (piano accordion). Erhu is a traditional Chinese two-stringed bowed instrument with more than 1,000 years of historical influence across many Eurasian cultures.

We use these two disparate instruments to interpret interesting music from different genres. The resulting blended repertoire is diverse and global, ranging from Bach, Schubert, Piazzolla, Bernstein to many Beatles compositions and other classic rock music from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Our goal is to interpret tunes in a refreshing and unexpected way that engages the audience and extends the textures and timbres of our instruments.

Interestingly, we are both professional architects, and we believe this enables us to bring a disciplined, inquisitive approach to arrangement that enhances the depth and subtlety of the music.

Our arrangements are developed during our weekly rehearsals together. The two instruments complement each other in an unexpected way. In most cases the distinctive voice of the erhu depicts the melody line, and the accordion provides orchestration — including percussions, harmony, and alternate counter melodies — to accomplish the intended expression of each piece.

We have received much positive response from listeners who have been emotionally moved. People are surprised and delighted by how these instruments sound together. We have created a unique sound that can explore the depth of universal emotions.

We are delighted to share our work with longtime friends in our Folk College community and beyond.  We hope that our music can bring inspiration, acceptance, and appreciation in the world and to promote mutual understanding and joy with audiences of all ages and social backgrounds.

Simple Gifts

Folk College’s host band, Simple Gifts, is two women (Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon) playing twelve instruments, with styles that range from old time to Celtic to Klezmer and beyond. Karen Hirshon plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, 6-string banjo, bowed psaltery, doumbek, and spoons. Linda Littleton plays fiddle, hammered dulcimer, banjo, recorders, and bowed psaltery. Based in State College, PA, Simple Gifts members designed Folk College and work with the Huntingdon County Arts Council to make it a reality. They have a strong philosophy that everyone can play music, that music is best when shared, and that above all, music is about communication, not competition.
www.simplegiftsmusic.com