Last year, under the auspices of the St. John's Folk Arts Council, I undertook to organize an event called "Young Folk at the Hall." It was modeled after a concert I had staged in 1991; at that time, the St. John's Folk Arts Council hosted an event for young folk performers at the LSPU Hall. It was a great success, so I decided to revisit the idea in 2002. This time, however, Jean Hewson and I extended the concept; we conducted two workshops for interested youth prior to staging the concert. As those who attended the workshops and the concert will attest, the project was a resounding success.

This February past we put out the call again to interested young folk to attend workshops and take part in the concert. Many of the young people who attended last year returned with great enthusiasm. We also had some newcomers attend, so the number of participants increased from twenty-one to thirty-one. This included six young people who learned and performed a six-handed square set.

For those not familiar with the workshops, participants are divided into groups of four or five to form "folk bands." The idea is to bring together a variety of instruments and vocalists to create a cohesive unit. Care is also taken to allow individuals of various levels of ability to interact with each other. Each group is asked to decide on three to four pieces, songs and/or instrumentals, which they work on over the period of the two workshops. They also decide on a name for the "band." During the workshops, seasoned folk musicians from the community generously give of their time to assist the young players working through the material. Each ensemble then performs this new repertoire in a concert held at the LSPU Hall. This year we had stellar performances from THE BLACKNOTES, FINE-TUNED, IVORY PLAYERS, THE KITCHEN DANCERS, OLD KING COLE AND THE FIDDLERS THREE, and THE OUT OF TOWNERS.

Once again I'd like to extend my heartiest thanks and congratulations to all those involved--the participants, facilitators, volunteers and parents. And a special thank you to VOCM for helping us spread the word about a great afternoon of celebrating live folk music. I hope we'll all meet again early next year for the third annual "Young Folk at the Hall"!

- Fergus O'Byrne

Being a part of the Young Folk at the Hall workshops has been an interesting and entertaining experience. I have both played and enjoyed traditional music for a long time. It was difficult, however, to find other musicians my age who were interested in this style of music. When I first heard about the workshops, I thought they were a great idea. I knew there had to be other younger folk musicians and maybe this would help us to find each other.

The workshops did exactly that. They gave us the opportunity to form bands, create our own arrangements, and perform. It was great to see how much could be accomplished over the course of two weekends. It seems that this is going to be an annual event, which I think is very positive. With the current influence of mainstream media, the more opportunities we have to practice our traditions the better.

- Fergus Brown-O'Byrne