Sierra Nelson
Poet and essayist Sierra Nelson has taught creative writing at University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Marine Labs. has been writing, performing, and creating installations for over 15 years as co-founder of the literary performance groups “The Typing Explosion” and “Vis-à-Vis Society.”
Johnny Nicholas
Faculty
Time is a river and you can never step in the same river twice. It’s all gonna change, but what came before shapes what comes after. There are certain people who seem to be in both places at once. Johnny Nicholas has played music and rambled with some of the most original and artistically powerful individuals of the American 20th century.
Miles Okazaki
Faculty
Miles Okazaki is a NYC-based guitarist originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as “utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting — not just in jazz, but any kind.”
Matthew Olzmann
Morning Workshop Faculty
Matthew Olzmann is the author of Constellation Route as well as two previous collections of poetry: Mezzanines and Contradictions in the Design. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman, MacDowell, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Olzmann’s poems have appeared in the New York Times, Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prizes, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. He is an assistant professor at Dartmouth College and also teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
The Onlies
Artistic Directors: Fiddle Tunes
The Onlies are a young group of old friends who perform together in a stringband. They grew up playing fiddles, guitars, and banjos in their hometowns of Seattle, WA and Lexington, VA. With their latest self-titled recording, the band digs deep into performances of traditional American popular (old time) music. The music moves with a pulsating drive, sharp arrangements, and rich vibration — it resounds with the present.…
Lisa Ornstein
Washington
with Sabin Jacques, button accordion, and Rachel Aucoin, piano
Fiddle virtuoso Lisa Ornstein is an outstanding interpreter of the traditional music of French Canada and Appalachia, blending compelling and inventive playing with impeccable tune choice. Befriended by North Carolina fiddle legend Tommy Jarrell while she was in her teens, Lisa quickly became an accomplished fiddler in the Round Peak style.…
Sarina Partridge
Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader, educator and activist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs — especially songs that grow out of time spent in wild places. Sarina sings with a wide variety of music projects: community song-leading of her own original songs; harmony-rich original music with folk trio Heartwood; performing and teaching vocal harmony folk music music she’s studied with master teachers around the world; and performing and teaching of Eastern European and Yiddish song – her own musical lineage.…
Erick “Spider” Paul
Faculty
With a goal of encouraging and motivating others, Erick “Spider” Paul brings a wide array of knowledge in the arts. He’s worked in the Los Angeles dance Industry for over 12 years and loves bringing his professional and versatile knowledge to each student he encounters.He and his wife Abby’s company Æ Creative produces stage shows, music videos, and routines for both the national and international stages.…
Jerron Paxton
New York
Jerron Paxton is a skilled interpreter of Black traditional music, having spent his life learning the multifaceted musical dialects of blues, old-time, ragtime, and Cajun music and playfully dressing them up in their brightest hues. He is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, banjo, piano, fiddle and other instruments with deep histories and ties to Black American music — each with a master’s touch.…
Dawn Pemberton
Dawn Pemberton has deep musical roots that take her powerful voice from gospel and soul to jazz, funk and world music. She has become a staple of the Vancouver music scene and can often be found tearin’ it up as a vocalist, teacher, facilitator, choir director and “go to girl” for live performances and studio sessions.…