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Augusta offers Bluegrass and Vocal Week

Submitted photo The Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College will host evening concerts Tuesday in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium and Thursday on the Claude King Davis Memorial Plaza during Bluegrass and Vocal Week. The performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

ELKINS — The sounds of Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs and a diverse array of vocal traditions from around the world will echo throughout the Davis & Elkins College campus as Augusta Heritage Center wraps up its 45th summer season with Bluegrass and Vocal Week through Friday.

The public is invited to participate in activities every evening through Friday on the D&E campus during the summer program. Activities include dances in the open-air Augusta Dance Pavilion, Archive Session concerts on Tuesday in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium and Thursday on the Claude King Davis Memorial Plaza, folklore lectures, nightly jam sessions and much more.

For a complete schedule, visit www.augustaheritagecenter.org or call the Augusta office at 304-637-1209 to request a public events rack card with details.

Area residents who want to sample an Augusta class but are unable to attend all-day classes will have opportunities with evening mini-courses. An array of classes scheduled from 6-7:15 p.m. today through Thursday include Introduction to Foraging with Maureen Farrell, Mountain Dance: Calling, Feet & Figures with Becky Hill and Tyler Crawford, and The History of Appalachia Through Story and Song with Michael and Carrie Kline.

There are still spaces available in the all-day classes for those who have an interest in deepening their knowledge of bluegrass and vocal music, letterpress printing and wood engraving, wet plate collodion photography, songwriting and solo percussive dance.

Public events for the week include:

Today

Shelia Kay Adams will present a free folklore lecture, “The 100th Anniversary of Cecil Sharp’s Time in the Appalachian Mountains,” at 7 p.m. in Madden Student Center. The third annual Bluegrass Onion Jam begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Halliehurst lawn, followed by bluegrass jam sessions all around campus. The Bluegrass Week staff will provide live music for a square dance at 9 p.m. in the Augusta Dance Pavilion. Admission is $7 general, $5 for students and AmeriCorps members and free to the D&E community.

Tuesday

The Vocal Week Cultural Session, “A Visit with Connie Badgett Steadman and Emily Miller,” will take place from 1:15-2:15 p.m. in Robbins Memorial Chapel. Show & Sell will be set up on the Halliehurst porch from 4-6:30 p.m. with vendors selling instruments, crafts, recordings and much more. The Tuesday concert, Augusta Archive Sessions: Bluegrass & Vocal, will start at 7:30 p.m. in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium and will be followed by a honky tonk karaoke with a live band and dancing in the Augusta Dance Pavilion. Concert tickets are $12 for general admission and $6 for students.

Wednesday

Augusta’s weekly Pickin’ in the Park with old-time, bluegrass and country music jam sessions will be from 6-10 p.m. in Elkins City Park. Award-winning tintype photographer Lisa Elmaleh will present a lecture titled “Wet Plate Collodion Photography” at 7 p.m. in Madden Student Center. The Vocal Week Participant Showcase will be performed at 8 p.m. in Robbins Memorial Chapel and a doo-wop jam session with Flawn Williams and friends begins at 10:30 p.m. in Madden Student Center.

Thursday

The Bluegrass Week Cultural Session, set for 1:15-2:15 p.m. in Madden Student Center, features “A Visit with Master Artist Claire Lynch.” The Thursday concert featuring the talents of Dudley Connell, Claire Lynch, Joe Newberry, Kay Justice and many more begins at 7:30 p.m. on the Claude King Davis Memorial Plaza. Seating is festival style and those attending should bring a lawn chair. Food vendors will be present. Prior to the concert, a craft showcase will be presented from 6-7:15 p.m. in Myles Center for the Arts featuring exhibits and demonstrations by the arts and craft classes as well as the folk arts for kids class. Concert tickets are $12 for general admission and $6 for students. A vocal jam circle will follow the concert in the Booth Library breezeway.

Friday

The week will conclude with a Bluegrass Participant Showcase at 1 p.m. in the Augusta Dance Pavilion and a Vocal Week gathering at 3 p.m. in Robbins Memorial Chapel.

The 45th annual Augusta Festival kicks off at 8 p.m. with a square dance in the Augusta Dance Pavilion. Admission is $7 general, $5 for students and AmeriCorps members and free to the D&E community. The Augusta Festival Open Sing also begins at 8 p.m. in Robbins Memorial Chapel.

The Augusta Festival on Saturday, August 11 will feature workshops, performances, a juried craft fair and the West Virginia Open Fiddle and Banjo Contest in Elkins City Park. Admission is free. The evening will conclude with a Mountain Stage Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium. The live performance features special guest host Bil Lepp, country music legend Kathy Mattea, award winning bluegrass group Darin & Brooke Aldridge, West Virginia-based honky tonk group Blue Yonder, old-time multi-instrumentalist Joe Newberry and other special guests. Heard weekly on NPR stations across the country, Mountain Stage is produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and is celebrating its 35th year on the air. The concert will be recorded live and broadcast at a later date on the internationally syndicated radio program.

Tickets are $25 general admission and may be purchased by calling 304-637-1209, online at www.augustaheritagecenter.org or at the D&E Box Office in Myles Center for the Arts on the night of the show.

To register for classes or learn more about the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College summer sessions, visit augustaheritagecenter.org or call 304-637-1209.

Programs offered by the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College are presented with financial support from the WV Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts and the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Local support is provided by the Randolph County Commission.

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