The Northeast Ohio Musical Heritage Association
WE’RE BACK!
April 30, 2022
The Sixth Annual Lake Erie Folk Fest
During the pandemic . . .
2020 and 2021 were hard! No festivals, no jams, no dances – and we really missed all that. But look at the great things that did happen here at NEOMHA!
Old Music for a New World
On the gorgeous lawn of First Baptist Church in Cleveland Heights, we put on a five-concert outdoor series from May 2021 to September 2021. The concerts were bring-your-own-picnic, socially distanced events and boy, was there some wonderful music in the evening air.
Music From the House on the Hill
In June 2020, we produced our first-ever livestream concert, to rave reviews. Thanks for tuning in, plus helping us employ local musicians. It was great to “see” everyone online – and we also developed new capacity and technology to reach new audiences, which will help us continue to spread the love for folk music through our mission. If you missed it, or just want to relive the moment, you can catch it all here.
Folk Community Summit
We hosted 49 enthusiastic and engaged people from every facet of our folk music community – musicians, dancers, venue owners, producers and fans – in an online folk summit that let us come together to dream, discuss and make some big plans. And we’re already acting on some of those plans, specifically ideas to help bring more youth into our community, diversify both our audiences and the music we present, and support education initiatives. Got more great ideas you want to share, while we’re in this process of dreaming and innovating? We want to hear from you! Send us an email.
Carry On
In August we launched this fantastic YouTube program, which brought live, FREE programs to students in grades 6-12 every week. Hosted by YouTube sensation Hal Walker, the series presented a new musical talent each episode. Best of all, the series is still available online, along with a free study guide for each episode.
We featured musicians from all around the world – and from right here in Northeast Ohio, with at least 25% of the musicians presented being local, and the entire series offering an exciting range of diversity. We’ve gotten great feedback from students. We paid lots of artists. And we went the extra mile to support our teachers, offering them free educational resources to pair with each episode. You can check it out here.
Nellie McKay Concert
We managed to have one COVID-friendly live event in 2020, when we presented our first socially distanced live concert with nationally acclaimed artist Nellie McKay. What a beautiful day for an outdoor performance, and what a wonderful audience. We also showcased a local opening act and got to introduce a nice group of newcomers to NEOMHA, in line with our mission of supporting musicians and building our folk music community.
COVID meant a big pause in so many things we love, like our festivals and concerts. But it also gave us opportunities to find new ways to support our folk music community. We’re so glad to be doing this work together! If you want to help us keep the music playing, we would welcome your gift to NEOMHA.
We know we can’t do any of this without you. Your support, your time, your energy and ideas – they have all helped to make this hard year possible, and even inspiring. We didn’t just get through this – we got better, paving the way for new and good things to come.
As our live music and concert events return – fingers crossed – we still need you. Your gift, in any amount that’s meaningful to you, would mean so much to our mission and our work this year. We have a lot to be proud of, and a lot to look forward to. Thank you for your generous support.
Your friends at NEOMHA
PS: If you prefer to send a check, it can be made payable to NEOMHA and mailed to 10848 Chillicothe Rd, Kirtland, OH 44094.
Carry On Traditional Music Program
Traditional music and the people who make it
Tune in from your classroom or home and discover a world of traditional music!
Carry On is a weekly, 30-minute YouTube Live program for 6th-12th grade students hosted by musical explorer and TikTok sensation Hal Walker. Each episode, Hal interviewed a musician who plays traditional music. Weekly programs were live on YouTube allowing students to interact with comments and questions. After the live broadcast, the programs were archived for later viewing and discussion. Study guides are provided with each program! Info
Adults welcome, too. Carry On episodes are educational and entertaining for all ages!
Carry On launched its first program in September 2020 and ran throughout the school year.
