New Harmony Music Festival & School

!2:15 PM CDT: Pop-up Concert at The Contemporary Gallery, 506 Main St. New Harmony, IN

***Saturday concert preview: This Harmonie Society music sampler features Eugene Friesen, cello and singer/guitarist Elizabeth Rogers. In 2021, Friesen, Rogers and 2 friends produced a CD entitled “In Harmony”, a captivating compendium of “reimagined”, almost mystical, music from the three Rappite communes in Harmony, PA, New Harmony, IN, and Economy, PA. Their quartet, inspired by the acoustics of various harmonist structures, chose to record their “harmonist music for today” in the arched brick wine cellar located in Harmony, PA. We hope you enjoy this “musical sampler” and attend their full program in the lobby of the Historic New Harmony Atheneum, Saturday evening, July 16.

7:00PM CDT: Open Style Jam & Song Sharing (for festival artists, singers and local acoustic musicians) at Sara’s Harmonie Way, 500 Church St. New Harmony, IN. Each year the festival enjoys welcoming local musicians of all styles to “join-in” at this annual round-robin evening of musical sharing. The jam is hosted by members of this year’s festival artist line-up. All musicians are kindly asked to respect our “taking turns” policy throughout the course of the evening. We also ask that musicians and casual listeners alike please take note, quiet-down, and give-ear, if a solo singer is performing a song.

12:15PM CDT: Pop-up Concert at New Harmony Soap, 512 Main St. New Harmony, IN

***Featured: Original folk-style instrumentals and “en-ticing” songs with award-winning Nashville singer-songwriter and finger-picked guitarist, Jordan Tice. Pianist and guitarist, Ben Waldvogel, sings popular songs, (some of which he learned from his grandfather Brad Warren) as well as his own unique stylings, tinged with New Orleans-style piano..

7:00PM CDT: Traditional Musics-Living Traditions at The newly refurbished 1820 Owen Community House, 421 North St. New Harmony, IN. Trad music and songs from Appalachia to Ireland to Scotland, Spain and elsewhere. Returning artist Martha Waldvogel joins Jordan Tice (also a NHMF&S veteran) and long-time musical pal, Christopher Layer on a variety of bagpipes, exotic winds and bassoon, as well as friends, new and old!

12:15PM CDT: Pop-up Concert at the Workingmen’s Institute Library, 407 Tavern St. New Harmony, IN.

***Festival Solo Roundtable: Our festival artists take a “music circle” approach; each artist sharing solo pieces or songs, and perhaps some stories to go with the pieces they choose!

7:30PM CDT: American Songlines at The Murphy Auditorium, 419 Tavern St. New Harmony, IN. Festival pianist, guitarist and singer Ben Waldvogel, literally “takes center stage” at the Murphy as audience members will be seated ONSTAGE (a festival first!) for an up-close and personal musical experience along with fellow festival artists. This fine young musician is sure to please those with rock and roll souls or New Orleans roots. Toes will be tapping!

2:00PM CDT: Pop-up Concert & Open Rehearsal at the Historic New Harmony Atheneum (Atrium), 401 Arthur St. New Harmony, IN.

***Festival fans are invited to “hang-out” at the Atheneum as our festival artists, led by cellist Eugene Friesen and singer Elizabeth Rogers, prepare and rehearse pieces for our evening Program in the Atheneum. There is sure to be some spontaneous “music fun” as well!

8PM CDT: In Harmony: Harmonist Music For Our Time at the Historic New Harmony Atheneum Atrium, 401 Arthur St. New Harmony, IN. This diverse program of “reimagined” Harmonist musics (many dating to the early 19th Century) was conceived by 4x Grammy Award winning cellist, Eugene Friesen, as a part of a series of concerts to be given in each of the three Harmonist commune locations: Harmony, PA, New Harmony, IN, and Economy, PA. Simple folk tunes become arabesques of improvised wind and string lines, while Elizabeth Rogers’ pure clear voice refreshes and stirs our musical heartstrings like an evening dew, settling on a Harmonist rose.

The music festival, and its parent org, The New Harmony Artist’s Guild Inc., want to thank the Robert Lee Blaffer Foundation for their constant support and patronage of the Guild and its annual projects. We would like to extend a very special thank-you to Andrew Orient, of Historic Harmony (Pennsylvania), for the diligence and support he invested in order to bring the “In Harmony” project to life and to our town. Thanks Andrew! And we are most especially grateful to Claire Eagle and Christine Crews of Historic New Harmony (Indiana) and the good folks at USI, not only for their ongoing support of local cultural programming, but also for providing 3 of our concert venues this week, artist housing, and important technical and travel support during this 2022 festival week! Thanks everybody!