I am sitting in my apartment listening to "Our Ship Is Ready" from the CD,
"White Wings" with Alison McMorland & Geordie McIntyre. Before I attended
the Eisteddfod Festival this past weekend, I had not heard (or heard of)
these wonderful performers. Now as I listen to the CD, I am reliving the
incredible feeling of a joyful discovery. There were many other new
discoveries for me this past weekend. While a member of Pinewoods since the
early 70's, I am more recently discovering the music that was presented at
the festival. So, while I have heard several of the performers, many were
new to me. In addition, to the great music that was presented, these
discoveries are what made the weekend so special for me.

The challenge of the weekend was to choose between so many workshops that
called to me. I was not disappointed in the ones I attended, and I'm sure I
would have felt the same way regardless of which workshop I went to. But,
one has to make a choice, so I did. I started Saturday morning laughing and
singing along in a workshop called, "Always Good for a Laugh".   Everyone
should start their day this way. Then I went on to listen to stories and
songs about the "Urban Folk Revival"; heard "Songs of the Supernatural"; had
lunch; traveled to the Mississippi Delta to hear Paul Geremia play the
blues; and ended that day with "More Ballads from Europe". Each workshop
ended too quickly for me, but then I got to go to the next one. So, I
really can't complain.

Sunday started with a workshop by Alison and Geordie, called "Roots and
Routes". I knew they felt the pressure of time, because they had so much to
share both with their recollections of how they become involved in their
music, and the songs themselves. At the "Catskill Mtn. Tradition" workshop,
we got to sing along, and give our voices some exercise. Then we learned
from Roy Harris, how to get people to join in on the chorus; again giving us
an opportunity to sing. This morning for me, was a great blend of listening
and participating.

The concerts (Friday and Saturday evenings, and Sunday afternoon) gave us
the opportunity to hear more from everyone, and was a way to hear people
whose workshops you couldn't attend, and to sing along.

Sunday's concert and the festival ended with David Jones leading us all in
"Let Union Be In All Our Hearts". The room was filled with all our
individual voices joined together in song.

Roy Harris talked about the joy in being in a community of people making
music, and that's what this weekend meant for me.

The festival was presented by the Folk Music Society of New York, Inc. (New
York Pinewoods Folk Music Club), as well as many other organizations (too
many to mention here). I want to thank the Pinewoods board for creatively
combining their usual Fall Weekend with this Festival. It was a great way
to combine two wonderful events, and to bring people together who might not
have otherwise had the opportunity to meet and hear each other. I know
that's what happened for me.

As I end this piece, I am still listening to the CD, and Alison's voice is
coming to me through my computer's speaker. Not the same as seeing her
expressive face as she sings, but I didn't know her singing before this
weekend, and isn't that what it's all about?
Linda Prager