Ashokan Music and Dance Camps Start June 23

Center opens its doors to summer guests

When asked about the 34 years of hosting the Ashokan Music and Dance Camps, Jay Ungar (of the folk duo Jay Ungar and Molly Mason) said, “When the camps started in 1980, we never dreamed they would still be going strong 34 years later.” This year, the new $7.5 million Ashokan Center campus in Olivebridge, N.Y., opens its doors to the Music and Dance Camps for the first time. The four new buildings are ready to host their first summer guests in comfortable accommodations, a spacious dining room, classrooms and scenic porches, as well as a music hall with a stage and balcony.

“Our programs provide a music and dance learning vacation for adults and families — lots of fun as well as serious classes and workshops,” said Mason, co-director of Ashokan Music and Dance Camps. “Our fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, piano, singing and dance programs have grown to include an all-guitar camp and a new uke fest for all levels.”

Ungar and Mason will be accompanied by more than 70 instructors this summer, including such luminaries as old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky, uke player and songwriter James Hill, guitarist Scott Nygaard, Appalachian songsters Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz, step dancer Nic Gareiss, New England music makers Nor’easter and many more.

For more information and a complete list of staff and dates, visit ashokan.org as well as the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp Facebook page. The Ashokan Center is at 477 Beaverkill Road in Olivebridge.

Dates and Costs

• Western & Swing Week: June 23-29, $895 per person (bunk or camping), $745 (offsite lodging), $35 discount for each year under 25
• Ashokan Uke Fest: July 4-7, $475 per person (bunk or camping), $400 (offsite lodging), $395 (ages 5-18), under 5 free
• Northern Week: July 14-20, $895 per person (bunk or camping), $745 (offsite lodging), $25 discount for each year under 25
• Ashokan Guitar Camp: July 28 – Aug. 1, $675 per person (bunk or camping), $575 (offsite lodging)
• Southern Week: Aug. 11-17, $895 per person (bunk or camping), $745 (offsite lodging)
• New Year’s at Ashokan: Dec. 29 – Jan. 1