Acadia Festival of Traditional Music & Dance

Last June, Julie Wyrick (our member from CA) and I drove to Bar Harbor, Maine for the Acadia Trad Festival. This is a week-long camp featuring a stellar faculty in music and dance. It is held on the campus of the College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, within walking distance to the city center and waterfront. We stayed on campus in the dorms, although there are other options in the area. Our first act was to walk downtown and get a fabulous Maine lobster roll!

The morning classes are broken down into two levels, with usually two teachers per instrument or dance. Each level spends one period with the first teacher then switches, so you have the benefit of learning from two different faculty members.

The afternoons had many choices. One choice was an ensemble, which you attended each afternoon with the same instructors. I chose French Canadian ensemble with Don and Cindy Roy. It was a fabulous experience. We learned a simple tune by ear, then Don started creating arrangements. We performed it at the final concert of the week, which was all student performers.

Every night, there was a concert put on by faculty. What a treat to hear such great musicians perform together. We heard Neil Pearlman, Troy MacGillivray, Jeremiah McLane, Mari Black to name a few. The camp was well organized by April Verch and Mari Black.

—Anne Baier