Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Sponsored by
Michael & Catty Andry
Kirk & Lucy Borland
John & Marsha Ellis
Hedy Fischer & Randy Shull
Jan & John Getz
Richard & Francee Healy
Bill & Marilyn Hubbard
Media Sponsors
James King & Jayne Cleveland Jerry McAninch Henry LaBrun
Carol & Michael Rosenblum
Jill & Joe Lawrence Amy Loether
Nancy Houha Jessica Pierce
Dianne & David Worley Diana Wortham
2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Welcome to A Swannanoa Solstice. On winter’s darkest day, we are pleased to celebrate the return of light in Western North Carolina in this festive annual tradition filled with music, dance, storytelling and seasonal spirit. Thank you for supporting A Swannanoa Solstice with your presence as, together, we lift our community up with joy and hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Founded in 2003 by former Warren Wilson College President Doug Orr, A Swannanoa Solstice grew from the roots of its predecessor, The Swannanoa Gathering, a weekslong summer music intensive established by Orr in 1992. Drawing upon the programming and instructors of the Gathering, Orr envisioned Solstice as a local version of the English “Christmas Revels,” which celebrate the holiday season through traditional song, dance and theatre. Rather than using English traditions, however, A Swannanoa Solstice set out to showcase the rich culture and history of Western North Carolina — originally focusing on the Appalachian and Celtic roots of the area, but later expanding to better reflect our diverse and growing community.
A Swannanoa Solstice debuted on December 14, 2003, and was so well attended in subsequent years that a matinee performance was added in 2007. In addition to Orr, who served as the event’s original emcee, several founding cast members performed with A Swannanoa Solstice for nearly 20 years, including Grammywinning guitarist Al Petteway (who passed away in 2023), his wife and musical partner Amy White, and multi-instrumentalist Robin Bullock. Other local artists throughout the years have included David Holt, Sheila Kay Adams, Phil Jamison, Ellie Grace, and Cape Breton stepdancers the Twisty Cuffs. The show’s namesake town was particularly hard-hit during Hurricane Helene’s devastation on the area, giving this year’s performance more poignancy than ever.
In 2024, we welcome back husband-and-wife duo Zoe & Cloyd, fiddler Josh Goforth, Highland bagpiper EJ Jones and The Piper Jones Band, the A.C. Reynolds Chorale, Latinx folk artist M A R, and storyteller Becky Stone, who doubles as the emcee. New to the celebration this year is acclaimed folk duo Newberry & Verch.
Josh Goforth must have been born musical—he was already playing piano in church at the age of four—but it was an experience he had in the sixth grade that really lit the fuse of his precocious musical career. A performance at Goforth’s middle school by Sheila Kay Adams caused him to start thinking about the musical heritage and stories of his native Madison County, NC. Josh was able to listen to and learn from local masters like Gordon and Arvil Freeman and Jerry Adams. Goforth is a highly accomplished storyteller and acoustic musician, playing close to 20 different instruments.
After high school he went to East Tennessee State University to study music education with a Euphonium concentration, and to be a part of ETSU’s famous Bluegrass and Country Music Program. In 2000, he played fiddle for the movie, Songcatcher, both onscreen and on the soundtrack. He has toured extensively with a variety of ensembles, including the ETSU Bluegrass Band, David Holt, Laura Boosinger, and with several bluegrass bands like Appalachian Trail, the Josh Goforth Trio, the Steep Canyon Rangers and Open Road. He has performed in all 50 U.S. states, all over Europe, Asia, and Australia. In 2000, 2003, and 2005, he was named Fiddler of the Festival at Fiddler’s Grove and, after winning the third title, was designated “Master Fiddler” and retired from that competition. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the Lincoln Center, as well as Carnegie Hall. In 2009 he was nominated for a Grammy for his album with David Holt entitled Cutting Loose. He is currently on faculty at the Academy for the Arts in Asheville, and performs all over the world. joshgoforth.com
EJ Jones is a classically trained piper on the Great Highland Bagpipes, and has spent his life studying the pipe music of Scotland. He is ranked “Professional” by the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association (EUSPBA) and is a member of the Grandfather Mountain Highlanders Pipe Band based in Asheville. Jones is also the Music Director at the annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville, NC each July.
Frances Cunningham is an Irish Bouzouki and Tenor Banjo player based in Nashville, TN. She has won the Midwest Fleadh Cheoil on both the bouzouki and banjo and spent 5 years playing weekly on the Grand Ole Opry in the Mike Snider String Band. In addition to touring with EJ she teaches workshops on accompaniment in her unique chord style.
The Piper Jones Band celebrates Celtic dance music with piper EJ Jones, bouzouki player Frances Cunningham, and a roster of percussionists. The band’s discography is played regularly on WNCW’s Celtic Winds each Sunday and has been played on NPR’s Thistle and Shamrock as well as the BBC’s Pipeline programs. piperjonesband.com
Originally from Peru, Asheville, NC based, M A R is a Latinx singer, songwriter, and producer who fuses folk elements through bilingual lyrics and Latin grooves over indie-flavored acoustic guitars. M A R’s music career took off in Miami, FL with the debut release of the EP En Silencio which won him Song of the Year (2007) with his single Busca Tu Voz. Winner of the Peruvian Pride Award (2009), M A R honors his roots with love and loyalty to the place where he grew up and began playing and singing at a very young age.
With his second album Lineas 1000 and later on third release The One (2015) M A R toured different cities in North, Central, and South America. He has shared his music on national radio, and television networks such as Azteca TV, Telemundo, Mega TV, in the US and in Latin America. In 2019, M A R landed a collaboration with renowned LA music producer Billy Lefler (Ingrid Michaelson, Dashboard Confessional) for the making of his EP I AM I, which sold out the Tina McGuire Theater in Asheville for its release in February 2020. After the pandemic, in June 2022, M A R released a latin-urban song in a “call back to life” called Vuelve a La Vida. And later in August the indie-electronic single Hollow that became really popular in the streaming platforms in Finland and other European countries, as well as South America.
Recipient of the 2022 LGTBQ+ Emerging Artist Award, and founder of Óyelo Music Productions, M A R truly enjoys collaborating with like-minded creatives, which propelled the idea for this collective. That same year, M A R debuted an original and autobiographical piece in the iconic A Swannanoa Solstice at the Wortham Center in Asheville, in junction with American-Peruvian multidisciplinary artist Gina Cornejo (she/they). You can catch him solo at a show, or with his band M A R & The Marmeladies, or his recently formed Cumbia band Las Montañitas. Currently, M A R is producing a new single with The Marmeladies that will be out early 2025.
Visit www.marmusicofficial.com or IG @marmusicofficial to learn more about M A R’s music.
Growing up, Joe Newberry and April Verch absorbed traditions of home and hearth - in his Missouri Ozarks and her Ottawa Valley of Canada. Although they are on the road much of the year, the two musicians are fond of saying that they are rarely homesick, because their music means they always have a bit of home with them wherever they go.
Joe Newberry comes from a family of singers and dancers. He took up the guitar and banjo as a boy and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers. April Verch grew up listening to her Dad’s country band play for dances in the Ottawa Valley. She started step dancing at age three and fiddling at age six. In a Newberry & Verch show, delighted audiences see first-hand the roots of their music, their love of performing, and their strong musical connection. Original songs join timeless classics. Stories warm the heart, and give audiences a chance to understand where the music comes from. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun.
Known around the world for his clawhammer banjo playing, Newberry is also a powerful guitarist, singer and songwriter. The Gibson Brothers’ version of his song “Singing As We Rise,” featuring guest vocalist Ricky Skaggs, won the 2012 IBMA “Gospel Recorded Performance” Award. With Eric Gibson, he shared the 2013 IBMA “Song of the Year” Award for “They Called It Music.” A longtime guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions 2016 tour of the U.K., and at the Transatlantic Session’s debut at Merlefest in 2017. In addition to his work with April Verch, he plays in a duo with mandolin icon Mike Compton. He also plays and teaches at festivals and workshops in North America and abroad.
Before launching her professional career, Verch was the first woman to win both the Canadian Grand Masters and Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. In 2000, she formed “The April Verch Band,” and together they have toured the world, performing in 18 different countries. She has released 14 solo recordings to date, receiving JUNO, Canadian Folk Music and Independent Music nominations and awards for several of those releases. She has also released an instructional stepdance DVD, a book of original fiddle tunes, and a Canadian Fiddle tune teaching method for Mel Bay. Verch was one of 6 fiddlers who represented the Canadian fiddle tradition to the world at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, as part of a segment called “Fiddle Nation” featured in the Opening Ceremonies.
Ever since Newberry & Verch met, and discovered a musical spark that few can match, they have toured across North America, Europe, and the U.K., including Nova Scotia’s signature festival Celtic Colours International Festival, the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York state, and Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Scotland. Their 2018 CD, “Going Home,” was released to wide acclaim. In 2021 they released “On This Christmas Day,” an album to accompany their annual Holiday Cheer Tour. Whether it is the power of two voices lifted in harmony, or the sound of traditional tunes calling people to get up and move, these two masters of tradition put on an unforgettable show. And, when their feet kick up the dust in perfect rhythm and those two voices become one, Joe Newberry and April Verch make folks remember why this music existed in the first place. aprilverch.com; joenewberry.biz
Becky Stone and her husband moved to Fairview, NC over 40 years ago to start their family. A librarian at Pack Library heard Becky reading to her children and asked if she would volunteer at story hour. She said “yes” — and a storyteller was born! Becky has been telling stories for over 30 years. She loves having young adults recognize her as the storyteller they heard as a kid.
Becky has acted, danced, and sung her way through productions with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theater, Asheville Community Theater and many others. She also performs in Chautauqua festivals, for which she has researched and portrayed Pauli Murray, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, and “Stagecoach Mary” Fields.
Becky loves telling stories, but she treasures every opportunity to explore the performing arts. She learns something every time she steps in front of an audience – about the audience, about the art, and about herself.
The innovative “klezgrass” music of Zoe & Cloyd springs from the rich traditions and complementary styles of fiddler/vocalist Natalya Zoe Weinstein and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist John Cloyd Miller. Based in Asheville, NC, Zoe & Cloyd delight audiences with soaring harmonies and heartfelt songwriting, seamlessly combining original bluegrass, klezmer, old-time and folk with sincerity and zeal. Descending from a lineage of klezmer and jazz musicians, Natalya trained classically in her home state of Massachusetts before moving south in 2004. John, a twelfth generation North Carolinian and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler, Jim Shumate, is a 1st place winner of the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and the Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest. In 2023, Zoe & Cloyd released their fifth studio album on Organic Records, entitled Songs of Our Grandfathers The project is an homage to their respective musical roots and has been enthusiastically received with feature articles in Bluegrass Unlimited, No Depression and the Bluegrass Situation. In 2024, Zoe & Cloyd performed at numerous events including the Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival in Ireland and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in upstate NY. They are honored to be the artistic directors for A Swannanoa Solstice. zoeandcloyd.com; natalyaweinstein.com
Arts and culture are what make Western North Carolina a desirable place to live, work, and play. These jobs and businesses are vital to economic recovery, resident retention, and the return of tourism.
Hurricane Helene has changed Western North Carolina’s creative community forever, but it remains to be seen whether this will be a story of triumph or missed opportunities. If we don’t act now, we are in danger of losing this substantial economic driver, and an important part of our cultural heritage.
Keep Western North Carolina creative by joining ArtsAVL in ensuring that this important part of the local ecosystem is at the forefront of recovery efforts.
The A.C. Reynolds High School choral program is under the direction of Phillip Haynie, who has been the choral director at ACRHS since 2012. The chorale is a year-round honors class whose members are chosen by audition only. The class focuses on music literacy and music literature at the proficient and advanced levels as identified by the state. This group performs publicly throughout the year, and auditions and participates in All County Chorus, Honors Chorus, and various choral festivals, as well as Large Ensemble Music Performance Adjudication on the state level each spring. acrhs.buncombeschools.org/o/acrhs/page/chorus
A.C. Reynolds High School Chorale 2024-2025
Soprano 1
Genisis Araujo-Quevedo
Victoria Byt-Gysaim
Holly Denny
Kylyna Popova
Mackenzie Wise
Alto 1
Sikoya Barnard
Seija Ellum
Chloe Gerenraich
Zoe Love
Giselle Martinez-Hernandez
Nevaeh Mosley
Tenor 1
Alijah Banks
Jackson Wright
Tenor 2
Michael Dorsey
Jordan Singh
Will Wolfe
Soprano 2
Isora Brennan
Sesa Jumat
Ruby Leis
Josephine Reeves
Dagny Rockoff
Ayla Short
Alto 2
Nicky Bamberger
Izzy Ogle
Avery Ward
Monique Tyson
Kate Wolfe
Natalia Birchfield
Bass 1
William Ayala
Ariel Graham
Jay Bailey
Jonathon Tumash
Bass 2
Melchisedek Kolomiyets
Kamryn Moree
John Newman
Anigiduwagi Land Acknowledgement
The Wortham Center acknowledges that we are on the ancestral land of the Anigiduwagi, more commonly known as the Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩᎠᏰᎵ).
Wednesday & Thursday February 12 & 13, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 15, 2025 at 8 p.m.
Friday, March 28, 2025 at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Friday, April 25, 2025 at 8 p.m.