Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering

The Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering brings together autoharp enthusiasts from around the world for five days of workshops, concerts and 'round the clock music-making. Now in it's twenty-third year, the Gathering features concerts and workshops from some of the folk world's best musicians -- and they come because no matter what else they're famous for, they also just happen to play the autoharp!

The 23rd Annual Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering will be held June 26-30, 2013
at Little Buffalo Family Campground Newport, Pennsylvania

Our featured performers for 2013:

Harvey Reid - Tom Schroeder
Tina Louise Barr - Katseye (Kathy Wieland/Kathy Gravlin/Rob Nuhn)
Carey Dubbert - Heidi Cerrigione (2012 MLAG Autoharp Champion)

The amazing Air Autoharp Contest at MLAG 2012 ...

Hot News!!

05/15/2013: As we get closer to the Gathering, it's time to pass along some late-breaking information and make you of aware of upcoming deadlines that matter.

Meals: our deadline for ordering meals is May 25 ... as you may know, Little Buffalo State Park is several miles outside of Newport and quite removed from any five-star restaurants. For that matter, Newport itself doesn't have a five-star restaurant to my knowledge though many people, me included, are partial to the Espresso Yourself Café. Unless you come supplied to feed yourself or are willing to leave the Gathering and all the fun we're having to find a place to eat, you will want to take advantage of our catered meals.  After the deadline, there may still be a few meals available but you will have to negotiate directly with the caterer and nothing can be guaranteed.

T-Shirts. The deadline for ordering T-Shirts is also May 25. The T-Shirts, designed by Ivan Stiles and featuring this year's "pithy" saying "I've suffered for my music, now it's your turn!" are in a shocking but very popular lime green. I know I'm going to use mine for walking along the roadside near my home secure in the knowledge that I can be seen for miles even on a foggy morning.

Pre-Gathering Workshops: There is still time to register for one of the three pre-Gathering workshops in 2013. The pre-MLAG workshops will provide some wonderful options for early arrivals. Heidi Cerrigione (beginners), Tina Louise Barr (Intermediate Chromatic) and Carey Dubbert (Intermediate Diatonic) will each present nine hours of small group instruction on Tuesday and Wednesday. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to study with a world-class player in a "lots of individual attention" environment. Registration forms and sign-up instructions are on the MLAG website. Once again, the Patsy Tressler Memorial Award (provided by Patsy's sister, Ruby Morgan) will cover the cost of the winner's pre-Gathering class. The recipient will be determined by a random drawing at the opening ceremonies on Wednesday evening and will be given to one of the participants in the pre-Gathering classes who is also staying on for the full Gathering.

Silent Auction: The silent auction is already shaping up to be one of our finest ever.  In addition to our normal eclectic and something-for-everyone mix of autoharp-related items, we are reliably informed that that there will be a mint-condition Prizm 'harp donated by Cathy Britell,  a contest-themed quilt (see picture at right) donated by Juli Bachman and Carlene Hack, and a new 21-bar chord bar set from Buck Lumbert.  This is just scratching the surface and you will want to be involved!

Contest: the MLAG  contest is bigger and better than ever.  Luthiers Pete Daigle, Tom Fladmark, and John Hollandsworth have each donated prize 'harps and the competition is anticipated to be fierce!  This is the highlight of the year for many and certainly one of the highlights of the Gathering.

Other News: We also expect to see one of the four playable Concert Grand 'harps known to exist on display thanks to Mike Wolkomir, Pete Daigle and Tom Fladmark.   We also have strong indications that a brand new Ray Choi & Dave Engels design for something similar to an autoharp capo will be unveiled. Will this be a worthwhile competitor to the Jazz 'Harp, the Prizm, the Diachromic, Bill  Bryant's Chromaslide, and Will Smith's "deleter" design?  Ray and Dave think so!  This sounds like one of the "hurry, hurry, hurry" pitches you sometimes hear at the carnival only this figures to actually deliver what it promises.  We're literally holding our breath.  How can you think of missing it?

Luthiers Galore: And for those of you seeking something more traditional in the way of a brand new 'harp, we will have at least seven of the most noteworthy and illustrious autoharp luthiers on site and actively involved in our vendor mall.  Come admire and possibly go home with a new George Orthey, John Hollandsworth, Pete Daigle, Tom Fladmark, Greg Schreiber, Ray Choi, or Warren Fisher 'harp. If you do nothing more than figure out what your dream 'harp actually looks and feels like, it will have been worth the price of admission! In addition to custom, handmade autoharps, a number of the luthiers are also authorized OS dealers, who will tweak up you factory instrument in the bargain.

04/05/2013: The current workshop schedule for 2013 is now available on the workshops page. This is not the finished product but it should give you a good indication of what will be offered. Stay tuned to this station for more udpates as they occur.

03/29/2013: The tentative MLAG Schedule of Events is now available on our schedule page and as a download. When finalized, the downloadable schedule will include performer profiles and workshop descriptions. The final schedule will be coming soon!

03/25/2013: I posted some more links to pictures received from MLAG 2013 cruisers. We've been on the road since the cruise and just got home so I haven't had much chance to process these. Sorry to be so tardy and I'll try and do better next time. Here are the additional links: Dee Archibald, Ann Fisher, Forrest Dunaetz, and Neal & Coleen Walters.

02/15/2013: I've just posted some links to cruise pictures from the 2013 MLAG Autoharp and Dulcimer Cruise. Jean Lumpkin, Carol Stober, Cindy Harris and Sam & Shirley Dunaetz took some nice ones. I have others to "process and will get to those as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy what we do have available. If any more cruisers have pictures, they'd like to share contact me and I'll be happy to get them up on the WEB site or link to them.

12/24/2012: The 2013 Registration Package is now ready for download. If you prefer (and we certainly hope you do because it makes it much easier for us), you can register online using a credit card or by direct transfer from your bank account to PayPal to pay for your registration OR you can register online and then mail a check. A PayPal membership is not required even if you pay via credit card -- you can tell PayPal that you are not a member and no information will be saved after your payment is processed.

07/31/2012: At long last the photos from MLAG 2012 are up on the WEB site ... official photographer Frank Baker did a great job as usual and we also received pictures from Karen McCarty, Phil Clarke, Ellen Frey, John & Heidi Cerrigione, Neal Walters, Mike Herr, Jim Adams, Glenn Scott, and Carole Outwater. Thanks everyone!

7/31/2012: If you are thinking about coming to the 2013 Gathering but a lack of funding is making it tough, consider applying for a Mary Lou Orthey Scholarship. And speaking of Mary Lou, MLAG has re-mastered both of her original cassette recordings into one CD which is available from our 'order stuff' page ... all proceeds from the sales of this CD go directly to support the Scholarship Fund. You may also donate directly to the Fund. Contact Carole Outwater for donation details.

7/31/2012: MLAG will have three pre-Gathering workshops again in 2013 (details not yet available) and, in conjunction with these workshops, we are pleased to announce the continuance of the Patsy Tressler Memorial Award. Provided by Patsy's sister, Ruby Morgan, the award will be given to one of the participants in the Pre-Gathering classes. The recipient will be determined by a random drawing at the opening ceremonies on Wednesday evening and will receive a check to cover the cost of their Pre-Gathering class. Patsy and her sister Ruby have been attendees of the Gathering for many years. In addition to their wonderful sunny personalities, many of you will remember them for their participation in the after concert gospel jam sessions. Their duets were always a highlight of the evening. Patsy played several instruments and, over the years, sang and played  with a group of military wives called Stars and Stripes. She loved to sing. The sisters grew up in the Klingerstown, PA area and Patsy is buried in Leck Kill. Her gravestone bears a picture of her playing her Orthey 'Harp it was definitely her favorite instrument. The Board thanks Ruby for her generous donation to the Pre-Gathering program.

03/14/2012: Cruise Photos from the 2012 MLAG Cruise are now posted on the photos page (you'll have to scroll down to get there) ... We had a wonderful time and I know there's lots more photos out there! If you would like to see this site link to them, let me know and I'll fix it up.

Other Items of Interest:

The Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation. Consider making a tax-deductible donation. Please contact us for details or, to donate on-line via PayPal, click on the donate button below.

                                                              

If you have comments or questions, you can direct them to our registrar.

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This document maintained by Neal Walters.
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