Staff
Alchemy brings together three dynamic players steeped in traditional English Country Dance and Contra
Dance music. Individually, they have performed across the United States, Canada, and Europe. As a trio, their improvisatory style
brings a contemporary and innovative feel to both traditional and newly composed tunes and songs. From driving Scottish Reels to
French Mazurkas and everything in between, "Alchemy" delights the listener with heartfelt performances with a touch of whimsy. Alchemy released
their debut CD in 2020, "Turning of the Hour", available
for sale.
Rachel Bell started out as a serious classical pianist, took a brief side trip to the bagpipes, and accidentally fell in love with the accordion
when her college flute teacher unexpectedly foisted one on her. Now based in Brattleboro, VT, she hauls her accordion all over North America and even
overseas, sharing her contagious enthusiasm for the instrument and forging authentic connections with audiences everywhere. She draws her inspiration
from Celtic, French, English, Quebecois, and New England traditions and thrives on collaborative work with her bands. This performer, tunesmith, and
teacher is sought after for concerts, contra dances, French bal folk dances, English country dances, workshops, and festivals.
Equally at home on fiddle and viola, Eric Martin is a dance musician who brings joy and soulful expression to many folk dance idioms.
Through the freedom and improvisation inherent in traditional music, Eric enjoys the opportunity to break away from his Classical background
while playing for English country dances, contra dances, festivals, balls, camps, and concerts throughout the United States and Canada with
Alchemy, Axelrod-Martin duo, and Coincidance. Eric holds performance degrees from Ithaca College and the University of Limerick, Ireland and
lives and works at Gould Farm, a therapeutic farming community, in the Berkshires.
Karen Axelrod left the world of classical music over 30 years ago, and has found her home in the folk world.
She is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the U.S. (including Pinewoods
Dance Camps, Ogontz, Buffalo Gap, Berea Christmas Country Dance Week, The John C. Campbell Folk School, and BACDS events) and abroad.
Her improvisational playing is lyrical, yet is touched with humor and whimsy. Karen is a member of the bands Foxfire, Alchemy, Peregrine Road,
Axelrod-Martin duo, and 3rd String Trio. She also plays accordion for the renowned longsword team, Orion.
The Whoots play a blend of English Country, Irish, Scottish, French Canadian, Old Time music, and contra dance tunes.
Multi-instrumentalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring early and other intriguing styles of music. A member
for many years of countless early music ensembles, she also is the founder of Class V Music, a group dedicated to providing music on river
rafting trips. Shira performs now with several groups, among them English Country/Contra dance bands including Roguery and The Whoots, and
collaborates with performers such as storyteller/harpist Patrick Ball, poets Jane Hirshfield and Kay Ryan, clown Jeff Raz, and in many
theatrical and dance productions, including the California Revels and the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals.
The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo.
Jim Oakden went to college on a music scholarship, but ended up in grad school as a marine biologist. However, he continued to
avidly pursue music, first via Early Music, and then as a dance musician. He continues to perform with many bands in a host of genres
on an absurd array of instruments. He is very dedicated to passing on his knowledge at symposia, workshops, and dance and music camps
from the East Coast (Pinewoods, etc) to Fairbanks, Alaska, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain—and many places in between. He runs community
bands, camp bands, does individual and small group instruction, and has been an instructor at Lark Camp for many years. He appears on 20
or so CDs. Plus, he loves to dance, in many different styles.
Jonathan Jensen is an inspired pianist in a wealth of musical styles from contra to English Country to ragtime and jazz. A composer of
brilliant English country dance tunes and waltzes, Jonathan performs at dance events and camps around the country and is a bassist with the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which has performed many of his orchestral arrangements. In recent years he has become increasingly active as a
songwriter and lyricist.
Susan Kevra is noted for her warmth, clear teaching, and lovely voice. Dancers on both sides of the
Atlantic appreciate her diverse repertoire of singing squares, Western patter calls, contras and English Country dances, all delivered in dulcet tones
and without pretension. She has choreographed a number of well-loved contra, square and
English Country dances.
Susan has taught English Country dancing since the mid 1990s when she was living in New England. Her experience as an English country dance
clarinetist gives her a keen appreciation of the link between the music and the dance figures, something she brings to her teaching. It is also
key to her ability to create pleasing dance programs, arranged not just for the dance figures but the musical moods evoked by the tunes. Inspired
by tunes by her band mate, Rachel Bell, she has choreographed a dozen English dances and counting, including “Trip to Provence”
and “Moonflower” which are making their way onto dance floors and ball programs in the US and England.
photo by Rachel Winslow
Melissa Running discovered she could take folk dance for PE credit in college in the early ’90s, and hasn’t
looked back since. A few years later she started playing for dances and then calling English in the Philadelphia area. She now lives in
the suburbs of Washington, D.C., calls nationally, plays piano for English and Scottish country dancing, and plays the nyckelharpa for pleasure and for
Swedish dancing (and a little Norwegian, and sometimes English). In the last several years she's taken to writing tunes and often composing
dances to go with them. In addition to her music and dance activities, she works at linguistic precision as a technical writer and editor, and knits
with the zeal of the newly converted.
Highly regarded by dancers, musicians, and callers for his high-quality sound work, John Oorthuys has
handled the board for many dances, balls, camps, and special events for PCDC and surrounding Pacific Northwest communities.
He has been the camp sound engineer for years and years, and his wizardry makes the sound fantastic.
