SEA MUSIC FESTIVAL PROGRAM - Mystic Seaport
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SEA MUSIC 40th Annual FESTIVAL PROGRAM
40th Annual
SEA MUSIC FESTIVAL
AT MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM JUNE 6-9, 2019
40 years of annual Sea Music Festivals at Mystic Seaport! Thank you for coming to celebrate this
milestone with us! Our theme this year is looking back and looking forward so we have gathered
old friends who have appeared here in the past but we’re also featuring some of our younger
new chantey staff and other younger performers. These are the people who are keeping alive
the power and richness of story and song from the seaborne trades reflecting our shared human
fascination with the sea. Special guests from England and Switzerland and across the United
States will help you join in the fun and learning from this wondrous world of sea music.
FESTIVAL STAFF BECOME A FRIEND OF THE FESTIVAL
Director: Geoff Kaufman The Friends of the Festival is the leadership club for the Sea Music Festival. We
Advisers: Denise Kegler & Erik Ingmundson invite you to join this dedicated group of individuals who, through their generosity,
ensure the well-being and future of the Sea Music Festival. To learn more, call
Planning Assistant: Bonnie Milner
the Mystic Seaport Museum Advancement Department at 860-572-5365 or
Symposium Chairmen: Erik Ingmundson & e-mail advancement@mysticseaport.org
Craig Edwards
Moderator: Craig Edwards Clipper Don & Sue Grant Brian & Sherri Gill
(Gifts of $1,000 Greg Gregonis Steve Ginsberg
Symposium Committees: Individual, $2500 or Janet Handford Fran Goodwin & Jerry
Selection: Craig Edwards, Erik Ingmundson more Family) Bryant
The Heavenly Twins
Mr. & Mrs. H. Lee Cliff Haslam
Organization: Mary K Bercaw Edwards, Erik Blumberg Deane & Suzanne Hetric
Ingmundson, Geoff Kaufman, Tom Van Winkle Bill Heess
Greg Bullough A J-Girl & Bucko
Charles Ipcar &
Housing Assistant: Lyndsey Pyrke-Fairchild Mary Dansinghani Paul Houston Judith Barrows
Folk Music Society of NY David Jones Daniel Lanier
Family Stage Coordinators: B.J. Whitehouse &
Lynz Morahn In Memory of Vicky S. Kelsey & Dan Dick & Judy
Paul DiBlasi Mike Kennedy MacDonald
Donor Hospitality: A. J. Wright
In Memory of John Kudulis Alan McArdle &
Volunteer Coordinators: Meg Frost & Karen Baker Conni & Hans Skia Laurence & Jinny Mason
Koldewey Stan Heckman Michael Meyer &
Participant Hospitality: Ted Rupar Philip Kuepper
Bill Lehrman &
Sound Engineers: Marc Bernier & Dennis Cook Packet Carol Pierson John & Carol Mazza
(Gifts of $500-$999 Dwon & Joy Miller
Production & Design: Mystic Seaport Museum Individual, $1,000- Len Lipton &
Ellen Wink Suzanne Mrozak
2,499 Family)
David & Ann Loomis Betsy & Bob
Stan Denek & Niederman
VOLUNTEERS Lee Formicola Steven & Elizabeth
Mezick Barry O’Brien
Baker, Kelsey Pierce, Fred Robert Hansen
Barry Pinkowitz Nancy Peraro
Bishop, Jamie Pierce, Rich Carl Lohmann
Sarah L. Pollock Dave & Darbee
Campbell, Jann Rhoads, John Mandy MacDonald & Percival
Ed Obarowski Roll and Go, Inc.
Cartagena, Rowe, Tim Kathy Peters
Janet Marusov Alan Short & Ron & Judy Peters
Anna-Marie Roy, Rich Tim Radford Krisztina Földi
Ernie & Amy Pigeon
Cartagena, Gene Rupar, Ted Tod Raynor Fred Seebeck
Kitsie Reeves &
Choate, John Russell, Eric Win Reinhardt Edie H. Stern & Joseph Morneault
Joseph Siclari Faye Ringel
Constantine, Bob Schiller, Brian George E. Schmidt
Philip Sternberg Stephen & Susan
Goodspeed, Donna Setari, Chris Peter & Elizabeth
Sorensen Kathleen Sturgis Sanfilippo
Jackson, Amy Shoesmith, Sheila E. Sylvan Norma Service
Latourette, Sue Thomas Schooner Deborah Winograd Jim Sherman
Markovitz, Denise Slaney, Heidi (Gifts of $250-$499 & Clyde Tyndale Shirley & Buz Smuckler
Individual, $500 – 999 Sheila Sosnowski
Markovitz, Mike Smith, Carl Family)
Mercer, Paul Smith, Meg Dory Peter & Audi Souza
A Repeat Offender
(Gifts up to $249) Steven & Mary Taylor
Morahn, Lynz Wennberg, Walter Jonathan Aibel &
Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Arthur
Morse, Mary Woronick, Brian Julie Rohwein
Joy C. Bennett Tobiason
Moulton, Juli Zaenichik, Hillary Claire Bessette & Michael & Jacqueline
Dane Miller Anna-Marie &
Pierce, Amy Gene Cartagena Wasta
Robert Carlson Steve & Maggie White
William Cournoyer
Vincent & Phoebe Allen & Janice Wolfe
Dopulos Cynosure
Faith Damon Davison Christine Woodams
Ron & Margaret
Fournier Allan L. Fingeret
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
SEE MAP FOR LOCATIONS
Thursday, June 6, 7 p.m.
CONTENTS
Symposium 5
“Fitting Out” Concert” at the Boat Shed 32 Schedule &
Featuring: Bonnie & Dan Milner (MCs), Current Mystic Seaport Presenters
Museum Chantey Staff (Yves Corbiere, Craig Edwards,
Jesse Edwards, Johann Heupel, Geoff Kaufman, Barry Keenan,
Symposium Bios 7
Chris Koldewey, David Littlefield, Chris Maden, Don Sineti, and
Anayis Wright), Martin & Philip Hugill w/ Kevin Mercer, The Johnson
Girls, Peter Kasin & Richard Adrianowitz, Dave Peloquin, William Pint Workshop Grid 8
& Felicia Dale, The Rix (Rick Nestler & Rik Palieri), The Rum-Soaked
Crooks, The Swiss Mariners
Mystic Seaport Museum 9
Chantey Staff
Friday, June 7, 8:30 a.m.—3:15 p.m.
“Music of the Sea” Symposium, Part 1
Festival Performers 10-13
Greenmanville Church 3
Moderator: Craig Edwards
Workshops, 14-15
Friday, June 7, 6:30 p.m. Demonstrations,
“Unmooring” Concert at the Boat Shed 32 & Special Events
6:30 Kick-off set with former MSM chantey staff
7:00 Concert
Featuring: Bob Walser and Craig Edwards (MCs), Marc Bernier,
Jerry Bryant, Ellen Cohn, Stuart Frank & Mary Malloy, Cliff Haslam,
Martin & Philip Hugill w/ Kevin Mercer, Lynz Morahn, John Roberts
& Debra Cowan, The Rum-Soaked Crooks, The Swiss Mariners,
Jeff Warner
Saturday, June 8, 8:30—11:45 a.m.
“Music of the Sea” Symposium, Part 2
Greenmanville Church 3
Moderator: Craig Edwards
Saturday, June 8, 12 noon—5 p.m.
Concerts, Workshops, & Demonstrations throughout the Museum
Saturday, June 8, 7 p.m.
“Full Sail” Concert at the Boat Shed 32
Featuring: Geoff Kaufman (MC), Celeste Bernardo, Between Two
Thorns (Carl & Cole Thornton), John Conolly, Ron & Natalie Daise,
The Johnson Girls, Peter Kasin & Richard Adrianowitz, Janie
Meneely w/ Rob van Sante, Dave Peloquin, The Rix, Pint & Dale,
Ken Sweeney
Chantey Office:
Sunday, June 9, 11 a.m.—3 p.m. 860.572.0711, ext. 5037
Concerts, Workshops, & Demonstrations throughout the Museum
smf@mysticseaport.org
Sunday, June 9, 3—6:00 p.m.
www.mysticseaport.org/seamusicfestival
Final Concert at the Boat Shed 32
Featuring: Laura Travis (MC) and a song each from All Performers
“MUSIC OF THE SEA” SYMPOSIUM Sponsored by Williams College, the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program, and Mystic Seaport Museum Friday, June 7 8:30 Coffee and Morning Refreshments 9:00 Official Welcome 9:15 Corinne Galligan, General Music Specialist Hauling and Heaving Chantey Comparison: Halyard, Short-Drag, Capstan, and Pump Chanteys 10:00 Robert D. Madison, Ph.D., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville “The Yankee Privateer”: The Rest of the Story 10:45 Morning Break 11:00 David Peloquin, Independent Scholar The Singer, the Singing, and the Song are One: Melville’s Mardi and the “Wild Music” of the Sea 11:45 Stephen N. Sanfilippo, Ph.D., Maine Maritime Academy Slippery as an Eel: Poems and Songs of Eels and the Human Condition 12:30 Lunch 1:45 Charles Ipcar, Ph.D., Independent Scholar Steamboat and Roustabout Songs 2:30 Bonnie Milner (moderator), Celeste Bernardo, Ellen Cohn, Lynz Morahn Panel Discussion: Women in Sea Music: Past, Present, and Future Saturday 8:30 Coffee and Morning Refreshments 9:00 Official Welcome 9:15 Gibb Schreffler, Ph.D., Pomona College “Screwing Cotton by the Day”: Screwmen’s Songs and Multiracial Musicking on the Nineteenth-Century American Waterfront 10:00 James Revell Carr, Ph.D., Director, John Jacob Niles Center for American Music “That evening our men daunced with the Indians”: Sailors and Musical Commerce in the late 18th- and early 19th-century Pacific 10:45 Morning Break 11:00 Robert Young Walser (moderator), James Revell Carr, Gibb Schreffler, Craig Edwards Panel Discussion: “What’s Past is Prologue”: The Past, Present, and Future of Sea Music Research Please note that the Saturday morning break is intended to be only 15 minutes so that we can wrap up at 11:45 to allow a reset for the first workshop.
SYMPOSIUM BIOS
Corinne Galligan, M.A. of Music in Music Education, James Revell Carr, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of
is a General Music Specialist in the public schools Ethnomusicology and Musicology and Director of
in Pulaski, Wisconsin, with a background in the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music,
Kodaly and Feierabend and a special interest studies the importance of travel and commerce
in researching chanteys. She is also a GRAMMY in the development of hybrid music and dance
Music Educator Award Nominee (2019) and has cultures. His major interests include sea chanteys,
received several other awards for her teaching. Anglo-American balladry, Hawaiian music, folk
music revivals, and improvisational rock. Dr. Carr’s
Robert Durwood Madison, Ph.D., Professor first book, Hawaiian Music in Motion: Mariners,
Emeritus of English at the U.S. Naval Academy, Missionaries, and Minstrels (University of Illinois
began his career in literature of the sea with Eric Press, 2014), about the musical exchange
Schoonover at University of Rhode Island and as between American sailors and Hawaiian
a chantey interpreter at Mystic Seaport Museum musicians in the nineteenth century, was a
(no, he was NOT an informant for the Lomaxes). co-recipient of the Society of Ethnomusicology’s
He wrote his dissertation under Harrison Hayford Alan P. Merriam Prize for outstanding book in
at Northwestern University and is the scholarly ethnomusicology for 2015.
editor of many maritime works of fiction and
nonfiction. He presently teaches at the University
of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Friday Panelists:
Bonnie Milner, Panel Moderator, is a founding
David Peloquin is an internationally known folk
member of the internationally-known all-women
musician and independent scholar specializing in
chantey group The Johnson Girls. Celeste
the historical interpretation of the maritime songs
Bernardo has worked as an historical interpreter
and chanteys of the American sailor. His musical
of sailor music at several museums, performed
program, “Songs from Moby-Dick,” premièred at
internationally, and works for the National Park
the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Moby-Dick
Service. Ellen Cohn was one of the earliest
Marathon in 1999. He has taught meditation for
chantey interpreters at Mystic Seaport Museum,
over twenty years, and he lectures on Herman
performs a variety of traditional music, and is the
Melville, Mysticism in American Literature, and
Editor-In-Chief of the Benjamin Franklin Papers at
Persian Ecstatic Poetry. He is a teacher and
Yale University. Lynz Morahn is a singer and fiddler,
consultant for Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory.
has performed at a number of traditional music
festivals, and is officially performing at Sea Music
Stephen N. Sanfilippo, Ph.D., began studying and
Festival for the first time.
performing historic songs of the sea during the
early 1970s and has performed as far afield
as Prince Edward Island and St. Vincent & the Saturday Panelists:
Grenadines. He received his Ph.D. in history from
Stony Brook University, concentrating in maritime, Robert Young Walser, Ph.D., Panel Moderator, is
gender, Italian American, and radical labor a former director of the Sea Music Festival and
history. Stephen recently retired from teaching foreman of Special Music Programs at Mystic
American maritime history through historic song Seaport Museum. Beginning with an internship
at Maine Maritime Academy. at the Library of Congress’s Archive of Folk Song
(now the American Folklife Center), Dr. Walser has
Charles Ipcar, Ph.D., is a founding member of the investigated chanteys and maritime work songs
sea chantey group Roll & Go. He has composed in libraries and archives in the U.S. and overseas.
and sung nautical songs for much of his life and He presently serves on an international team
has performed solo at festivals, folk clubs, coffee preparing a critical edition of the James Madison
houses, and house concerts from coast to coast Carpenter folklore collection. Gibb Schreffler
in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and and James Revell Carr are profiled above. Craig
Australia. He has recorded seven CDs, including Edwards is a former director of the Sea Music
his newly released Steamboat Days, published Festival and foreman of Special Music Programs
four songbooks, and is co-editor of The Complete at Mystic Seaport Museum, a member of the
Poetry of Cicely Fox Smith. group Forebitter, and serves as moderator of
this symposium.
Gibb Schreffler, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of
Music at Pomona College in Claremont, California.
His musical interests and expertise range from
chanteys to the music of Punjab to Afro-Cuban
music. Dr. Schreffler’s book Boxing the Compass:
A Century and a Half of Discourse About Sailor’s
Chanteys (2018) exhaustively examines the
historiography of sailor music. He presented at
the Sea Music Symposium in 2012 and 2015.
saturday schedule
(Rain TOM CLAGETT SHIPBOARD VILLAGE GREEN GREENMANVILLE FISHTOWN PERFORMANCE FAMILY STAGE 7
Sites) BOAT SHED 32 (Ropewalk 27 ) (Thomas Oyster CHURCH 3 CHAPEL 45 STAGE 13 (P.R. Mallory
House 48 ) (Figureheads 5 ) Building 4 )
WOMEN IN SEA CHANTEYS AT WORK
12:00 MUSIC HERE & NOW INLAND WATERS BALLADS Barry Keenan CONTEMPORARY
Celeste Bernardo Cliff Haslam Marc Bernier SEA SONGS
Ellen Cohn Geoff Kaufman* Johann Heupel Between Two Jerry Bryant
The Johnson Girls The Hugills & Kevin Mercer KasinJeff
& Adrianowitz
Warner Thorns Debra Cowan
12:30 Lynz Morahn Swiss Mariners The Rix Dave Peloquin David Littlefield
Charles W. Morgan
SUPERSTITION &
SHIPWRECKS YOUNG TRADITION
1:00 WHERE THE ALPS Pint & Dale WORKSONG BEARERS Celeste Bernardo FO’C’S’LE SONGS
MEET THE SEA John Roberts TRADITIONS Yves Corbiere Ellen Cohn Chris Koldewey CHESAPEAKE
Marc Bernier Joseph Conrad 29 Ron & Natalie Daise Jesse Edwards Ken Sweeney Rum-Soaked Crooks STORIES & SONGS
Cliff Haslam Craig Edwards* Johann Heupel Jeff Warner Janie Meneely
1:30 Swiss Mariners Kasin & Adrianowitz Chris Maden
MAN OVERBOARD DRILL Anayis Wright
Joseph Conrad 29
2:00 CHANTEYS AT WORK ON THE ROCKS SONGWRITERS PETE SEEGER
John Roberts & Barry Keenan* The Johnson Girls IN THE TRADITION Martin & Phil Hugill CENTENNIAL SEA ISLANDS
Debra Cowan Lynz Morahn Chris Koldewey* John Conolly w/ Kevin Mercer Yves Corbiere STORIES & SONGS
Bob Walser Pint & Dale David Littlefield Don Sineti Geoff Kaufman Ron & Natalie Daise
2:30 Joseph Conrad 29 Janie Meneely The Rix
STAN HUGILL SEINING DEMO
LEGACY Geoff Kaufman CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTS
3:00 SEA SONGS BALLADS Between Two Thorns AT SEA
Martin & Phil Hugill John Conolly Celeste Bernardo Lynz Morahn
Bonnie Milner SONGS OF FISHING Deirdre Murtha
Rum-Soaked Crooks Ellen Cohn Glenn Grasso Jerry Bryant Ken Sweeney
3:30 Don Sineti Kasin & Adrianowitz Janie Meneely Anayis Wright Jeff Warner
Rob van Sante Craig Edwards The Vox Hunters
Bob Walser L.A. Dunton
DANCE WORKSHOP WORKING ALOFT DEMO
Glenn Grasso
Yves Corbiere Charles W. Morgan
4:00 Lynz Morahn SONGS OF WHALES
Laura Travis & WHALING
DOGWATCH Ellen Cohn
The Vox Hunters Marc Bernier, John Conolly Debra Cowan Rick Nestler &
4:30 Bob Walser Jesse Edwards, Chris David Littlefield Rik Palieri
(4:00-5:30) Maden (4:30 - 5:30)
Charles W. Morgan
sunday schedule
(Rain TOM CLAGETT SHIPBOARD VILLAGE GREEN GREENMANVILLE FISHTOWN PERFORMANCE FAMILY STAGE 7
Sites) BOAT SHED 32 (Ropewalk 27 ) (Thomas Oyster CHURCH 3 CHAPEL 45 STAGE 13 (P.R. Mallory
House 48 ) (Figureheads 5 ) Building 4 )
9:30 Sunday Morning Hymn Sing at Greenmanville Church - led by Judy Cook, Stephen Sanfilippo, and The Heavenly Twins
SUPERSTITION
11:00 & SHIPWRECKS
Janie Meneely BALLADS David Littlefield CONTEMPORARY
Anayis Wright John Conolly & Joseph Morneault SEA SONGS
Joseph Conrad 29 Chris Koldewey Martin & Phil Hugill
Ron & Natalie Daise w/ Kevin Mercer
John Roberts Dave Peloquin
MAN OVERBOARD
11:30 DRILL Pint & Dale
Bob Walser
Joseph Conrad 29
12:00 ROUND ROBIN WAR. PIRACY, CRIME,
William Pint hosted by INLAND WATERS WOMEN & THE SEA Chris Koldewey & PUNISHMENT Don Sineti w/
& B J Whitehouse & Craig Edwards Celeste Bernardo Glenn Grasso Steve Roys
Felicia Dale Mystic Seaport Museum Carl & Cole Thorton Yves Corbiere John Roberts & Gary Buttery
Chantey Class Alumni Bob Walser The Johnson Girls Rum-Soaked Crooks Ken Sweeney
12:30 Joseph Conrad 29
1:00 CHANTEYS AT WORK
Celeste Bernardo SONGS OF PLOWING SEA & WORKSONG ENVIRONMENTAL
Jerry Bryant FISHING SHORE Ron & Natalie Daise TRADITIONS SONGS
Jeff Warner Craig Edwards* Conolly & Meneely Ellen Cohn Peter Kasin & Barry Keenan* Geoff Kaufman
Chris Maden Cliff Haslam The Johnson Girls Richard Adrianowitz Lynz Morahn The Rix
1:30 Rum-Soaked Crooks Ken Sweeney Bob Walser Don Sineti
Charles W. Morgan
FOO FOO BAND
CHANTEYS AT WORK FO’C’S’LE SONGS Gary Buttery
2:00 CONTEMPORARY BALLADS Geoff Kaufman Denise Kegler
John Conolly Marc Bernier, SEA SONGS Judy Cook The Hugils Lynz Morahn
Janie Meneely Jesse Edwards Cliff Haslam Debra Cowan Kevin Mercer B.J. Whitehouse
Rob van Sante Swiss Mariners The Rix Johann Heupel Kasin &
Anayis Wright Carl & Cole Thorton Adrianowitz Children’s Parade
2:30 Joseph Conrad 29 Jerry Bryant Don Sineti leaves from
here at 2:45
*HOST Refers to National Historic Landmark on provided map # Refers to numbering on provided map
MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM CHANTEY STAFF BIOS
Genevieve Corbiere joined the chantey and carrying on an active career of solo banjo picker, is also an award-winning marine
team at Mystic Seaport Museum in October performing across the U.S. and Europe. mammal illustrator. For over twenty years, he
of 2018. Yves grew up in Guilford, Connecticut, has combined his exhaustive knowledge of
where she studied classical violin and voice. Barry Keenan applied for a job at Mystic cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises)
She sang at Davidson College with the a Seaport Museum while attending the with his boundless energy to deliver rousing
capella group Androgyny and started playing University of Connecticut and was renditions of songs from the days of wooden
traditional music while living in West Virginia immediately put on the demonstration ships and iron men, alongside his own
where she played and sang with the band squad, climbing into the Charles W. Morgan’s compositions dedicated to saving whales and
Firecreek. She enjoys all types of music and rigging to set sails. Having never been on a the degraded marine environment. With a
dance and is thrilled to be at the Sea Music boat larger than the Block Island ferry, it was booming voice and a hearty laugh, he shares
Festival this year. a very steep learning curve. Bolstered by an his music, his art, and his unrestrained love
incredibly supportive team, Barry fell in love for the whale with audiences of all ages.
Craig Edwards has been singing at Mystic with all things Maritime but especially with the
Seaport Museum since 1985, and his musical music that accompanied the work. Luckily, he B.J. Whitehouse is a semi-retired music
career encompasses traditional roots music was given a shot to be a chanteyman himself; teacher and choral director in Jamestown,
from Appalachian fiddling, Blues, and Cajun he has now been teaching this amazing art Rhode Island. He teaches voice privately and
to Swing and Zydeco. Adept on fiddle, banjo, form to the general public for over a decade has written eight musicals for middle schools
guitar, mandolin, and button accordion, he and hopes to continue to teach for many students over the years. He is an active folk
teaches private lessons and has toured and years to come. musician and folk dancer in the area. This is
recorded nationally and internationally. Craig his fourth year at Mystic Seaport Museum.
plays with several groups in a variety of roots Chris Koldewey was raised by the water on
music styles. He teaches traditional fiddle the north shore of Long Island and was Anayis Wright came to sea music early,
styles at Wesleyan University and serves influenced by the traditional folk music of from listening to Stan Rogers and chantey
as moderator for the Sea Music Festival John Roberts, Tony Barrand, Jean Ritchie, compilations at a very young age, and
Symposium. Jeff Warner, Jeff Davis, and Lou (Louisa Jo) attended her first Sea Music Festival at age
Killen presented there. His studies in Music 14. She attended the Williams-Mystic Maritime
Jesse Edwards is a second-generation Education at college in Fredonia, New York, Studies Program where she studied twice
chanteyman, the son of Craig Edwards. Jesse came to fruition when he began work at weekly with the Museum’s chanteymen.
learned to play and sing from his father. He Mystic Seaport Museum. He has never been Anayis has worked and sung chanteys aboard
has worked at Mystic Seaport Museum since able to divorce the chanteys from an image the U.S. Brig Niagara. With her family and
he was 13, first as a volunteer and later as of their specific jobs since. The fulfillment of Norumbega Harmony, she leads shape note
a staff member, and joined the ranks of the lifelong ambitions was realized when he was workshops at the New England Folk Festival
chanteymen in 2012. He plays a variety of able to sail the two barques, Picton Castle (NEFFA). She continues to attend many events
instruments, including guitar and ukulele. and Charles W. Morgan, and was honored to such as the Youth Traditional Song weekend,
Outside his work at the museum, Jesse is a chantey, at sea, on both. Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival, and
freelance photographer and videographer. TradMaD Camp in pursuit of expanding
He spent last year traveling with and creating David Littlefield has been associated with her repertoire.
video content for the Williams-Mystic Maritime Mystic Seaport Museum’s music program
Studies Program. since 1980. He has performed and recorded
with the musical group Forebitter over
Johann Heupel attended his first Sea Music several decades and spent fifteen summers FORMER MSM CHANTEY STAFF
Festival at the age of seven and became performing on the schooner Mystic Whaler.
fascinated by folk music and the tradition His musical compositions have been covered David Iler performed forecastle songs,
of sea songs. After beginning lessons with by groups on both sides of the Atlantic, forebitters, and chanteys at Mystic Seaport
Craig Edwards and learning guitar, fiddle, most recently by Fisherman’s Friends hailing Museum for over ten years. He now teaches
and mandolin, Johann became interested from Cornwall, England. He has extensively for the Maritime Studies Program at Avery
in Maritime History and started as a junior researched the history of the American whale Point, the maritime campus of the University
volunteer on the demonstration squad. Now fishery with emphasis on the voyages and of Connecticut. David’s favorite songs to
a freshman at Avery Point, the maritime shipboard life of sailors aboard the Charles W. perform are menhaden chanteys and slow
campus of the University of Connecticut, Morgan. ballads that deal with the human aspect of
Johann channels his love of both the science love and loss in the maritime world.
and history of the ocean into his work as a Chris Maden, a singer his whole life, was
introduced to sea chanteys in 2001. He During her 16 years at Mystic Seaport
chanteyman, with special affection for British
became a regular at the San Francisco Museum, Denise Kegler served as
ballads and farewell songs.
chantey sings and just kept going further chanteyman, roleplayer, interpreter, director
Geoff Kaufman initially came to Mystic Seaport down the rabbit hole until he emerged as of Nautical Nightmares and Lantern Light
Museum to perform at the first Sea Music working chanteyman at Mystic Seaport Tours, and Performance and Gallery Programs
Festival in 1980 with the quartet Stout from Museum. He has performed at music festivals Supervisor. She now works with the Mansfield
NYC. He returned to perform chantey duties around the country and released his first Downtown Partnership. Denise is excited to be
on occasional weekends over the next four album, Shower Chanteys, last fall. back at the Museum for Sea Music Festival.
years and was hired full time in the Spring of
1984. He has been Foreman of the Chantey Don Sineti, folksinger, songwriter, special
Program and Director of the Sea Music music interpreter at Mystic Seaport Museum
Festival for 25 of the ensuing 35 years, as (with one of the most powerful voices on the
well as touring with the quartet Forebitter Eastern Seaboard!), and long-neck, 5-string
PERFORMER BIOS
Between Two Thorns: Jerry Bryant is a singer John Conolly honed
Hailing from the and independent folk his songwriting on the
Northeast, Between Two scholar focused on docks of Grimsby, a
Thorns is a father-son curating great songs once bustling fishing
duo. Cole Thornton from the past 500 years port perched at the
currently resides in the of American, Irish, and mouth of England’s
greater Boston area British traditions. His Humber River. As he
while Carl Thornton repertoire includes watched the fishing
(former chanteyman at Mystic Seaport hundreds of traditional and contemporary fleet limp into oblivion with the demise of a
Museum) calls Huntington, Vermont, home. folk songs, with a special emphasis on once-thriving industry, he began to chronicle
Pulling from a wide range of songs and tunes, the musical artifacts of maritime culture. the stories of the men who worked on the
Between Two Thorns channels their sound Accompanying himself on concertina, guitar, boats and along the docks. “Fiddlers’ Green,”
into an alt-folk style. Mixing both traditional banjo, ukulele, and other instruments, he which he wrote in 1964, has become firmly
and contemporary influences, Carl and Cole presents old and new songs that open entrenched in the canon of maritime music,
create an entertaining presentation billed a window on the human experience. By along with a long list of his other seafaring
as “Locally Sourced, Free Range Music.” researching the music, he is able to add songs. John performs with warmth, good
It’s totally a thing! historical insights to his performances. humor, and lilting accompaniment on guitar
Featured on a number of recordings, Jerry and melodeon. In recent years, he has
has released two CDs of his own, one of been joined on stage by Rob van Sante,
Celeste Bernardo
which is a collection of traditional songs whose precise guitar work and supporting
worked as an
from the man-of-war days of the Royal Navy vocals add a richness and depth to John’s
interpreter, educator,
and serves as a companion to the seafaring performances.
and manager for 25
novels of Patrick O’Brian.
years at maritime
sites in New York, Following a life-long
Connecticut, California, Ellen Cohn was desire to sing and
and Massachusetts. hired by Stuart M. perform, Debra
Along the way, she collected songs to Frank in 1975 to be Cowan left her job
interpret people’s relationship with the an interpreter of sea as a California middle
sea. Accompanying herself on the anglo music at Mystic Seaport school math teacher in
concertina, guitar, or 5-string banjo, her Museum, becoming the 1997 and went to live in
repertoire includes sea chanteys and first female chantey Edinburgh, Scotland, for
traditional songs of the sea. She holds a singer on staff. She six months. There she studied the art of
Master’s degree in history from Northeastern held that position during the summers of un-accompanied singing and upon her
University and is a graduate of Mystic Seaport 1975 and 1976 while a student at Wesleyan return to the U.S. in 1998 began traveling all
Museum’s Munson Institute of American University. Fascinated by the collection of over New England performing at any open
Maritime Studies. whalemen’s journals in the Museum’s library, mike within 100 miles of her new home in
she wrote her undergraduate thesis on the Springfield, Massachusetts. More than 20
songs, poems, and essays they contained, years later, she is a full-time performer who
Marc Bernier is a
expanding that study after graduation with bridges the old and new with a refreshing
professional chef,
funding from the National Endowment for the stage presence. She has released five
musician, and sailor
Humanities. Ellen was a regular performer at full-length recordings and tours extensively
with a diverse musical
the Sea Music Festival in its early decades, in the United Kingdom and in North America.
and professional
accompanying herself on anglo concertina, Debra can also be seen on stage with her
background. No
guitar, and mandolin, and performed at sea good friend, John Roberts.
stranger to sea music
music festivals around the U.S. and abroad.
audiences, he has
Apart from solo work, she played in several
been on staff at Mystic Seaport Museum for
Irish music bands and continues to play
more than 25 years, five as a chanteyman.
piano for contra dances.
He has worked as a musician and educator
for the Clearwater program on the Hudson
River and has sailed as cook, deckhand,
and entertainer on numerous traditional
sailing vessels from the coast of Maine to
Chesapeake Bay. “A Man with a Big Voice”
and multi-instrumental skills, he is equally
at home with guitar, mandolin, and tenor
banjo. Marc’s song repertoire comes mostly
from Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the
Northeastern U.S., with a significant focus on
pub songs and drinking songs, developed
through years of research in the field.Ron and Natalie Daise Glenn M. Grasso was a
are writers, actors, and member of the Mystic
educators. They present Seaport Museum chantey
storytelling, music, staff from 1993 to
history, and lectures 2000. Glenn and fellow
about Gullah heritage, chanteyman Marc Bernier
faith, and creativity at wrote Songs of the
museums, theaters, Sailor, and Glenn wrote
conferences, and educational institutions the introduction to Mystic Seaport Museum’s
across the country. From 1994-1998, the reissue of Frederick Pease Harlow’s Chanteying
husband-and-wife team starred in Nick Jr. Aboard American Ships. Glenn earned his Ph.D.
TV’s award-winning “Gullah Gullah Island,” at the University of New Hampshire in 2009.
for which they also served as cultural After a decade in academia, he now works
consultants. The show was cited by TV Guide as a historical consultant and rare book and
as one of the “10 best children’s shows” in document seller.
1996. They were nominees for two NAACP
IMAGE Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award Cliff Haslam is a native
and served as charter members of the Sea of Warrington, Cheshire,
Island Translation Team and Literacy Project, in the United Kingdom,
which began the work of the Gullah Bible. about 16 miles up the
Ron and Natalie are recipients of the 1996 Mersey River from
South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the Liverpool. He is an
state’s highest honor, and the 1997 State of exemplar of the British
South Carolina Folk Heritage Award, given for folk tradition. Cliff’s
lifetime achievement and excellence in folk songs display a fine sense of humor and a
art that enriched the lives of people in their bit of British bawdy along with great vocal
community and state. artistry. Everyone should have the chance to
hear him shake the walls as his booming bass
Stuart M. Frank was baritone breathes new life into an old chantey
the first chanteyman at and in the next moment renders a ballad
Mystic Seaport Museum so tender it would bring tears to the eyes of
in 1972 and founded the an executioner. A mainstay in the folk music
Sea Music Festival and scene in New England for many years, Cliff has
Symposium 40 years inspired countless people to sing, learn songs,
ago. He is senior curator and join in the community of folk music.
emeritus of the New
Bedford Whaling Museum, director emeritus Phil and Martin Hugill
of the Kendall Whaling Museum, founding (sons of the late
director of the Scrimshaw Forensics® shantyman Stan Hugill)
Laboratory, a Fellow of the Massachusetts will be joined by fiddle
Historical Society, and was inducted into player Kevin Mercer for
the Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame this year’s Sea Music
for his research on shipboard songs. He Festival. Until his death
was educated at Wesleyan University, Yale in 1992, their father
University, the Munson Institute, and Brown “anchored” most of the
University, where his Ph.D. dissertation was early Sea Music Festivals
Ballads and Songs of the Whale-Hunters. at Mystic Seaport Museum
He served as research associate at Mystic with his songs from and
Seaport Museum, Artist and Scholar-in- tales of sailing on square-
Residence at the Virginia Museum of Fine riggers between the world
Arts, president of the Council of American wars, along with having
Maritime Museums, and taught maritime published some of the most significant
studies at Munson Institute, the Williams- volumes documenting the songs and lives of
Mystic Maritime Studies Program, the nineteenth-century sailors. Phil and Martin
Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, carry on the Hugill legacy. Phil performs with
Massachusetts, Brown University, and the the Romsey-based band Cuckoo Pint, which
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stuart plays an eclectic mix of folk songs and tunes
is the author of numerous books, articles, to audiences in the Hampshire area. Martin
chapters, and monographs about nautical art, and Kevin have been playing together for
history, literature, and music. about 15 years in various ceilidh and concert
bands and currently perform with the ceilidh
band Canol. Kevin first joined Phil and Martin
for the Festival of the Sea at Aberystwyth,
Wales, just across the estuary from the
Hugills' birthplace at Aberdyfi.PERFORMER BIOS
Mary Malloy was the Dave Peloquin’s
lead singer and fiddle- clear tenor voice,
player in Morrigan, one interpretive style,
of the two headliners and expressive guitar
at the opening concert accompaniment are
of Mystic Seaport well-known throughout
Museum’s first Sea Music the world of folk music.
Festival in 1980. She For more than 35
has a degree in Music from the University years, he has been associated with Mystic
of Washington, an M.A. in American Studies Seaport Museum as chanteyman, historic
Internationally acclaimed, The Johnson Girls from Boston College, and an M.A. and Ph.D. interpreter, and festival performer. Dave is an
have been a force on the folk and maritime from Brown University. She was on staff at author, illustrator, and independent Herman
music scene for over two decades as the the Peabody Museum of Salem and the John Melville scholar focused on symbolism in
leading all-women a cappella maritime group Carter Brown Library at Brown University; she Moby-Dick and other works by Melville. He
in the world. Believing that sea chanteys and also taught maritime history and policy at the lectures on Melville, John Huston’s film Moby
sea songs were the first real “World Music,” Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Dick, consciousness, mystical poetry, and
Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley, Bonnie Milner, Massachusetts, and at Stanford University meditation.
and Deirdre Murtha each bring a special and museum studies at Harvard University.
influence to the group. Whether performing She is a Fellow of the Massachusetts William Pint hails from
tender ballads or chanteys with hair-raising Historical Society and the Peabody Museum Milwaukee, but found
harmonies at packed international folk at Harvard and the author of numerous himself, and maritime
festivals, folk clubs, or intimate venues, The historical books and several novels. music, while on sojourn
Johnson Girls remain true to their mission
in the Puget Sound area.
of keeping chantey singing alive, bringing
Janie Meneely & There he met Felicia
women’s voices to the fore, and encouraging
Rob van Sante: Dale, a sea captain’s
everyone to join in the revelry.
Singer/songwriter daughter. In the ensuing
Janie Meneely, born three decades the couple has performed
Peter Kasin and
and raised on the around the world, collecting songs from
Richard Adrianowicz: Chesapeake Bay, brings the British Isles, the coastal regions of
Peter was raised in her nautical perspective France, and the Canadian Maritimes as well
Berkeley, California, to the world of folk as the U.S. They deliver dynamic vocals
by parents who took music, celebrating the maritime history, and instrumental fireworks, ranging from
Peter and his sister characters, and traditions of the Bay region, traditional sea chanteys to contemporary
to folk music festivals often from a woman’s perspective. Her songs, heart-wrenching to downright silly,
and concerts. Peter’s music captures the raucous ruminations of with powerful harmonies and dramatic
interest turned to sea ne’er-do-well charter captains as well as instrumental work on guitar, hurdy-gurdy,
music after hearing the Ewan McColl and thoughtful ballads about real people who octave mandolin, penny whistles, and fiddle.
A.L. Lloyd LP Whaling Ballads in the late make a living “working” the water. Her recent Their material is well-researched, authentic,
1970s, and his interest further deepened partnership with guitarist/balladeer Rob van and from the heart.
after attending his first chantey sing in San Sante, who lends his knack for melodies and
Francisco in 1989. He has performed sea flair for harmony to Janie’s compositions, has The Rix: Rick Nestler
music in numerous festivals in the Northwest broadened her scope beyond the confines & Rik Palieri sang and
U.S. and Yorkshire, England. Richard’s interest of the Bay. Rob draws deep from the well of sailed with Pete Seeger
in traditional music began in the late 1960s in traditional music, adding his virtuoso guitar for more than thirty
Chicago when he met the Armstrong family as accompaniment or offering spellbinding years. Grammy winner
who were involved in the noted Golden Ring vocals for Janie’s lyrics. Rick Nestler wrote “The
Sessions recordings. He also plays the guitar,
River That Flows Both
tin whistle, and fiddle. Peter and Richard have
Lynz Morahn asked her Ways,” the Clearwater
known each other since the late 1980s and
parents for a violin when anthem. Rik Palieri is a multi-instrumentalist
formed a duet in 2002 after Peter appeared
she was five years old, who plays guitar, banjo, Native American
on Richard’s CD Time Ashore is Over, a
and music has been flute, mouth bow, and ukulele. Their latest
recording of sea chanteys and songs. Almost
a love of her life ever release is a nautical tribute to their mentor,
two decades later, they are still going strong.
since. In high school, Pete Seeger: Steering Pete’s Course—
she was honored to Maritime Songs from the Seeger Songbag.
participate in regional
and state choirs, and as an adult, she has
turned her violin into a fiddle and found
great joy in folk music and social singing
communities. She is regularly found playing,
singing, and teaching around campfires, in
living rooms, and at festivals and camps
such as Rustic Roots, Fiddle Hell, Fat Toad,
TradMaD, and the Portsmouth Maritime and
Mystic Seaport Museum Sea Music Festivals.John Roberts has
been singing English
folk songs since the
early 1960s, when
he joined a local folk
club in his native
Worcestershire, England.
In the U.S. since 1968,
he joined with Tony Barrand to form a duo
which has lasted five decades. Singing in
unaccompanied harmony, or with concertina The Swiss Mariner Chanteymen are nine
or banjo, their entertaining style has singers and instrumentalists who are part
delighted audiences. These days, he mostly of the Swiss Mariner Fife and Drum Corps
performs solo, with Debra Cowan, or with from Basel, Switzerland, which was founded
the Irish group Curragh. John presents a in 1970 and followed the example of the
selection of maritime and other folk songs, Ancient Mariners from Connecticut. Inspired
some well-known to folk aficionados and by the Ancient Mariners, the Swiss Mariners
others less so. soon started to sing chanteys for their own
entertainment and then for audiences. With
The Rum-Soaked their music they follow the American-English
Crooks: Tom Goux, chantey tradition and have made a name for
Dan Lanier, and Jacek themselves with their quite varied and lively
Sulanowski have been interpretation of this traditional repertoire.
cruising the New
England shoreline (and Bob Walser is a
beyond) for the last musician, scholar, and
three decades and educator whose musical
inflicting much musical and poetic damage, career spans decades
with a pungent mix of sailors’ chanteys, and continents. In the
ballads, and ditties. There is often irrefutable early 1980s, he made his
evidence left in their wake: victims leaving living as a chanteyman
the scene with toes tapping and choruses here at Mystic Seaport
ringing in their heads, as they happily hum Museum where he helped launch the Sea
and whistle all the way home. The Crooks Music Festival. Since then he has presented
have shared their songs and stories, both folk music and dance programs as an artist-
historical and contemporary, at festivals in-residence in schools across the U.S. and
and maritime events across the country performed as a singer, dance leader, and
and in Europe. Their repertoire spans three dance musician from Maine to California
centuries of seafaring melody and verse, and overseas. As a scholar, Bob earned his
featuring a sampling of Cape and Islands sea Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at the University
songs and poetry. of London, School of Oriental and African
Studies.
An accomplished singer,
and instrumentalist Jeff Warner is among
on harmonica, the nation’s foremost
5-string banjo, and performer/interpreters
English concertina, of traditional music. His
Ken Sweeney has songs from the lumber
been performing at camps, fishing villages,
festivals and dances and mountain tops of
at home and abroad since the mid 1970s. America connect 21st-
Wide experience with varied lifestyles, century audiences with the everyday lives—
occupations, and hard travel are the hallmark and artistry—of 19th-century Americans.
of his performances with an especial affinity “Providing more than just rich entertainment,
for the songs of his native New England Jeff will leave you with a deeper appreciation
shores. Ken has been a farmhand and of the land you live in” (Caffé Lena, Saratoga,
deckhand, logger and lecturer, motorcycle New York). His songs, rich in local history and
currier, railroad hobo, and “Visiting Professor a sense of place, bring us the latest news
of Harmonica and Banjo” at a Connecticut from the distant past.
university, to name a few. Twice former
chantey and demonstration squad staff at
Mystic Seaport Museum since 1989, he has
also crewed on tall ships and climbed to the
main truck of the Charles W. Morgan!WORKSHOPS, DEMONSTRATIONS, AND SPECIAL EVENTS
The Ballads (Greenmanville Church, Saturday 12:00 & 3:00, Fo’c’s’le Songs (Performance Stage, Saturday 1:00;
Sunday 11:00 & 2:00) Charles W. Morgan, Saturday 4:30 in conjunction with
The practice of telling stories through song thrived at sea and the Dogwatch; Performance Stage, Sunday 2:00)
among shore dwellers enthralled by the beauty and grace of Here is a chance to sample the variety of songs, other than
ships and the wonders and terrors of the sea. Sailors sang chanteys, that sailors sang for their own amusement. These
ballads on many themes, nautical and otherwise, while ballads songs speak of many experiences, both at sea and ashore, and
on nautical themes were popular among people who never help us appreciate the lives of seamen in ways that no history
saw the ocean. Come and lose yourself in this magical book can.
storytelling form.
Foo Foo Band (Family Stage at the Children’s Museum,
Chanteys at Work (C. W. Morgan, Saturday 12:00, Sunday 1:00; Sunday, 2:00)
Joseph Conrad, Saturday 2:00, Sunday 2:00) The Foo Foo band was the name for the impromptu music
Mystic Seaport Museum is one of the few places where one can made by sailors from anything that could make noise. We’ll have
hear sea chanteys in the appropriate context. This exciting event materials ready, so come create instruments in preparation for
will show how chanteys are used in the strenuous work required the Children’s Parade that starts at 2:45.
to run sailing ships. Performers will work along with the Museum’s
demonstration squad. Inland Waters (Village Green, Saturday 12:00 & Sunday 12:00)
An important part of maritime history has taken place and still
Chesapeake Stories and Songs (Family Stage, Saturday 1:00) occurs on rivers, canals, and lakes the world over. A rich canon
Janie Meneely, who sailed and sang on Chesapeake Bay for of music and verse has come from inland water trades. You’ll
many years, will bring us stories and songs from this region rich hear a fine sampling in these sessions.
in maritime history and lore.
Instruments at Sea (Performance Stage, Saturday 3:00)
Children’s Activities and Parade (Family Stage at the Mallory A good musician was a valued shipmate in the age of sail, helping
Building, Sunday 2:00 – parade at 2:45) sailors enliven any idle hours they might have and perhaps
This moveable Foo Foo band will take music around the Museum performing for officers and passengers as well. Compact size and
grounds. While we march, add your music to the lively sounds of durability affected what instruments might come along, but come
fife, drum, and other instruments played by festival performers. along they did, and you’ll hear a fine collection of them here.
Contemporary Sea Songs (Performance Stage, Saturday 12:00; On the Rocks (Village Green, Saturday 2:00)
Village Green, Saturday 3:00; Performance Stage, Sunday There are lots of possible interpretations of being “on the rocks.”
11:00; Village Green, Sunday 2:00) This will be an intriguing exploration of the theme!
At a past festival, song collector and author William Main
Doerflinger went from workshop to workshop collecting Pete Seeger Centennial (Performance Stage, Saturday 2:00)
contemporary songs. Today’s contemporary songs may be Pete Seeger sang and worked tirelessly for humanity, peace,
tomorrow’s traditional and public domain music. This weekend and our environment. Through his work establishing the
you can hear some of the finest singers and writers of sloop Clearwater as an educational vessel on the Hudson
contemporary maritime songs anywhere. River, his message traveled with him. We will feature some of
the performers who sailed on the Clearwater with Pete and
Dance Workshop (Boat Shed, Saturday 4:00 - 5:30) who continue to spread the word—a remarkable legacy for a
At 4:00 we’ll have demonstrations and instruction with Bob remarkable human being.
Walser, Yves Corbiere, Lynz Morahn, and the Vox Hunters with
some step dancing from Laura Travis. Plowing Sea and Shore (Greenmanville Church, Sunday 1:00)
The ocean and the fertile field often serve as metaphors for
Environmental Songs (Family Stage, Sunday 1:00) each other. Legend has it that a prophetic old Nantucketer,
Changes on both sea and land have had a profound effect on our gazing at a pod of whales swimming off the shore in the 1600s,
environment. Messages about these changes, their consequences, murmured, “There are the fields our grandchildren will plow.”
and how to improve or avoid them abound in songs. Sailors depicted farmers as dull homebodies in their songs, but
also writhed in jealous agony at the thought that those same
farmers could go courting their girls while Jack Tar “plowed the
Family Shows (Family Stage at the Mallory Building, Saturday
raging main.” Songs about sailors, farmers, courtship happy and
1:00, 2:00, & 3:00, Sunday 12:00, 1:00, & 2:00)
unhappy, and related topics will be heard in this workshop.
Some of our finest performers will combine music, stories,
participation, instrument-making, history, the environment, and
Round Robin (Joseph Conrad, Sunday 12:00)
FUN! This year we are especially pleased to have Ron and Natalie
B.J. Whitehouse and the Mystic Seaport Museum chantey class
Daise joining us with a special workshop focusing on traditions
alumni lead a spirited sing-around of chanteys.
from the Sea Islands. Look for Janie Meneely’s presentation of
songs and stories from the Chesapeake.Sea Island Stories and Songs (Family Stage at the Mallory War, Piracy, Crime, & Punishment (Performance Stage,
Building, Saturday 2:00) Sunday 12:00)
We are delighted to have Ron and Natalie Daise relate stories and Conflicts and confrontations at sea often led to harsh
songs from this unique geographical and cultural region of the consequences. Hear some of the great songs chronicling these
United States. The Sea Islands have been a gate keeper of Gullah misadventures.
traditions, and Ron and Natalie are striving to keep them alive and
share them wherever they go. Where the Alps Meet the Sea (Boat Shed, Saturday 1:00)
See what happens when the Swiss Mariner Chanteymen get
Songs of Fishing (L.A. Dunton, Saturday 3:00 with seining together with local festival favorites, Cliff Haslam and Marc Bernier.
demonstration; Village Green, Sunday 1:00) Sparks will be flying and singing will be soaring!
The songs of this trade commemorate the courage and grief of
fishing communities, while also showing flashes of the wry humor Women in Sea Music: Here and Now (Boat Shed, Saturday 12:00)
and matter-of-fact attitude that often sustained them. As part A special concert/workshop as an extension of Friday’s
of the Saturday workshop, you’ll get to hear a couple of seining Symposium. As more and more women emerge to sing chanteys
songs, rhythmic songs used by fishermen to haul nets for schools and maritime songs, hear what they have to offer. How do their
of fish, as members of our Mystic Seaport Museum chantey staff voices currently affect the course of sea music and where will
perform them in an on-the-water demonstration. A second they be at the 100th anniversary of the Sea Music Festival?
workshop on Sunday will focus on more songs from this genre.
Women and the Sea (Greenmanville Church, Sunday 12:00)
Songs of Whales and Whaling (Greenmanville Church, Nowadays women can be found in every imaginable role in the
Saturday 4:00) maritime world, from deckhand to captain. Women also went
Whalemen chronicled their lives, loves, work, play, and dreams to sea in earlier times in a variety of ways: as wives of whaling and
thoroughly in song and wrote down much of this material in merchant captains, as passengers, disguised as men serving
journals and diaries. You’ll hear their ballads, chanteys, and songs as foremast hands, and even as pirates. On shore, women held
here, but with changing times and sensibilities, the whales have families, businesses, and communities together while their
gained a voice as well. Be listening. husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons were at sea for weeks,
months, or years. These roles were all commemorated in song.
Come and hear a sampling of women’s views of the sea.
Songwriters in the Tradition (Greenmanville Church, Saturday 2:00)
Modern songwriters have turned their talents to keeping an old
tradition alive. The best compliment they can receive is to hear Work Song Traditions (Village Green, Saturday 1:00; Performance
their songs assumed to be “traditional.” This year’s festival is Stage, Sunday 1:00)
pleased to present some of the foremost at their craft. Chanteys are perhaps the most widely known and best-
documented examples of the ancient practice of singing at work.
Stan Hugill’s Legacy: Recollections and Signature Songs The tradition of chanteying sprang from earlier work song forms
and influenced others as changing technology gave rise to new
(Boat Shed, Saturday 3:00)
occupations. Explore some of these fascinating connections with
Stan’s book, Shanties from the Seven Seas, is regarded as one of
us in this session.
the most important collections of sailors’ work songs. Members of
the sea music community who knew Stan will reminisce about the
man who shared his knowledge, stories, and songs in a spirited Young Tradition Bearers (Greenmanville Church, Saturday 1:00)
manner. As a special treat Stan’s sons, Martin and Phillip, will join us. Looking ahead to the future, we have gathered together some of
the newest members of the Mystic Seaport Museum chantey staff.
It will be their legacy to keep this music alive.
Sunday Morning Hymn Sing (Greenmanville Church, Sunday 9:30)
A favorite event for early risers on Sunday. Led this year by Judy
Cook, Stephen Sanfilippo, and “The Heavenly Twins.”
Superstition, Supernatural, and Shipwrecks: Ghost Ships, Selkies,
and Specters (Joseph Conrad, Saturday 1:00, Sunday 11:00)
Haunted ships and lighthouses, phantom sailors, and supernatural
creatures at sea have been chronicled in songs and ballads for
centuries all around the globe. This workshop will feature a small
sampling, both traditional and contemporary, of these spine-
tingling tales set to music.MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM | 75 GREENMANVILLE AVENUE, MYSTIC, CT 06355 | WWW.MYSTICSEAPORT.ORG | 860.572.0711
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