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Social Media and Video Links! Together for ’21 Fest, August 6-8, 2021

Images and Video Links! Together for ’21 Fest, August 6-8, 2021

Bicentennial Alliance Members

Missouri Bicentennial Alliance Members

It has been our pleasure to join colleagues and organizations across the state as members of the Bicentennial Alliance.

Years of discussions and months of planning, with the guidance of Bicentennial Coordinator Michael Sweeney, resulted in a series of four signature events this August 2021, including the Together for ’21 Fest in Columbia. Throughout the weekend of August 6-8, traditional artists from around the state performed and demonstrated at the invitation of Missouri Folk Arts, Missouri 2021, and the State Historical Society of Missouri. We observed that even the contemporary American Wild Ensemble performed new compositions that are steeped in Missouri’s music traditions.

Below are links to stories in the news and video recordings of events co-produced by Missouri Folk Arts.

Friday, August 6, 2021

  • On Friday, August 6, 2021, at 3:00 p.m., at the “Together for ’21 Fest” in Columbia’s Peace Park, we hosted an old-time music jam with a few master artists–from the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program and Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp. During this Missouri 2021 event, John P. Williams, Kenny Applebee, Dave Cavins, and Amber Gaddy knocked out an hour or so of old-time fiddle tunes in the shade across the street from the The State Historical Society of Missouri (near Elm and 7th Streets). The Columbia Missourian captured the jam in a photo gallery.

  • Emcee Kevin Walsh hosted a special concert An Evening of Missouri Music at Mizzou’s Jesse Auditorium. In person and virtual audiences enjoyed three sets: Little Dylan, a young St. Louis blues vocalist and his band who blew our socks off; The Kay Brothers with The Burney Sisters, who play up-tempo Missouri “hillbilly” music; and Pablo Sanhueza with his Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra. A recent TAAP master artist, Pablo and the orchestra (including apprentice Brandon Cooper) were joined in the last two songs of their set by master Colombian folkloric dancer Carmen Sofia Dence and Moises Sosa for cumbia. The entire concert is available at the link below. 

http://https://youtu.be/QrlYqVOI7d4

Saturday, August 7, 2021

  • Over eighty visitors joined us on Saturday August 7 from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. We hosted a live blacksmithing demonstration in the University’s RC19 Parking Lot, just west of the Center for Missouri Studies near 6th and Elm Streets. Five blacksmiths, including three previous TAAP master artists, demonstrated several techniques at coal and propane forges: Osage Bluff Blacksmith Shop (Jefferson City), Washington Forge (Washington), Scrub Oak Forge (DeSoto), Butcher Creek Forge (Moscow Mills), and 5 Ft. Forge (Lawson). The State Historical Society of Missouri featured the blacksmiths on social media.

  • Carmen Dence hosted a Latin dance showcase that she co-produced and choreographed at 1:00 p.m. Over the hour, Grupo Atlántico and Ashleyliane Dance Company performed Latin dance, including la caderona, samba, and cumbia, at Columbia’s historic Missouri Theater.

    http://https://youtu.be/zbaLtGh15B4

  • At 2:00 p.m. on the steps of iconic Jesse Hall, five old-time musicians–apprentices and song catchers of some of Missouri’s finest master fiddlers–played a number of tunes associated with the Missouri old-time fiddling tradition. Ellen Gomez, Thomas Coriell, Nathan Lee McAlister, Dave Landreth, and Pete Howard played a bit of a concert for over an hour before joining friends near the Quad to spend even more time swapping tunes as fest closed that day.