Weekend at a Glance

Thursday, January 9th

The Winter Village Music Camp will kick off with some great free live happy hour music at the Bike Bar, located next door to the Community School of Music & Arts (CSMA).  Special thanks to South Hill Cider who is sponsoring all three evenings of free happy hour music at Ithaca’s Bike Bar this year.  On Thursday at 4:30 pm we will host an old-time jam followed by Naomi Sommers, Dave Davies, Rick Manning and friends performing at 5:30 pm. 

The  Camp’s official opening concert is next door at CSMA’s Hamblin Hall. The show begins at 7:30 pm and features two great duets - Emily Miller & Jesse Milnes and Hildaland (Louise Bichan & Ethan Setiawan). 

The Canopy Hotel’s discounted camp weekend room rates are available on Thursday night for campers who arrive early to attend the show and Friday’s morning sessions. (Please note that the opening concert is not included in the camp weekend registration fee).

Friday, January 10th

Workshops sessions on Friday morning begin at 9:30 am Friday morning with three warm up sessions - old time, bluegrass, Celtic jams and a song circle, followed by numerous instrument, singing and songwriting sessions at 10:45 am and continuing throughout the day. At lunch time on Friday, we will feature a brown bag session on ‘Music Theory You Can Use’ for all instruments led by Paul Fairbanks. 

There will be a happy hour opening reception at 5:00 pm in the Strand Cafe and a happy hour Irish session from 4:00 - 5:00 pm at the Bike Bar followed by Richie Stearns, Kevin Wimmer and Steve Selin from 5:30 to 7:00 pm.

Camper Orientation will begin at 7:30 pm in CSMA’s Hamblin Hall featuring short performances and workshop descriptions by faculty members. This will be followed by facilitated jam sessions for campers in different styles and skill levels, all led by camp faculty at 9:30 pm.

Saturday, January 11th

Saturday will begin with early-riser jam sessions and morning yoga for musicians at 8:00 am. The yoga will be led by George Clements and focus on hands and upper body stretching. This will be followed by two 75 minute instructional workshops at 9:15 and 10:45 am. Enjoy lunch at the Strand Cafe, at nearby restaurants, or join us for a brown bag lunch panel on Social Media for Working Musicians. Ithaca Stringed Instruments will also have a display set up during lunch and into the afternoon.  After lunch there will be two sixty-minute afternoon workshops at 1:30 and 2:45 pm followed by 4:00 pm special band workshops, casual concerts and master classes. Dinner will begin at 5pm at the Strand Cafe and on the town.  For happy hour, the Notorious Stringbusters, the Ithaca Guitar Works house band, will perform at the Bike Bar from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

The popular Camp All-Faculty Concert will be on Saturday evening from 7:30 to 10:00 pm in CSMA’s Hamblin Hall and feature a series of performances by camp faculty and special guests. The concert always sells out so get your tickets early. Tickets for the All-Faculty Concert are included in the camp registration fee for weekend campers. After the concert there will be jams at CSMA based on stylistic interest and experience levels, along with spontaneous music throughout the hotel on designated music floors.

Sunday, January 12th

Sunday morning will  begin with early riser jam sessions, a song circle and morning yoga for musicians.  This will be followed by two 60-minute morning workshops at 9:30 and 10:45 am.  Lunch time special sessions will include brown bag sessions on recording strategies, holistic health practices for musicians, and a fiddle workbench open house.   After lunch, two afternoon workshops will be held at 1:30 and 2:45 pm.

The closing Sunday Camp Concert will be from 4:00 to 6:00 pm also in Hamblin Hall and feature The Clements Brothers with Natalie Padilla & Quinn Bachand. Note that tickets for the closing concert are NOT included in the weekend registration.  After the show, Naomi Sommers, Rick Manning and Dave Davies will present a casual concert in the Canopy and there will be some jamming and hanging out in the hotel.