News and Events
Dec 7, 2011
Colombia Folklife Festival Program Travels Home
On Dec 7, 2011, Folklife Center staff Olivia Cadaval and Cristina Díaz-Carrera travelled to Bogotá, Colombia, to attend the first three days of the restaging of the Colombia: The Nature of Culture program. This reiteration of last summer's Smithsonian Folklife Festival program was presented at Bogotá’s annual Expo Artesanías. It featured 80 of the 100 original participants, the guadua tents (or hojamantas), and the graphic panels and signage. Program coordinator Diaz-Carrera reports, “It was a wonderful experience to observe the ongoing impact of the Festival and to continue strengthening our relationships with our partners.”
July 12, 2011
2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Wrap Up
For ten days, more than 280 artists performed, provided demonstrations, and shared their experiences and knowledge with an estimated 1,083,000 visitors. This was the largest Festival attendance since the 2002 Silk Road program. Check out the Festival Web site and blog for information about the programs and participants. We are continuing to post more photo galleries, video, audio streams, and additional material from the 2011 Festival.
July 7, 2011
The 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival features Colombia, the fiftieth anniversary of the Peace Corps, and Rhythm and Blues music
After an exciting first week of performances and demonstrations, we jump into week two. Check out the Festival Web site and blog for photographs, videos, schedules, map, and information about the participants and programs.
December 25, 2010
Long-time Center friend and colleague Kate Rinzler passed away December 25, 2010 in Prescott, Arizona after a long battle with cancer. Kate was a specialist in children’s folklore and for years was the curator of the Children’s Area at the yearly Smithsonian Folklife Festival. She took her knowledge of children’s folklore and used it in classrooms in Washington and North Carolina. Kate also documented children’s games in African, African-American, Anglo-American and Chinese culture. These films became part of series of booklets and videotapes available from the Smithsonian in the 1970s.
Among Kate’s other interests were batik, modern dance, choreography, puppets, and Indian folk culture. Her late husband Ralph Rinzler was the co-founder of the Festival of American Folklife and the director of the Office of Folklife Programs (the predecessor to the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage) for many years. Kate was a partner and collaborator on many of Ralph’s projects during his career. Much of what the Center does today is based on concepts created by Ralph and Kate in years past. We will miss her.
More on Kate’s life can be found at katerinzler.com.
April 20, 2009
The Center for Folklife is saddened to report the death of Irwin Silber on September 8th 2010. Silber was co-founder of Paredon Records with Barbara Dane, longtime collaborator with Folkways founder Moses Asch and constant friend to the Smithsonian.
August 8, 2009
The Center for Folklife remembers traditional music preserver, performer, and teacher Mike Seeger (1933-2009)
"Old-time rural music remains at the center of my life. It's a tactile, emotional, aural pleasure — the words are my Shakespeare and my mysteries, the music is my Bach, my pastime, and it makes me want to dance...Classic, timeless qualities in this music endure. For me, there ain't no way out but nature, and I'll make the most of it."
-Mike Seeger (from the liner notes to the 1997 album There Ain't No Way Out by The New Lost City Ramblers)
Mike Seeger, who devoted his life to documenting, teaching, keeping alive, and carrying forth the sounds of traditional music of the American South, died from cancer Friday night at the age of 75. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist and singer, Seeger's 50-plus-year career included recordings as a solo performer, as a founding member of the influential group The New Lost City Ramblers, and as a documenter of many of the finest 20th-century performers of the genre including Dock Boggs, Elizabeth Cotten, and Kilby Snow.
Seeger's career highlights include producing the first long-playing bluegrass album, American Banjo: Three-Finger and Scruggs Style, earning six GRAMMY nominations (including nominations for Smithsonian Folkways albums Southern Banjo Sounds and 1997's There Ain't No Way Out with The New Lost City Ramblers), and earning the 2009 Bess Lomax Hawes Award from the National Endowment for the Arts among many other awards and grants. In all, Mike Seeger contributed to 75 Smithsonian Folkways albums, most recently a box set available August 25th, 2009 celebrating the 50th anniversary of The New Lost City Ramblers, and numerous Smithsonian Folklife Festivals as a researcher, presenter, and performer, including the first-ever festival in 1967. Mike Seeger will be remembered as tireless preserver, performer, and teacher of traditional music.
Please click here for a profile of Mike Seeger, including video and audio samples.
July 27th, 2009
Nine Smithsonian Folkways songs named to 100 Most Essential Folk Songs list
Nine tracks from the Smithsonian Folkways collection were recently featured on Folk Alley's "100 Most Essential Folk Songs" list, including songs from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Elizabeth Cotten. Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" was awarded the list's top spot. The list also includes twenty three songs from Smithsonian Folkways collection that are performed by other artists, such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" by Pete Seeger (as performed by the Kingston Trio) and "Goodnight Irene" by Lead Belly (as performed by the Weavers).
Smithsonian Folkways Songs on Folk Alley's list of 100 Most Essential Folk Songs:
01."This Land Is Your Land" - Woody Guthrie
04. "If I Had a Hammer" - Pete Seeger
08. "We Shall Overcome" - Pete Seeger
30. "Pastures of Plenty" - Woody Guthrie
36. "Freight Train" - Elizabeth Cotten
41. "Changes" - Phil Ochs
45. "Little Boxes" - Malvina Reynolds
64. "Deportee" - Woody Guthrie
68. "The Crucifixion" - Phil Ochs
93. "Hobo's Lullaby" - Woody Guthrie
July 17th, 2009
Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On Episode #7 Now Available on Podcast
Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds to Grow On, the 26-part radio series hosted by Michael Asch, son of Folkways founder Moses Asch, features the original recordings of Folkways Records' vast catalogue. Episode #7 features the Songs of Animals - click here to download or subscribe to the podcast.
April 21, 2009
Smithsonian Folklife Festival needs volunteers
The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage needs capable and enthusiastic volunteers before, during, and after its annual Folklife Festival, which will be held on the National Mall Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, June 28 and Wednesday, July 1 through Sunday, July 5.
Volunteers for "Giving Voice" will assist program participants with the presentation of African American oral traditions as the Smithsonian prepares for the 2015 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Volunteers supporting the "Las Américas" program will help artists from the United States and Latin America feature a myriad of musical styles from throughout the Americas. Volunteers for the "Wales Smithsonian Cymru" program will help the Festival's Welsh participants share their rich culture and heritage, presenting connections between traditional culture, new technologies, and national efforts for sustainability.
Volunteers also are needed to support a wide variety of other areas, including the Marketplace (the Festival's retail venue), information kiosks, and with the Festival recycling program.
Certified American Sign Language interpreters and volunteers who speak Spanish or Welsh are especially needed.
More information on all the volunteer opportunities and an application are available
here or by contacting volunteer coordinator Laura Jenkins at
jenkinsl@si.edu or (202) 633-6484.
April 20, 2009
Pete Seeger: American Favorite Ballads Vol. 1-5 Box Set
will be released April 21st
Check back soon for a special announcement including free downloads, but in the meantime, please enjoy this previously unreleased video of interviews and music performance. Click here to learn more.
April 17, 2009
The Working White House:
200 Years of Tradition and Memories online
The White House Historical Society has launched an online version of the traveling exhibition here. Co-curated by the Center's Jim Deutsch, the White House Workers exhibition explores the dedication, skills, and sacrifices of residence staff whose extraordinary service has helped the White House fulfill its multiple roles as a family residence, seat of government, ceremonial center, historic building, and museum.
Smithsonian Folkways has also released a companion DVD with:
- An introduction by former President Jimmy Carter recalling the White House workers he knew.
- Workers at the White House, a 32-minute documentary film featuring a broad range of workers who have served presidents from Herbert Hoover to George H.W. Bush. Until now this film was only available in VHS format.
- The Working White House: 200 Years of Traditions and Memories, a 12-minute introduction to the traveling exhibition.
- Two hours of interviews conducted in 2007 with recently retired White House workers, recounting memories, describing traditions, and expressing sense of community among staff and pride in their service to First Families and the nation.
Click here for more information about the DVD.
March 24, 2009
Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways is now available on CD and DRM-free Digital Download
War, social injustice, personal plaints, and calls for action have long fueled musical creation and performance. In Classic Protest Songs, Mark Gustafson and Jeff Place tap the historic Smithsonian audio collections to compile 22 songs favored by leaders of antiwar, civil rights, industrial labor, farm worker, and other struggles to air their grievances. Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Janis Ian, Big Bill Broonzy, Pete Seeger, Barbara Dane, Guy Carawan, Phil Ochs, and other marquee artists let their voices ring out with calls for peace and justice.
March 5, 2009
John Cephas, 1930-2009
Piedmont blues guitarist and vocalist John Cephas passed away March 4th at his home in Woodford, Virginia. Cephas, a 1989 National Heritage Fellowship Award recipient, recorded the album Richmond Blues in 2008 with his longtime musical partner Phil Wiggins as part of the African American Legacy Recording Series.
Cephas & Wiggins teamed up in 1977 after meeting at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and were named W.C Handy Blues Entertainers of the Year in 1987. Cephas, who once said "blues music is truth", served on the Executive Committee of the National Council for the Traditional Arts and was a founder of the Washington D.C. Blues Society. Click here to watch a video of Cephas & Wiggins discussing the Piedmont Blues style and click here to watch them perform in the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife festival Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert.