Logo: Susquehanna Folk Music Society
Presenting fine traditional arts in Central Pennsylvania since 1985

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Thu, September 26 - Skye Consort & Emma Björling

Skye Consort & Emma Björling York
Trans-Atlantic chamber folk music from Scandinavia, the British Isles, Ireland and French Canada — beyond anything you can imagine. These stellar musicians take enchanting stories and melodies, both traditional music and tunes of their own devising, and bring them into the 21st century. Concert on Thursday, September 26 at UUCY. MORE

Sat, September 28 - Field & Folk: Harvest Dinner & Concert

Field & Folk: Harvest Dinner & Concert Field & Folk: Harvest Dinner & Concert New Cumberland
Our third annual Harvest Dinner! Susquehanna Folk teams up with Beshore Hill Farm and the New Cumberland Collective to present an autumn evening with delicious local foods and a concert with Emma Rast & Daniel Ullom feat. Mark Rast. RSVP BY SEPT 21 for this outdoor dinner and concert on Saturday, September 28 at Beshore Hill Farm in New Cumberland. MORE

Wed, October 16 - Tray Wellington Band

Tray Wellington Band Lancaster
Banjo player Tray Wellington’s approach to the quintessential American instrument is all about looking forward. An International Bluegrass Music Association Award winner, Wellington is critically acclaimed not only for his technical prowess, but also for leveraging his unique point of view to craft a one-of-a-kind voice on the instrument. Concert on Wednesday, October 16 at Zoetropolis. MORE

Sat, October 19 - Deeper Than The Skin

Deeper Than The Skin Harrisburg
Two friends: one Black, one White... one from the North, one from the South. Musicians, storytellers, students of history, and world travelers, born three days apart! Two separate narratives, one powerful friendship, and an invitation into a place of common ground. Reggie Harris and Greg Greenway will make you laugh, smile, cry and reconsider what you know about our history. Concert on Saturday, October 19 at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg. MORE

Sat, November 2 - Fall Coffee House

Fall Coffee House Harrisburg
Susquehanna Folk Coffeehouses are intimate evenings showcasing Central Pennsylvania's fine amateur acoustic musicians, who play a wide variety of material for an attentive, music-loving audience. Interested in performing? Apply now! FREE Coffeehouse concert on Saturday, November 2 at Fort Hunter Barn. MORE

Wed, November 13 - Palmyra

Palmyra Palmyra Lancaster
This breakout folk trio explores the fusion of traditional folk string instruments, lush harmony, and earnest songwriting. They’re an unmistakable force in the Americana music landscape. With special guest Vince Yarnell Concert on Wednesday, November 13 at Zoetropolis. MORE

Field & Folk 2024

our third annual Harvest Dinner
Saturday, September 28
at Beshore Hill Farm

A view of the dining table at our 2022 Harvest Dinner

delicious hyper-local foods

The menu, curated by Farm to Belly, features an onsite pig roast (veggie entree too) and an abundance of fresh-from-the-field veggies.

and live music by Emma Rast & Daniel Ullom, joined by Mark Rast

Emma Rast & Daniel Ullom Mark Rast

Emma and Daniel’s music is fun, immediate and heartfelt, capturing the spirit of rowdy late-night jam sessions and song-swaps with friends. Their fiddle, guitar, mandolin and candid vocals will be enlivened at our Harvest Dinner by the banjo playing of Emma’s father Mark.

The Sounds of Home

In this Folk Artist spotlight, we check in on one of our Folk Arts Apprenticeships. This one centers on the music of Nepal and Bhutan, two small countries in the Himalayas.

Tabla drums and a harmonium are being played by two Nepalese men sitting on a sisal rug in Khatmandu. Only the men’s hands are visible.
Playing tablas and harmonium in Khatmandu, Nepal: Wikimedia Commons

Bhagirath Khatiwada, a Nepali speaker, came to the US from Bhutan fifteen years ago. He is committed to preserving and sharing the culture, music and arts of his native land. Inspired by his son’s success with learning the tabla (hand drums), Bhagirath is learning to play the harmonium. He is apprenticed to master musician Muskan Balampaki Magar, who is originally from Nepal.

ALT
Bhagirath Khatiwada (left) and Muskan Balampaki Magar (right)

The worldwide population of Nepali speakers is small and shrinking. Keeping the beautiful Nepali culture alive, vigorous and self-sustaining is hugely important to both Bhagirath and Muskan. Music is a central part of their culture — that is, people engaging actively in making music as a community — and so music is at the center of their efforts. They dream of creating a school, a cultural center, not just for the Nepali-speaking community (some 25,000 near Harrisburg, 50,000 statewide) but with the larger community as well.

The board and staff of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society are committed to celebrating and affirming diverse cultures through programming which explores the music, dance, craft and stories of many people. We stand in complete solidarity with the Black community and all marginalized communities to speak out against injustice, bigotry and racial violence.
A montage of images illustrating Susquehanna Folk's commitment to diversity
A Black man is smiling warmly, resting his hand on the upper curve of a guitar.  He has short graying hair, a wide smile, and a long face. He wears a white shirt and a vest with narrow vertical ribbon-like stripes.
A head-and-shoulders portrait of Sug Daniels.  She is a young black woman with a strong, direct gaze.  She has thick arched eyebrows, a broad nose with a stud on one side, very full lips, and medium-brown skin. She is wearing a black hat with a broad brim, tilted up, so all we see is a wide black disc behind her head. The photo is cropped so the edge of the hat almost doesn’t show. She also has a red bandanna wrapped around her head, with an inch or so showing beneath the hat brim.
Closeup of a Black woman’s hands stitching small hexagons of colored calico into a flower. In her lap is a clear bag holding several finished flowers.
Curtain call at a Black Opry show, with several Black artists (mostly women) celebrating.