Leah Gordon grew up at, and had her primary introduction to the folk world at Pinewoods Campers’ Week. She has been attending the week for almost 40 years and has been bringing her children there for 12 of those. Leah is an enthusiastic contra dancer and English country dancer and has recently joined both morris and rapper sword teams. When she is not at Pinewoods, Leah is a historian and scholar of education. She currently directs the Education Program at Brandeis University where she teaches classes in the history of education.
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Sophia Donforth is a singer and community organizer in Burlington, VT. She has performed in duos, trios and large choruses and loves tuning really crunchy chords. After years of organizing local contra dances and music camps for children, she’s excited to put it all together at Agassiz Village. Sophia especially loves the inter-generational nature of family camp and looks forward to singing, dancing and playing with folks of all ages.
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Erica Morse grew up surrounded by the folk music and dance community and attended Family Week at Pinewoods throughout her childhood. Currently she teaches preschool music and tutors elementary school students. She was also an elementary school teacher for many years. In addition to teaching she plays bass, cello and sings. She enjoys working in her garden, hiking, swimming and skiing. She lives in Vermont with daughter and sweet old dog.
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Luke Donforth is a contra caller and choreographer based in Burlington, VT. He brings a warmth to the mic and focuses on facilitating everyone in the hall joyously moving to the music. He’s a founding member of the Mad Robin Callers Collective, and calls everything from family dances to festivals. Luke is a prolific writer of dances, and you can expect new and classic compositions to keep your feet flying.
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Stefan lives in Brattleboro, Vermont with his wife Zara Bode and their two children. He graduated from Oberlin Conservatory as a jazz percussion major. Stefan is percussionist, singer and founding member of the Sweetback Sisters, a “honky tonk band for the modern cowboy and girl”, featuring lead singers Zara Bode and Emily Miller; a founding member and bass singer in Starry Mountain Singers a cappella ensemble (which also includes Zara Bode), and,
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Nicole Singer is a teacher, organizer, singer, dancer, and artist living in Easthampton, Massachusetts, now in her second year as Program Director for Harmony of Song & Dance Week. Nicole is a co-founder and organizer of Youth Traditional Song Weekend, co-author of CDSS’s Folk Sing Starter Kit (with Julia Friend), and former chairwoman of folk music and song programming for NEFFA. As an organizer, Nicole loves geeking out about fostering intergenerational communities and making sessions welcoming and enjoyable for all,
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Karen Burciaga is an early strings specialist who bridges the worlds of classical and folk music. She is a founding member of Boston’s folk/early music ensemble Seven Times Salt and the viol consort Long & Away. Karen has performed on violin and viola da gamba across New England and Texas with groups including The King’s Noyse, The Folger Consort, Arcadia Players, Zenith Ensemble, Austin Baroque Orchestra, the Midwinter Revels, and others. A lifelong love of Celtic music led her into the world of fiddling and folk traditions.
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Jonathan Van Gieson has attended Camper’s week since 1986, and is now slightly taller than he was then. He recently received his MFA in Creative Writing for Children from Hamline University. Outside camp, he is a producer, performer, and emcee for shows off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and beyond, in places from his hometown of NYC to Las Vegas to Europe.
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Ben Schreiber, a fiddler and tune writer rooted in the contra dance scene, brings a diverse musical palette influenced by his Midwest upbringing and years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having started with the Suzuki method at an early age, Ben’s musical journey has been enriched through exploration of folk music. While best known for his contributions to contra dance bands like Uncle Farmer, the Dam Beavers, Offbeats, and Potent Brew, he also performs with the newly-established chamber-folk trio,
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Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by music and dance in the folk communities of New England (including Family Week!). She is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for both contra and English Country dancing and finds sounds both fiery and flowing in various styles of roots music including American old time, New England, Irish, Quebecois, and Scottish. Her bands have included The Poor Cousins, Night Watch, Housetop, and the mega-fiddle-band Childsplay and she has toured extensively with the world music ensemble Northern Harmony.
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Dance, Music, & Song Camps
