The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will begin this year’s series of Discover Arts and Crafts workshops on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. The workshop is entitled “Playing Music By Ear” and there is a $15 fee per person. Participation is limited to students aged 15 to adult, and reservations are required.
Cathy Grant of St. Albans will lead the workshop. The session will focus on string players, but is open to all note-reading musicians who want to develop or improve their ability to play music by ear. Playing by ear is a skill that you can develop whether you are a beginner or have been playing music for a lifetime. Grant says, “It makes music more fun and spontaneous and helps musicians develop their own personal style. Whether you want to play church hymns, traditional music or play behind singers, you can benefit from this interactive workshop.”
A full-time fiddle and violin teacher based out of the Fret ’n Fiddle shop in St. Albans, Grant’s background includes playing in symphonies, contra dance bands, traditional/folk groups and Celtic ceili bands. She teaches a wide range of fiddle workshops, including old-time, bluegrass, Scottish and Irish, for all ages and skill levels in schools throughout the southeast.
Grant studied violin and viola at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is a registered Suzuki Method teacher and honed her traditional skills from the best West Virginia and Kentucky fiddlers.
For more information about the Discover Arts and Crafts Workshop series or to make a reservation, contact Pat Cowdery, festival events coordinator for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 130. The next discover Arts and Crafts workshop will be held on Saturday, Feb. 14, with Mack Samples teaching a traditional square dance caller’s workshop.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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