String Traditions 2025 will run the week of July 28 – August 1!
Scroll down to the purple section to register!
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String Traditions is a full-day, one-week strings camp for students ages 9-14 (and CITs ages 15-18). Explore the challenging fun of fiddle and “new string” styles, learn music by ear, improvise and arrange, and find your own unique voice!
Who should participate?
We welcome all string students ages 9-14. Participants should have been playing for one year or more, feel ready to learn a few new tunes in the span of a week, and be excited to try something new. Whether you’ve been fiddling for years or just want to see what it’s all about, there’s something for you!
A CIT program is available for musicians 15-17 who wish to assist with the younger classes. CITs will have the opportunity to perform in an advanced ensemble directed by one of our teachers. (To see if the CIT program is a good fit for you, email Ellery Klein, String Traditions Artistic Director, at fiddle@powersmusic.org.)
What will the week be like?
Our focus at String Traditions is to explore all the fun ways to use our instruments: playing fiddle and popular music, improvising, thinking creatively, feeling rhythm and groove, and working collaboratively.
You’ll meet the repertoire and styles of different fiddle traditions including Irish and Scottish, American, and more. You’ll play creative games and experiment with open-ended, curious ways of playing that seek to “see what happens” musically, rather than trying to reach a preconceived result.
You’ll also have opportunities for some crafting and outdoor games. When the weather cooperates, we’ll spend as much time working under the shade of our local trees and in the fresh open air as we can. At the end of the day, we’ll have fun making some noise as a camp band, arranging some easy tunes with harmonies and rhythm.
Explore traditions and build your skills…
We’ll spend the week steeped in string repertoire from outside the classical world. We’ll work with music from a variety of fiddle traditions – both old and new – and develop skills such as:
- Learning and collaborating by ear
- Playing, arranging, harmonizing (and maybe singing!) in a string band
- Finding and using rhythm and “groove”
- Understanding chord progressions underlying the melody
- Creative thinking, improvising, and composing
- Crafting a sense of individual style and expression
- Building the foundations for a lifetime of music and musical friendships within the vibrant and thriving Boston-area fiddling community… and beyond!
Summer 2025 Program Information:
July 28 – August 1
Monday – Friday, 8:45 am – 4:00 pm
Ellery Klein: Artistic Director, creative ability development instructor, fiddle instructor
and special guest artists, including Valerie Thompson (cello), Emerald Rae (fiddle, dance), and Carol Leonesio, who will be teaching an art class and a science project class.
Sample Schedule
- 8:45-9:00 Arrival / Morning Meeting
- 9:00-9:55 Celtic / Old-time / Bluegrass fiddle repertoire
- 10:00-10:25 Snack Break
- 10:30-11:25 Celtic / Old-time / Bluegrass fiddle repertoire OR workshop
- 11:30-12:15 Creative Ability Development (improv games)
- 12:20-1:15 Lunch and Recess
- 1:20-2:10 Composing and Songwriting
- 2:10-3:05 Art or Outdoor Games
- 3:05-3:10 Afternoon Break
- 3:15-4:00 Celtic / Old-time / Bluegrass fiddle repertoire
After-Care Option (Late Pick-up)
- 4:00-6:00 M-Th, $85
- Single-day drop-in price: $25 (Please call to arrange this)
Faculty Bios
Ellery Klein has been Powers’ fiddle and violin teacher for 9 years. While she primarily performs Irish fiddle, she teaches students a range of styles and encourages them to find their interests. She trained in Alice Kanack’s Creative Ability Development in 2019 and works to foster her students’ ability to be fearless, have fun and think creatively on their instruments.
Emerald Rae is an American Fiddler & Folksinger who blends energetic traditional dance music with modern songwriting. As a powerhouse fiddling-singing one-woman show, she has been delighting festival audiences all over the US and Canada. She is a US National Scottish Fiddle Champion and Scottish F.I.R.E Judge, and one of the few renegades to hop between Scottish, Cape Breton and Irish music and dance fluently. Growing up and starting her career in Boston, she’s been an active member of the Scottish and Cape Breton communities in the Northeast. She also spent over a decade teaching performance-based Irish Dance, and toured with The Cathie Ryan Band, The Outside Track, and Mick Moloney’s Green Fields of America all over the US, Canada, UK and Thailand. In 2022, Emerald was the Artist in Residence for the City of Joliette, Quebec and performed traditional Québécois music and song with Jean-François Branchaud of La Bottine Souriante. Emerald is an enthusiastic educator who enjoys empowering her students and opening their minds to endless possibilities..
Valerie Thompson
Valerie Thompson (Cellist/Composer/Educator) is a Boston-based musician who has performed in the U.S and abroad as a cultural ambassador for American Music Abroad (U.S. State Department), in rock bands, string quartets, and chamber folk ensembles. A cellist versed in multiple genres, Valerie currently tours with the indie-folk-pop band, Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards.
When not on tour, Valerie maintains private cello studios in Cambridge & Brookline, MA. She has been on faculty at the Brookline Music School, the CelloBello Cellokids Online Program, the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School, (Boulder Creek, CA); Miles of Music Camp (Lake Winnipesaukee, NH); CCE Music and Dance Week (Bethesda, MD); CelloChan Woods (Ann Arbor, MI); and Illinois Wesleyan Cello Camp (Bloomington, IL.)
B.M., Performance, Berklee College of Music; M.M., Contemporary Improvisation, New England Conservatory of Music
CIT Program
To ask about the CIT program, please start by emailing Ellery Klein, String Traditions Artistic Director, at fiddle@powersmusic.org. If it’s a good fit, you can go ahead and register for the String Traditions CIT program in the purple section below!
Summer 2025 Financial Aid
Financial aid is available for students who can document financial need. Financial aid applications will be accepted for summer day programs only until all available aid is exhausted.
All new and returning students interested in applying for financial aid for summer day programs should first register for the program using the links in the purple section below, and then fill out the Financial Aid Application Form, following the instructions at the top of the form. If we are able to award any aid, we will notify you and adjust your payment accordingly.
Please reach out to office@powersmusic.org if you have any questions about the financial aid process.
