Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Celebration

Event Series (See All)

Aug 17, 2023

5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Photo of 2 people standing in a field with a backdrop of mountains behind them — Elizabeth LaPrelle (left) with apprentice Elsa Howell in Rural Retreat, Virginia, March 2023. Photo by Pat Jarrett / Virginia Humanities

Join the Virginia Folklife Program for a reception and film screening as they celebrate four teams from the broader Roanoke area who completed a Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship in 2022-23!

The following artists will be honored during this event: Daniel Smith (Lynchburg) and Richard Maxham (Alexandria), violin makers; Bernadette Lark and Alanjha Harris of Roanoke, who have been practicing Gullah Geechee-style gospel singing; Elizabeth LaPrelle (Smyth County) and Elsa Howell (Roanoke), Appalachian ballad singers; and Betty Vornbrock (Carroll County) and Sharon Andreucci (Galax), who have been playing old time fiddle, especially repertoire played by women fiddlers of the region.

This is a free event, but registration is required.

Event Schedule:

5:30pm: Reception
Enjoy complimentary light refreshments and a display of instruments built and repaired by Daniel Smith and Richard Maxham

6pm: Film Screening
Short documentary videos invite you to step inside the workshops, practice rooms, and studios of Apprenticeship Artists to learn more about these cultural traditions and the communities that sustain them

7pm: Apprenticeship Celebration
Welcome each team onto the stage to celebrate their work together!

*Please note: Due to unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances, this event was rescheduled from May 25 to August 17.

Since its launch in 2002, Virginia Folklife’s Apprenticeship Program has served 142 two-or-more person teams of mentor artists and their apprentices, granting funding to encourage the continuation of living traditions and a public platform to share their work. The program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, with additional support provided by the J & E Berkley Foundation.

Learn more about the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/about.