Live! Folklife Concert: Windborne

Windborne’s captivating show draws on the singers’ deep roots in traditions of vocal harmony, while the uniqueness of their artistic approach brings old songs into the present. Known for the innovation of their arrangements, their harmonies are bold and anything but predictable. BBC Traveling Folk describes Windborne as “subverting expectations and redefining the genre… just absolutely phenomenal!”

With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share a vibrant onstage energy and a blending of voices that comes from decades of friendship and dedicated practice.

The ensemble shifts effortlessly between drastically different styles, drawing audiences on a journey that spans continents and centuries. The singers educate as they entertain, sharing stories about their songs and explaining the context and characteristics of the styles in which they sing.

They are adherents to folk music’s longtime alliance with social activism, labor and civil rights, and movements that champion the oppressed, the poor, and the disenfranchised. Their latest project, Of Hard Times & Harmony, explores themes of social consciousness, singing in four languages and showcasing both deep emotion and moments of true hilarity and wit.

The group is committed to bringing vocal traditions to a younger audience and has found surprising viral success on TikTok for such genres as Corsican polyphony and early 20th century labor anthems.

http://www.windbornesingers.com

A second free performance will take place on Friday, May 8, 7 pm at our partner site, the Historic Salem Courthouse in Salem, Washington County, NY.

Concerts are filmed at Crandall Public Library with excerpts edited and posted on the Folklife Center’s YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/thefolklifecenteratcrandallpubliclibrary

Live! Folklife Concerts are hosted and produced by the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library and made possible with funding to the Folklife Center from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor's office and the New York State Legislature.