PineCone and the NC Museum of History Continue Partnership Amid State Budget Concerns

July 1, 2009 - PRLog -- Raleigh, N.C. – In the midst of North Carolina’s state budget woes, the North Carolina Museum of History has committed to maintaining the Music of the Carolinas series, which it has been presenting for more than a decade in partnership with PineCone – the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music. The series includes nine free programs, one per month, from October through June.

The Music of the Carolinas series invites people to discover and celebrate North Carolina's rich musical heritage by featuring the best home-grown North Carolina traditional artists, as well as by showcasing the musical and performance traditions of the various cultures that call North Carolina home today. The program almost lost funding support as the Museum looked for ways to trim its budget, as all state agencies were required to do, but the 11-year-old partnership was considered too valuable to cut.

“The Music of the Carolinas series has been a key component of the museum’s educational offerings for over a decade. Although budget cuts have forced us to make adjustments in our program plans, the entire Education Section felt that this series was simply too important to our mission and our audience to be eliminated,” said Michelle Carr, the Museum’s Curator of Internal Programs. “North Carolina’s traditional music represents an abundant cultural legacy and an essential link to history. Keepers of these musical traditions cherish the repertoires and styles of playing of their families and communities, and strive to secure the music’s appreciation among new generations of performers and listeners. In times of economic challenge, it is more vital than ever that we continue to preserve the arts. They nourish our souls, connect us to the past, and provide us with the inspiration to move forward.”

In past years, this series has included nine live performances. The 2009-2010 season will include two documentary films about North Carolina music traditions in order to showcase other music tradition preservation projects while saving costs.

The 2009-2010 series will begin on October 11 with a performance featuring North Carolina Heritage Award winners and other North Carolina Piedmont musicians, in conjunction with the release of Anthology of String Band Music from the North Carolina Piedmont. This new CD is a collection of recordings that highlight the distinctive music traditions of the Piedmont region. Anthology includes outstanding performances of fiddlers, banjo players, guitarists, singers and hammered dulcimer players from the rich but often over-looked stringband tradition of North Carolina’s Piedmont region. Most of the selections came from field recordings made by Wayne Martin between 1988 and 2003, with some additions from the collections of other fieldworkers who documented regional musicians during the same period. The CD includes full liner notes, photos and artwork, and it was produced by PineCone in collaboration with the NC Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Other programs in the 2009-2010 Music of the Carolinas series will include:

•   November 8, 2009: Moscow Nights
•   December 13, 2009: Mappamundi
•   January 10, 2010: Songs of the Soul, featuring Teresa Fernandez, Ed Stephenson & The Paco Band
•   February 14, 2010: Documentary Film (TBD)
•   March 14, 2010: Big Medicine
•   April 11, 2010: The Huckleberry Brothers
•   May 9, 2010: Documentary Film (TBD)
•   June 13, 2010: The Gospel Jubilators

These programs are free and open to the public, and Program Notes are provided at each event. For more information, please visit www.pinecone.org.

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PineCone—the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, is a private, nonprofit, charitable membership organization dedicated to preserving, presenting and promoting traditional music, dance and other folk performing arts.