Hurdy-gurdy in the French Tradition

• French.pdf

We owe much of the hurdy-gurdy’s worldwide resurgence in the past three decades to France, whose musicians nurtured their existing tradition into something that not only could sustain itself, but also inspired flourishing traditions in other lands. French repertoire and technique will be taught this year by Welsh builder/player Chris Allen, who says he was a lutemaker until he was "abducted by the hurdygurdy" some 15 years ago.

Early Music

• Coming soon

Explore the rich traditions of hurdy-gurdy playing in Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music with Canadian recorder and hurdy-gurdy player Tobie Miller, who divides her time between Basel and Montreal and performs with groups such as Castello Ensemble, Les Jongleurs de la Mandragore, and the award-winning Ensemble La Rota.

Hurdy-Gurdy for Beginners

• Coming Soon

Start out on the right foot with instruction that covers all of the basics: body posture and ergonomics, tuning, applying rosin and cotton, melody playing with the left hand, and rhythm playing (buzzing) with the right hand. Learn some easy tunes and join in the fun of playing live music for dancing on Saturday night. Instructor Mike Gilpin has been playing Hurdy Gurdy for over 20 years and making them for 12 years.

Instrument Set-up and Maintenance

Like it or not, most of us do not live within shouting distance of a hurdy-gurdy luthier who can help us when our instruments misbehave. Every player can benefit from learning what to do when our keys and pegs stick; our strings screech, buzz, or whisper; our tangents freeze up or snap off; or someone puts a greasy finger on the surface of our wheel. Hurdy-gurdy builders Cali and Alden Hackmann offer a wealth of valuable information.

Focus & Specialty Classes

The variety of interest and skills participants bring to the festival is inspiring and just plain fun. To meet some of the request from participants, there will be several short classes dedicated to Hurdy-Gurdy related topics.