Touring Group & Youth Commission Update - June 2023

From YTV Director Ian Drury:

Dear YTV Community and beyond,

Pascal Gemme

I am sure many are very eager to hear more concerning this coming year’s programming! Good news! I have updates! :)  This year the YTV Touring Group will be going to Montreal and Quebec City! Though all of the details will continue to be worked out over the summer, I am very excited to announce that Pascal Gemme will be one of the Artist Leaders for the 2023-2024 year! Pascal is the fiddle player and singer with the world renowned band Genticorum and it is an honor to have him with us.  

Members of the 2022-2023 Touring Group jamming together on the bus.

For the 2023-2024 program year, YTV will be combining the goals of the Youth Commission with the goals of the Touring Group. This decision was made with the input of the YTV Advisory Council, VT Folklife staff and board members, and interviews with past and current YTV managers and artist leaders. This transition also comes with the acknowledgement that, like our traditions themselves, programs are living organisms and they adjust and grow with those who are in them. These adjustments aim at providing equitable access for members to lead, teach, and perform. The Touring Group will provide opportunities to those who express interest to engage in activities and performances with smaller groups of their peers similar to those that were available to the Youth Commission.

Additionally we will be adding workshops to the Touring Group experience. These aim to facilitate conversations around  “what makes a cultural practice ‘traditional,’” a class in learning how to run sound for a performance, and more.

More information, including audition information for this year's Touring Group will be available in the coming month. 

Lastly, we are still hard at work preparing for Trad Camp at the end of July from the 24th to the 28th. We still have some spaces available so please spread the word! It’s going to be a great week of summer!

And if you are in Burlington that week, be sure to stop by for one of our lunchtime concerts, happening 12:15 to 12:45 each day, in the Dining Room upstairs at the First Church, 38 South Winooski Avenue. It’s going to be a great week of summer!

As I am settling into this new position I am struck more and more by the power and beauty of this work. Seeing first hand the positive impact of YTV programming for Vermont’s youth continues to be a rewarding experience.  Whether it is seeing a child’s face light up having made an accordion make a sound for the first time, or seeing their satisfaction in getting a tune right during a Fiddleheads lesson, or hearing feedback of how meaningful this year's Touring Group experience was… YTV at Vermont Folklife is supporting living traditions throughout Vermont. Within our programming we are creating a strong community and sense of identity for our youth. The opportunity to find joy and belonging with a group of one's peers through music, song, and dance is a gift that I feel honored to help create and be a part of. 

I have been very appreciative of support from my Vermont Folklife colleagues and from members of the greater YTV community and beyond in aiding YTV programming through this transition. The feedback, input, and assistance I have received from current and past participants, parents, teachers, and others has been invaluable and I am extremely grateful to you all.

Thank you. It is a joy working with all of you and supporting this amazing community we are so lucky to have. Happy Summer and be in touch, 

Ian Drury
idrury@vtfolklife.org