Vocal Week 2026

Val Mindel, Artistic Advisor

Country Harmony Bootcamp | Country Duets: Taking Them To The Next Level with Emily Miller

Val Mindel is a longtime musician, teacher and workshop leader, known for helping singers achieve the sound they want and have fun doing it. She teaches a wide range of harmony styles from the buzzy sound of American old-time and early country harmony to the weaving harmonies of songs from across the ocean. In the process, she addresses such indefinables as tone, ornamentation, and lead singing. In addition to being a regular on staff at the Augusta Heritage Center, she has taught at numerous music camps elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad, including SongRoots, Targhee Music Camp, Ashokan Music and Dance Camps, Centrum’s Voice Works, Pinewoods, and Sore Fingers. She is a founding member of the California-based Any Old Time string band (check out the band’s compilation album I Bid You Goodnight on Smithsonian Folkways), and has two CDs with her daughter and old-time country musician Emily Miller (In the Valley and Close to Home). Val is also the author of So You Want to Sing Folk Music, part of the “So You Want to Sing” series for Rowman & Littlefield and the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Brian Dolphin

Harmonize, Arrange, and Record Your Song | Vocal Polyphony from Around the World with Elizabeth LaPrelle

Brian Dolphin is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Fulbright recipient, and doctoral candidate in Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has studied and performed folk and original music all over the world, in villages and large venues alike. He leads an active life as a songwriter, performer, producer, and songleader, uniting diverse communities through the “Dolphin & You” Patreon and Community Sing, Ukrainian Village Voices, and the Philly Folk Choir. There are many ongoing collaborations, including with his wife Elizabeth LaPrelle through their album of original and traditional Lullabies. They also comprise half of the “freak folk” band Doran, who released their first album with critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, The Guardian, Bandcamp, Record Crates United, and Raven Sings the Blues.

Emily Eagen

Sing Your Heart Out | Children’s Songs From The Ruth Crawford Seeger Songbooks

Emily is a singer, songwriter, and teacher based in New York City.  Her work as both a singer and creative artist crosses many genres, and she is interested in exploring the spaces in between. Emily has performed with artists such as Meredith Monk, Annie Dorsen, Betsey Biggs, and Bang on a Can. Most recently, she wrote and co-wrote music for the 2025 installation We Will Sing by artist Ann Hamilton in Bradford, England, where community voices echo in the space of a former wool factory. Emily is a teaching artist for Carnegie Hall, where she leads songwriting workshops for parents and families in the Lullaby Project, hosted the video series “Sing with Carnegie Hall,” and is featured on Carnegie’s “Great Music Teaching” series. As part of a Carnegie Hall commission, Emily co-wrote Nooma (2019), an immersive opera for babies ages 0-3, and co-wrote songs for the album A Colorful World by Falu, which won a Grammy for Best Children’s Album in 2022. A specialist in early music, Emily is the Assistant Festival Director at Amherst Early Music, and weaves elements of medieval and renaissance music into her original work. She teaches vocal harmony and technique at the Jalopy Theater and School of Music and is a professional whistler and two-time International Whistling Champion. Emily can be heard with the vocal improvisation ensemble Moving Star, the close-harmony trio Up At Dawn, and on her forthcoming album produced by Jalopy Records of songs for the young and the young at heart.

Jefferson Hamer

English, Irish and Scottish Folk Songs in Harmony | Guitar Techniques for Folk Singers

Jefferson Hamer is a guitarist, songwriter, traditional musician, and producer of studio recordings. He is best known for his collaborations with Anais Mitchell (Child Ballads, recipient of a BBC2 Folk Award), Sarah Jarosz (as guitarist and harmony singer on her Grammy-nominated Blue Heron Suite), Session Americana, and other solo artists including Kristin Andreassen, Reed Foehl, and Laura Cortese. His original songs are featured on his self-released albums and singles, including the full-length Alameda. Perhaps his most enduring collaboration is The Murphy Beds, a harmony-rich folk duo with Irish musician and songwriter Eamon O’Leary, featuring a self-titled LP and the follow-up Easy Way Down. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. 

Elizabeth LaPrelle

Appalachian Ballad Singing | Vocal Polyphony from Around the World with Brian Dolphin

Elizabeth LaPrelle has been performing Appalachian ballads and old-time songs since she was eleven. Her magnificent voice, her respect for the songs, and her authentic mountain sound and style brought her to the attention of first Ginny Hawker and then Sheila Kay Adams. Raised in Rural Retreat, Virginia, Elizabeth attended old time fiddlers’ conventions and sang harmonies with her family, who taught her traditional singing styles and encouraged her to sing their own favorite American folk music. She received her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary with a major in Southern Appalachian Traditional Performance, and now tours the US regularly both performing and teaching.

Emily Miller

Country Duets: Taking Them To The Next Level with Val Mindel

Emily Miller is the Artistic Director of the Augusta Heritage Center, the string band director of the college’s Appalachian Ensemble, and a professional singer and fiddle player. At Augusta, Emily works with the director to oversee all programming and helps the theme week coordinators to execute a joint artistic vision. She received her BA in Anthropology-Linguistics from Brown University and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University. In her career as a musician, she has toured with bands such as the Sweetback Sisters, The Starry Mountain Singers, and as a duo with Jesse Milnes, performing multiple times on national radio programs Mountain Stage and A Prairie Home Companion. She has released several albums of traditional and country music including In the Valley (2006), Chicken Ain’t Chicken (2009), Looking for a Fight (2012), Jesse Milnes & Emily Miller: Deep End Sessions (2015) and King of Killing Time (2017).

Sarina Partridge

Songs To Build Community | Songs For The Seasons

Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects – Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading… and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA. She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let’s sing!

Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village); and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis.

Angie Richardson

Join The Gospel Choir! | Singing Gospel Music – Digging Deep

Angie Richardson grew up in Charleston, West Virginia where she began singing in church at age six. At age ten, she began playing the piano by ear. Born into a musically inclined family, Angie’s experiences with music in her church and with her family shaped her life. She has toured the world with the Ethel Caffie-Austin Singers, performed for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s Vandalia Gathering, been a special guest on Bob Thompson’s Public Broadcasting Christmas jazz special, and performed at dozens of special events and festivals across the country. As a gospel music workshop clinician, Angie travels throughout the country performing gospel music workshops for churches and choirs.

Suzy Thompson

Singing The Blues | Finding The Blues In Bluegrass

Suzy Thompson has an unusually deep mastery of the whole gamut of Southern old-time music, from prewar acoustic blues to Louisiana Cajun-Creole to old-time fiddle tunes, especially the kind that have a ragtime or blues feel.  In 2025, she has released a new album, “Suzy Sings Siebel” in which she displays her powerful skills as a song interpreter, with ten songs by the great 1970s songwriter Paul Siebel.  In addition to her rhythm-driven fiddling, she is a powerful blues singer, influenced by Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith, and a highly respected blues guitarist. In 2003, after thirty years as a working musician, Suzy Thompson released her first solo CD, “No Mockingbird” which features blues songs (including the title track, which has been described as “Memphis Minnie on acid”) and oldtime fiddle rags. Suzy is backed on the album by an all-star cast including Maria Muldaur, Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, and Mike Seeger. Her followup CD, “Stop & Listen”, released by Arhoolie Records in 2005, is a live concert recording with Del Rey, Eric Thompson, and the Thompson String Ticklers.Over the past three decades, Suzy has been a leading force in many influential roots music groups, including the California Cajun Orchestra (two award-winning CDs on the Arhoolie label), the Blue Flame String Band (with Kate Brislin and Alan Senauke), Klezmorim (who started the klezmer music revival in the 1970’s), the all-woman Any Old Time String Band (featured on the Grammy-winning Arhoolie box set), and most recently, the Bluegrass Intentions (with banjo ace Bill Evans.) She has also worked with Darol Anger, Laurie Lewis, Beausoleil, Peter Rowan, Maria Muldaur, Jody Stecher, Del Rey, Geoff Muldaur, Alice Gerrard, D.L. Menard, Jane Voss, Rinde Eckert, the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Sukay, and Frankie Armstrong, among others.

Melody Walker

Roots Vocal Technique | Nashville Style Co-Writing

Melody Walker is a GRAMMY-winning songwriter, producer, performer, and fervent believer that songs can change the world. Best known for her writing with Molly Tuttle, Sierra Ferrell, Della Mae and her own band Front Country, Melody’s post-2020 recalibration has found her finally digging into her home of Nashville, TN, co-writing with her talented neighbors and hosting a weekly writers’ round, Writers’ Kitchen in East Nashville. Her blend of grassroots pop has won her accolades from Merlefest to Telluride and now the GRAMMYs with three songs on Sierra Ferrell’s GRAMMY-winning album Trail of Flowers, including winner of the Best American Roots Song “American Dreaming” and co-writes on Molly Tuttle’s GRAMMY-winning albums Crooked Tree and City of Gold. Recent years have found Melody releasing her first solo music in a decade, stepping into her own as a songwriter and artist and finding magic in queer collaboration. Whether teaching at music camps or playing Newport Folk Fest and the Kennedy Center with her Grateful Dead drag band BERTHA, Melody is ready to ride whatever cosmic creative waves the universe sends her way.

Penny Anderson

Vocal Warm-Ups

Penny Anderson is a life-long singer of choral music and traditional folksong. She is classically
trained in music theory, voice, and piano, but not enough to ruin her singing. She has a
repertoire of several hundred traditional folk songs from the American, British Isles, and French
traditions. She has written dozens of original songs and choral pieces.
Penny’s musical obsessions at the moment are organizing the Pittsburgh monthly shape-note
sing, leading the women’s chorus Sorora, singing a grab-bag of music from many eras as part
of the duo Monongahela Harmony, composing and arranging choral pieces and solo songs,
singing with the Compline Choir in the University of Pittsburgh’s Heinz Chapel, and learning to
play the concertina. She would rather sing than do anything else.

Annalee Koehn

Student Singing Accomplice

Annalee Koehn is a Chicago-based singer and guitar-player. She currently plays with Ship of Fools, performing fiddle-driven country songs and old-time tunes. She is a founding member of the trio Blackest Crow and has played with many fine musicians and bands on gigs and projects. She can be heard on recordings from The Old Town School of Folk Music, Blackest Crow, Mark Dvorak, Urban Djin, Blue State Cowboys, Sweeter Gift, and performed songs by Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie at the 33rd Annual Printers Row Lit Fest in an event broadcast on C-SPAN. Annalee is always thrilled to collaborate with Val Mindel to teach harmony singing in a range of topics and styles. \nIn addition to her pursuit of music, Annalee is an artist, designer, inventor, and Lecturer at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and teaches at The Ox-Bow School of Art. At Augusta Vocal Week 2026, Annalee will be providing musical and vocal guidance and support for students in Open Mic and Student Showcase events.

Lexi Ugelow

Kids Song Academy (more info below)

Lexi is a vocalist, songwriter, expressive arts workshop and music education facilitator based in Cambridge, MA. She is a lifelong learner and lover of intergenerational community singing. A professional vocalist and self produced songwriter, Lexi has toured with groups such as Northern Harmony, Culomba, Honey & Soul and Road Dogs, performing and teaching workshops to adults and children. Though her interests and experience with music spans from funk, to world folk music, you can always be sure to expect some buttery harmonies. A firm believer that our bodies are our instruments, she encourages the practice of non-judgement during exploration of musical play. Moving into her fifth year as co-music director for Sing Positive, Lexi continues to use music as a way to help others build community, confidence and self expression.

Flawn Williams

Doo-Wop Jam Leader

Flawn Williams is an award-winning audio engineer, producer, and educator with over three decades at NPR, where he worked on acclaimed projects including All Things Considered, Performance Today, and Radio Expeditions. Now an independent producer based in Hyattsville, Maryland, he collaborates with leading podcasters and public radio producers on music and documentary projects, including work for Slate’s Panoply network, BirdNote, and the Augusta Heritage Center. A longtime and much loved coordinator of Augusta’s Vocal Week and former Associate Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University, Williams brings deep expertise in both music recording and audio storytelling, blending technical mastery with a lifelong passion for sound and culture.

Folk Arts for Kids with Emily Prentice

FAFK classes run from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Emily Prentice is an artist and arts educator living in Elkins, WV. She graduated with degrees in English and Fine Arts from Davis & Elkins College in 2016, and has been merging those two forms ever since. While interested in every kind of making, she spends most of her time drawing, making zines, and playing with fibers; she says that she loves making art that shares information, builds community, and helps all people realize their creative potential. Since starting her work as an artist she has become passionate about educating other artists, too, having taught zine- and quilt-making across Appalachia and now teaches classes in creative play online.

Youth Vocal Academy with Lexi Ugelow

Lexi is a vocalist, songwriter, expressive arts workshop and music education facilitator based in Cambridge, MA. She is a lifelong learner and lover of intergenerational community singing. A professional vocalist and self produced songwriter, Lexi has toured with groups such as Northern Harmony, Culomba, Honey & Soul and Road Dogs, performing and teaching workshops to adults and children. Though her interests and experience with music spans from funk, to world folk music, you can always be sure to expect some buttery harmonies. A firm believer that our bodies are our instruments, she encourages the practice of non-judgement during exploration of musical play. Moving into her fifth year as co-music director for Sing Positive, Lexi continues to use music as a way to help others build community, confidence and self expression.