So Many Tunes So Little Time Lecture

http://www.uis.edu/music/about/old-time-fiddle.html

In anticipation of the lecture/recital described below, an Illinois Stories segment featuring Sharon Graf, Mark Mathewson, and Todd Cranson will air on WSEC/WQEC/WMEC Thursday, January 24 at 7 PM, Sunday, January 27th at 4 PM, and Monday, January 28th at 6:30 PM.

SPRINGFIELD – “So Many Tunes, So Little Time: The ABCs of Old Time Fiddling” will be presented by Sharon Graf as part of the Lincoln Land Community College Recital Series Sunday, Jan. 27. The free musical presentation and discussion will be held at 4:00 p.m. in the Trutter Center on LLCC’s main campus, 5250 Shepherd Road. The public is cordially invited to attend.

Dr. Graf, associate professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, will be accompanied by Mark Mathewson on guitar and mandolin and Todd Cranson on tuba.

“It is a discussion of the vital role fiddle music has played in American life since Colonial times. For example, Lewis and Clark hired not one, but two fiddlers to accompany their westward expedition,” said Dr. Graf. “Those in attendance will enjoy a selection from a vast repertory of traditional dance tunes, learn more about larger issues connected to folk music performance such as race, class, gender, and community aesthetics, and gain a new appreciation of music in their everyday lives.”

Graf was the 2004 Illinois State Old-Time Fiddle Champion, and she regularly participates in the National Old Time Fiddlers’ Contest, about which she has written a book manuscript soon to be published