| Entertainment
under the Main Tent includes a line-up of fabulous musicians,
singers, dancers, and storytellers. Performances are listed
in order of appearance throughout the weekend. See Special
Events for more exciting festival happenings. Thanks to
our Sponsors for making these
performances possible.
Music
from the Old Country—and Beyond
Friday, 7:00-9:00pm
The Heritage Festival opens with the Seacoast's
favorite accordion player,Gary Sredzienski, accompanied
by Bill Zecker on the fiddle. At the turn
of the century, Gary Sredzienski's grandparents
came to the United States as part of the great immigration
from Eastern Europe, settling in New England to
work the Connecticut tobacco fields during the summers
and in the mills for the rest of the year. On weekends,
friends would gather for a house party with music
provided by an accordion and violin, playing songs
and dances of the Old Country. "I'm trying
to capture what it was like when my relatives got
together for the weekend," says Sredziensk.
"That music is in my roots." Sredziensk
maintains the Old World tradition of the performing
accordionist and demonstrates the diversity of the
instrument with a wide variety of styles encompassing
several continents. He has transposed Slavic, Yiddish,
Balkan, Celtic, Scandinavian, folk classical, jazz,
and old American music for performance on the piano
accordion. He revives the spirit of the Old Country
in playing and telling the story of long-forgotten
traditional music and some of the real musical heritage
of the accordion. Along with being the proud owner
of more than 30 accordions, Sredzienski is also
host of the popular Saturday morning 1950s style
Polka Party radio show on WUNH FM 91.3 in Durham,
NH. Sponsored by
the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and
the Polish Club of Newmarket. more
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Purly
Gates
Saturday, 10:30
– 11:15am
Celebrate diversity and caring for our
planet with songs and rhythm fun. Instrument-making
workshop follows the performance (11:25-12:00,
Childrenπs Corner). Make a Brazilian cuica
(a friction drum) and pan pipes. Up to ten children,
grades 3-6, can participate. Materials provided.
Purly Gates' repertoire as a singer/songwriter/educator
is as diverse as her experience: from an Earth
Day concert at Disney World to an NEA-funded residency
in Micronesia; from national touring to local
prominence. She enchants audiences of all ages,
engaging listeners with subjects ranging from
peace to pizza, environment to retirement. Purly
was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville (Texas)
"New Folk" songwriting competition and
has three recordings. This energetic and creative
singer accompanies herself with guitar, banjo,
harmonica, and umpteen odd or homemade instruments.
Her musical styles range from mostly folk and
swing, to country, a touch of blues, bluegrass,
and even an occasional rap. And she may do a little
story-telling between songs. Sponsored
by Chinburg Builders. more
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Amazing
"Feets"
Saturday, 11:45-12:30
French Canadian stepdancer and clogger Ann
Whiting kicks up her heels. Be prepared for a few
surprises! A dance workshop follows (12:40-1:25,
Children's Corner). A bright and energetic
dancer, Ann Whiting has been clogging and stepdancing
since 1979. She has danced with the Green Mountain
Cloggers and the Kitchen-Sync Cloggers and has studied
with many world-class stepdancers. Ann's group Fresh
Blend hearkens back to the traditional sound of
a solo dancer expressing herself to the rhythm of
fiddle and guitar--becoming one of the instruments
herself. Sponsored by Fleet
Bank. |
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Promised
Land
Saturday: 1:00-2:00
pm
Who are we in America? Where do we come
from? When did we come here? Why did we come to
this land? Trace with Promised Land the story
of immigrants searching for a better life in America.
Listen as the group weaves their own family's
stories into the tapestry we all share. Sing along
and celebrate our diversity in this "Promised
Land." About the group: Jeff Davis
has been performing traditional folk music—and
collecting songs from rural musicians across the
continent—for more than 20 years. He has
performed at numerous festivals both here and
abroad. A member of the acclaimed sephardic music
group "Voice of the Turtle," Jay Rosenberg
has been performing for more than 20 years. He
has been heard on National Public Radio and has
appeared at a number of international festivals,
including the Edinburgh Festival and the Israel
Festival. A graduate of the Crane School of Music,
Chris Rua is versatile on many instruments, including
voice, and has performed a wide spectrum of music
from Medieval to jazz. Sponsored
by Develco and the New England Foundation for
the Arts. more
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Black
Bear Moon Drumming and Dance Ensemble
Saturday: 2:15-3:30
pm
Catch the lively rhythms and traditions of
West Africa with a high-energy group of drummers
and dancers. The Black Bear Moon Ensemble
is a group of talented percussionists and singers
from the White Mountain Region of New Hampshire
who present a unique selection of traditional West
African rhythms, songs, and dances. BBM was founded
in 1997 by musician, artist, and teacher Dave Kobrenski.
Dave has studied with master drummers both in Ghana,
West Africa, and here in the United States. The
BBM team of drummers and educators is committed
to sharing positive cultural experiences with others.
Sponsored by the Greater Piscataqua
Community Foundation. more |
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The
American Flyer Bluegrass Band
Saturday: 4:00-5:00
pm
Fast-paced fun comes to the festival stage
with this acoustic bluegrass band. American
Flyer was formed in 2001 by Randy and Denice Filliger.The
band's line up includes Randy on guitar and vocals,
Denice on vocals, Kevin O'Connor of Sandown (himself
a veteran of rock bands, but originally a Bluegrass
banjo player who was taught to play by Don Stover),
Pete Aucoin of Londonderry(a Bluegrass player of
banjo, mandolin, dobro and currently on stand up
bass), Heather Mike of Strafford (a classically
trained violinist and teacher, who performs regularly
at contra dances around New Hampshire) and Rick
Horton of Derry (another ex rock player who holds
down the mandolin seat). They are currently recording
their third CD, comprised of all original songs,
due out on May 15, 2004. Their performances include
classic Bluegrass material, original songs, contemporary
Bluegrass selections, and well known songs that
they have reshaped into the Bluegrass style. Their
backgrounds and experience combine to form the unique
sound of American Flyer.Sponsored
by Develco. more |
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Salsa
Dance Workshop
Saturday, 7-7:45
pm
Warm up for the Amazing Mambo Combo. Catch
some salsa lessons with Tom Mitchell and dancers
from the Portsmouth Ballroom. "Dancing
is one of my passions," says Mitchell, "because
it is the synthesis of human expression worldwide,
past and present, expressed in movement, and music."
A resident of North Hampton and active with community
arts, dance, and choral groups, Mitchell has been
teaching dance for three years. As an avid social
dancer, he has hosted many MASSABA dances, as well
as the Portsmouth "Senior Friends" organization
dances. Becoming a dancer, says Mitchell, opens
the door to many dance venues—elegant and
romantic ballrooms, sizzling salsa night clubs or
swinging in bluesy pubs. (And, of course, the Newmarket
Heritage Festival's wonderful performance tent!)
more |
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Cha-cha-cha
Dance Workshop
Saturday, 9:15-9:45
pm (approx)
Cha-cha-cha lessons with Bob Yergeau of Newmarket's
Rockingham Ballroom take place during the Amazing
Mambo Combo's break. Yergeau owns and operates
this Newmarket institution, which has been getting
people out onto the dance floor for more than six
decades. Sponsored by the
Rockingham Ballroom. more |
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The
Amazing Mambo Combo
Saturday, 8–11
pm
This Boston-based band brings high-energy
Afro-Cuban music to the festival stage. Get ready
to dance! Comprised of some of the best
musicians in Boston, the Amazing Mambo Combo plays
to packed houses in the New Hampshire seacoast,
moving audiences with music steeped in the Afro-Cuban
tradition. They have twice received the Portsmouth
Herald's readers poll award as "Best World
Music Band." The band lists as their main influences
the ensembles of Latin piano icon Eddie Palmieri
and the grand percussionist, Tito Puente. They follow
in the tradition of these venerated maestros by
incorporating their formula of layering exciting
jazz solos over relentless, energetic dance rhythms.
Their repertoire includes compositions that range
in style from Cha Cha to Danzon, from Bolero to
Salsa and Latin jazz. About the band: Band leader,
Matt Jenson, who teaches piano and a class on Bob
Marley at Berklee College of Music, incorporates
his blues and reggae influences by bringing arrangements
of various American R&B and Jamaican reggae
tunes to the Afro-Cuban table. The Amazing Mambo
Combo also features Colombian congero Ernesto Diaz,
a well-known percussionist who has performed with
numerous Latin jazz and salsa stars including Dave
Samuels, Danilo Perez and Victor Mendoza. Performing
on timbales, from Venezuela, will be Ana Norgaard.
Argentian bassist Santiago Greco specializes in
Latin music and uses a customized "baby bass."
On horns, the Mambo Combo presents trombonist Russell
Jewell and saxophonist Matt Langley. Sponsored
by Bottomline Technologies, the Greater Piscataqua
Community Foundation, and the Stone Church.
more |
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Funky
Divas of Gospel
Sunday, 12:30-2:00
pm
They're back! The hand-clapping, toe-tapping
dance-in-the-aisles music of the Funky Divas will
help you work off your Sunday Brunch. The
Funky Divas of Gospel is a collaboration of three-dozen
talented soloists, musicians, and choir members
whose purpose is to share an uplifting and life-affirming
message through traditional and contemporary spirit-filled
music. "We are Humanist, Roman Catholic, Baha'i,
Baptist, Episcopalian, Unitarian Universalists,
Pagan, United Church of Christ, Jewish, and God
only knows what else! But the Spirit that flows
through the songs that we sing is universal and
tells a story as old as time." Their music
is primarily defined as gospel in the southern African-American
tradition with an R&B flavor. Their performances
also include traditional gospel songs and songs
from other faiths and cultures, as well as secular
music which may also have good news to share. All
of their music is "roots music." It is
harmonies and acappella, hard rocking and reflective.
It is emotional as well prayerful. It is toe-tapping.
It is hand-clapping. It can (and does) move audiences
to their feet and into the aisles to dance. It is,
above all, joyous and downright great music.Sponsored
by the Greater Piscataqua Community Foundation.
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Reaganta
and the Newmarket Ceili Dancers
Sunday, 2:30-3:30
pm
Irish harper and singer, Regina Delaney and
her harp and whistle duo Reaganta are back with
their lilting and lovely tunes—plus, a special
first-time-ever Ceili dance performance by a group
of Newmarket Elementary school children. Regina
worked with these students during a series of three
dance workshops offered in the school, passing on
the dance traditions of Ireland. Now these young
dancers bring their new-found talents to the festival
stage. Sponsored by
the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. more |
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Laotian
Children's Folk Dancers
Sunday,
3:45-4:15 pm
Newmarket's
own troupe of Laotian dancers perform in traditional
dress. Afterwards, children from the audience will
be invited to learn some of the movements.
Laotian-Americans are an integral part of the Newmarket
community. The first families arrived shortly after
the Communists seized power in 1975 and paved the
way for those who followed. Today more than fifty
families with school-aged children make their homes
in Newmarket. Learning and performing these folk
dances is one way for the young girls to understand
and share what it means to be Laotian. The dances,
the music, and the clothes they wear have been passed
down for generations. Their teachers are accomplished
dancers who are committed to preserving their culture
by keeping these traditions alive. The dancers range
in age from 5-14. Sponsored
by Hutchinson Sealing Systems. |
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Song
of New England
Sunday, 4:30-5:30
pm
(also: Sunday, 2:00-3:30 pm on the waterfront)
Jeff Warner sings sea shanties and more,
sharing the sound of America's rural past.
With warmth, humor and understated scholarship,
Jeff presents the oral literature of the American
people: ballads sung in old England and New England;
songs of Revolutionary War heroes and work aboard
wooden sailing ships; African-American banjo tunes
and Irish concertina tunes; kids' songs, cowboy
ditties and Appalachian clogging; hand-made North
Carolina dulcimers and hands-on, accessible rhythm
instruments like bones and spoons. Warner grew up
listening to the songs and stories of his father,
Frank Warner, and those of the traditional singers
his parents met during their folksong collecting
trips through rural America. Jeff accompanied his
parents on their later field trips, and is the editor
of his mother's book, Traditional American Folk
Songs: From the Anne and Frank Warner Collection,
published by Syracuse University Press in 1984.
He is producer of the two CD set, Her Bright Smile
Haunts Me Still: The Warner Collection, Appleseed
Recordings, 2000. Sponsored
by
Develco and the New Hampshire State Council on the
Arts. more |
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Granite
Statesmen
Sunday, 7:00-8:00
pm
The Heritage Festival closes with a spine-tingling
extravaganza‹the internationally acclaimed,
60-voice Granite Statesmen Barbershop Chorus singing
American favorites. Members of the Nashua
Chapter of SPEBSQSA, Inc, the menπs Barbershop
Harmony Society, the Granite Statesmen Chorus was
formed in 1955. Representing over 50 towns in New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York, these
men assemble each Wednesday evening in Nashua to
sing and perform in that unique American musical
art form of four-part a cappella singing known as
"barbershop." These accomplished gentlemen
are seven-time and current Chorus Champions of the
Northeastern District, one of 16 districts throughout
the US and Canada. The Chorus is also involved in
several regional and national competitions, having
finished in the Top Twenty of all choruses the last
two years in competitions held in Kansas City and
Nashville. The chorus recently completed their third
recording, "A Grand Old Tradition." Sponsored
by
the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
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Sound
for the Heritage Festival is provided by Rampant
Audio Productions. |
