FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
A BLUEGRASS SYMPOSIUM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2010
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Harvard University
For pictures from this event please click here.
Free and open to the public; no tickets required.
(Directions & Important Information)
Sponsored by the Committee on Degrees in Folklore & Mythology, the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA), the Office of the Provost, the Undergraduate Council, the Department of Music, and the Harvard College American Music Association (HCAMA)
(Note: this is a draft schedule; some aspects may change, or be clarified, as the event approaches.)
10:30 am Welcome and Coffee
10:45 am Introductory Remarks
Deborah Foster & Forrest O’Connor
11:00 am Keynote Address
Matt Glaser (Berklee School of Music, American Roots Music Program)
11:30 am Bluegrass: Its Roots and Branches
Historians, ethnomusicologists, and academically inclined performers consider the
history of bluegrass: its diverse (and controversial) roots, its major proponents, its
evolution, and its possible future.
Neil Rosenberg (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Jack Tottle (East Tennessee State University)
Michelle Kisliuk (University of Virginia)
Alison Brown ’84 (Bluegrass musician, Compass Records)
Garry West (Bluegrass musician, Compass Records)
Scott Alarik (moderator) (Folk music writer, Boston Globe)
1:00 pm The Video Oral History Project
The International Bluegrass Music Museum’s role in preserving the history and
growing the future of Bluegrass music worldwide. Presented by Gabrielle Gray,
Executive Director, and Drs. Richard Brown and Peter Salovey, Museum Trustees.
1:15 pm Light Lunch for Attendees
2:15 pm The Instruments of Bluegrass: Craft to Sound
Renowned guitar- and mandolin-maker Lynn Dudenbostel discusses his craft (and
the ways in which it relates to bluegrass), and displays actual samples of his work.
Afterward, Forrest O’Connor presents his undergraduate thesis on luthiery, and Sam
Bush test-drives a Dudenbostel F-5.
Lynn Dudenbostel (Dudenbostel Stringed Instruments)
Forrest O’Connor ’10 (Harvard University)
Sam Bush (Bluegrass musician, TG2 Artists)
3:00 pm Coffee Break
3:30 pm Contemporary Bluegrass: A Discussion with Musicians
Leading bluegrass musicians consider (and demonstrate examples of) songs in the
bluegrass repertoire that have heavily influenced them. They also discuss their careers,
creative processes, current projects and future plans.
Alison Brown ’84 (Bluegrass musician, Compass Records)
Sam Bush (Bluegrass musician, TG2 Artists)
Bobby Hicks (Bluegrass musician)
Jack Tottle (moderator) (East Tennessee State University)
5:00 pm Dinner Break
7-8:30 pm Evening Performance
Clint Miller ’11(Harvard University) opening
Alison Brown ’84 (Bluegrass musician, Compass Records)
Sam Bush (Bluegrass musician, TG2 Artists)
Bobby Hicks (Bluegrass musician)