ZoukFest Blogging | Staff Performances | NEW Raffle! | Scholarship Recipients | Tuition Raffle Winner | Andy Irvine

Raffle Winners Announced!

Here they are: Dan Packer from Albuquerque won the G.D. Armstrong solid body electric bouzouki, and Tom Martin from Clovis, NM won the Bill Bussman melon octave mandolin.Thanks to everyone who participated, and remember there’s another raffle…

ZoukFest Blogging!

There may be others, and we’re happy to recommend these two: for a first-hand narrative of the ZoukFest experience with more than you bargained for, go right to ZoukFest 2008 instructor Chris Smith’s daily blog posts from ZoukFest at his Coyote Banjo blog, and Susan’s See is a fresh personal narrative with video and photos! There’s also a ZoukFest photo series running at FotoFeed, starting here. Have ZoukFest-related blogs or images to share? Just let us know! Meanwhile, here’s another staff performance photo, courtesy of FotoFeed:

Staff Performances Every Night This Week!

Come to O’Shaughnessy Performance Space in Benildus Hall at the College of Santa Fe to hear ZoukFest instructors display their talents every night this week from 7:00 P.M - 9:00 P.M. You’ll hear great music in an informal setting and have a chance to see what ZoukFest is all about. Suggested donation is $10-15, and the public is cordially invited! Click here for more info. Below are Dave Cory and Roger Landes performing Sunday night:

NOTE: In order to foster the informality and spontaneity of these events, ZoukFest does not publish or announce the Staff Performances schedule, so one must attend in order to find out who is performing.

NEW! ZOUKFEST 2008 INSTRUMENT RAFFLE LAUNCHED!

The prize is this beautiful instrument by Herb Taylor. Deep and complex. Very punchy but not boomy in the bass. Crisp treble all the way to the 22nd fret. Loud enough for tune playing in a session, set up to play like a dream. And it can be yours for just one $30 raffle ticket! Visit our Raffle page for more photos and complete specs, including a video demo! Here’s the ticket order link: Order raffle tickets online >>

ZoukFest Scholarship Recipients Announced!

The ZoukFest Board of Directors are pleased to announce the 2008 Scholarship Recipients. ZoukFest has had a very small scholarship program in the past with just one scholar each year. The outstanding qualities of these scholars encouraged the ZoukFest Board to try to expand the program. We all benefit because these outstanding musicians enrich the camp through their participation. Because the scholars are teachers who share their knowledge with many students, and students who are in the formative stages of their musical careers, the program has a lasting impact that ripples far beyond the camp.

Thanks to generous donations, we were able to expand the program this year to five scholars. We had a number of applicants who were wonderfully qualified and worthy. That made the decision difficult. We unfortunately could not award scholarships to all of them due to limited funds. We hope that people will donate generously to the Scholarship Fund so that we won’t have to deny anyone next year.

The 2008 ZoukFest Scholarship Recipients are:

Kimberly Forée
Corey Green
Lauren Joiner
Benito Plaza
Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere

We Have a Winner!

Greg Bramhall of Needham Heights, MA is the winner of our Free Tuition Raffle. Congratulations, Greg! Thanks to everyone else who registered early in order to be eligible, and we look forward to seeing all of you in Santa Fe!

Andy Irvine at ZoukFest 2008, June 8-14th

We are very pleased to announce that Andy Irvine will be on staff at ZoukFest 2008 next June at the College of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Since his early days with Sweeney’s Men in the 1960s to Planxty, Patrick Street, and Mozaik, Andy has been at the forefront of the revival of Irish traditional music. His virtuosity on the mandolin, mandola and bouzouki, as well as his unique approach to arranging, have made him one of the most influential musicians of his generation. For more information about Andy, please visit his website: http://andyirvine.com. And be sure to read the exclusive interview with Andy by Roger Landes!