LISTEN. LEARN. PLAY.
January 8 - 11, 2026
Winter Village Music Camp is a fun and inspiring winter weekend of LISTENING, LEARNING & PLAYING in a friendly and inclusive setting.
“As usual the weekend was an incredibly positive experience. Thank you so much for making Winter Village a truly memorable event every year.” Mark
Meet the Team
Left to right: Bethany (Bee) Parisi Camp Marketing, Rick Manning the founder of Winter Village Music Camp, Megan Omohundro the Executive Director at CSMA, and Ej George Camp Coordinator.
About Winter Village Music
For more than 15 years Winter Village Music has been bringing the best of traditional and progressive acoustic music to Ithaca, New York, in the dead of winter - when we need it most! Since 2011, we have hosted the Winter Village Bluegrass Festival, and many concerts featuring established and emerging bluegrass, old time, Irish, swing and folk artists. In 2013 Winter Village Music added a music camp weekend in addition to the bluegrass festival. In the post-COVID era, we decided the Winter Village Music Camp was a better fit for Ithaca, given our eclectic musical tastes and our community’s focus on education. We now have an ever growing community of musicians returning each year to listen, learn, and play the music they love in January, while supporting our downtown and the beloved Community School of Music & Art. Won’t you join us?
In 2026, on January 8 - 11, we are hosting our second Winter Village Music Camp in Downtown Ithaca, with most of the workshops hosted at Ithaca’s Community School of Music & Arts, along with a few at the Canopy Hotel and the Bike Bar. The Canopy by Hilton - Downtown Ithaca is our hospitality host offering special room rates for the camp and is hosting Happy Hour and evening jams in the Strand Cafe lobby. The Bike Bar hosts free and very popular Happy Hour concerts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Winter Village weekend. Thank you for visiting our Winter Village Music web site.
Winter Village Music Camp
January
8 - 11, 2026
CAMP REGISTRATION
This year, WVMC is incorporating a bluegrass jamming class based on the Wernick Method into our busy workshop schedule on Friday at 2:45pm. This class will be geared for registered Winter Village campers who are new to jamming and want to learn basic essential jamming skills and build confidence to join in jamming fun! Wernick Method instructor Austin Scelzo will introduce the Wernick Method principles during the first hour. In the second hour, players will be divided into small groups that will be coached by Rick Manning and Paul Fairbanks, also certified Wernick Method instructors. This is a great opportunity to experience the Wernick Method and there is no additional fee associated with the class!
If you are interested, you must sign up in advance by visiting their site here and clicking the registration button. You will receive electronic materials from them that will help you prepare for the class.