MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Folklife Center and Deb Flanders are excited to announce the recipients of the 2017 Flanders Award for Traditional Vermont Music.
For its first year the committee has made two awards, to support projects by Jack DesBois of Middlebury and Jasmine (Yasi) Zeichner of Northfield.
Debois will focus his time working with the Helen Hartness Flanders Ballad Collection at Middlebury College. Zeichner and her siblings plan to work primarily with the Margaret MacArthur Collection at the Vermont Folklife Center.
“Archival documents and recordings are an invaluable resource, not only for the preservation of our history as Vermonters, but for the potential to bring to life the culture and traditions that make this state unique,” says Rachel Muse, senior archivist at the Vermont State Archives. “It’s invigorating to see new and non-traditional researchers uncovering the stories of Vermont’s past, and making use of archival records in fresh ways.”
Created by Vermont musician Deb Flanders to honor the work of Helen Hartness Flanders, her great aunt, the Flanders Award for Traditional Vermont Music provides a stipend to Vermont musicians age 15-29 to support the perpetuation and performance of the traditional Yankee and Franco-American musical repertoire of the state.
Award funds are intended to offset the cost of travel to one or more Vermont archives so the recipient can work in person with collections of field recordings, manuscripts and rare books of vocal song or instrumental music rooted in Vermont’s cultural heritage.
“I hope that Jack and Jasmine will feel the same excitement as I did exploring the archives,” says Deb Flanders. “There are still so many beautiful songs waiting to be heard.”