NewsThank you to the Founding Friends of Folklife
For twenty-nine years, the Virginia Folklife Program at Virginia Humanities has presented, documented, and celebrated new and traditional cultures of Virginia, preserving treasured cultural traditions for future generations and reaching audiences across Virginia. From …
Sights & SoundsMongolian Contortion: The Art of Bending
Many of the traditions on display at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase date back centuries in Virginia, but others are deeply established art forms that are new to this country, …
Sights & SoundsCora Harvey Armstrong and Samantha Willis
Faith is at the heart of Cora Harvey Armstrong’s 50-year career in gospel music. Born and raised in the tiny Newtown community of King and Queen County, Virginia, her family …
Sights & SoundsMandkhai Erdembat and Ella and Emma Chuluunbat
Mongolian contortion has existed since the 12th century as a dance called Uran Nugaralt, which translates to artistic bending. This kind of dance was prominent in the royal palaces of …
Sights & SoundsNam Phuong Nguyen and Anh Dien Ky Nguyen
The đàn bầu is a monochord (one-stringed) instrument with a central role in Vietnamese folk music. Popular legend claims the đàn bầu was first played by a blind woman in a …
Sights & SoundsJeff Bennett and Jeremy Bennett
Ever since the automobile went into mass production by the assembly lines of Detroit, it has been revised, altered, elaborated, and reconstructed in small garages and car shops throughout America. …
Sights & SoundsPhyllis Gaskins and Anna Stockdale
The regular mountain dulcimer is a fretted string instrument from the zither family which first appeared in the 19th century among Scots-Irish communities. Phyllis Gaskins, of Elkton, Virginia, plays a variant called the Galax dulcimer. …
Sights & SoundsSondus Asad Moussa and Sanaa Abdul Jalil
Despite a population of just over 50,000, Harrisonburg is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in Virginia. Today, the Harrisonburg–Rockingham County community includes refugees and immigrants from …
Sights & SoundsBert Carlson and Danny Knicely
While Virginia is seldom thought of a fertile ground for jazz, the state has produced a disproportionate number of artists who have put their indelible stamp on this uniquely American …
Sights & SoundsChris Prillaman and Tanner Talley
Franklin County is famous for its long history of producing and selling moonshine, or homemade liquor. Virginia colonists were distilling corn whiskey—boiling a fermented mash of milled grain and then …
NewsCatch the NPR World Cafe Rebroadcast of Sherman Holmes
Last summer Sherman Holmes was interviewed by Talia Schlanger on WXPN’s World Cafe about his first-ever solo album, The Richmond Sessions. And if you missed the original broadcast you’ll have another chance to hear a one-of-a-kind interview.
NewsVirginia Folklife Program’s Cape Verdean Musical Exchange to showcase at the Drum and Strum in Warrenton, Virginia.
This November, the Virginia Folklife Program will be returning to Cape Verde, a musically and culturally rich island nature off the coast of West Africa, for another musical exchange.
