The Ten Pound Fiddle will leave
this recording on the website 
through this Holiday weekend. 

Mid-Winter Singing Festival 
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012
Mark Dvorak, Pat Madden
Joel Mabus and Frank Youngman
Song Leaders, with Rachel Alexander,
Director, All Comers Festival Choir 

Enjoy this archived audio recording

There is a link with lyric sheets! 

On a cold, February evening in 2003,
500 people gathered at the Hannah
Community Center in East Lansing.
They were there to sing wonderful songs.
Together.

This year’s Mid-Winter Singing and Folk
Festival would have been number 19.

While we cannot be physically together
to share sound and energy this year,
we can all enjoy this recording
of the Singing Festival from
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. 

The night’s song leaders included
Mark Dvorak, Pat Madden, Joel Mabus
and Frank Youngman, all veteran
song leaders. In fact, Mark, Pat and Joel
were all part of the 2003 inaugural
Singing Festival, with Frank joining the
rotation a few years later.

Also featured is one song performed
by the All-Comers Festival Choir,
directed by Rachel Alexander.
A favorite feature of many Singing Festivals,
this 50-person, ad hoc choir learns
one, four-part song in the late afternoon
and presents it at the beginning of the
second set that evening. In 2012,
the selection was a beautiful
arrangement of ‘Amazing Grace.’

Lyrics for all of the
evening’s songs are available via
a link on this webpage. 

More information about community singing
and hundreds of photos of past Mid-Winter
Singing Festivals can be found at 
www.singingfestival.com. 

All photos were taken by Singing Festival
photographer Roxanne Frith.

If the moon, and the stars, and the
vaccines align, the Ten Pound Fiddle
plans to host the next
Mid-Winter Singing and Folk Festival
in late January/early February 2022. 

Until then, ‘How Can I Keep From Singing…’ 
______________

"On a sad note, it is with heavy hearts
that we announce the passing of
Laura Stein, one of
the beloved pillars of the
Ten Pound Fiddle community. 

Laura, along with her husband
Bob Stein, founded the Ten Pound Fiddle
Contra Dance Series in the late 70s. Laura
formed a band to provide music for the
dances, while Bob often served as caller. 

They generously hosted hundreds of
visiting musicians in their home and
numerous house concerts. 

Their efforts helped create and sustain
the thriving folk community we have
enjoyed for so many years in mid-Michigan.

There are not enough words in the English
language to express our admiration, love,
and gratitude to Laura Stein. 
She was a mother to us all.
 
At an online memorial for Laura,
her friend Rick Carter said,
'People seek immortality. They seek the
fountain of youth or whatever.
Immortality is when you change
the life of people around you and
they change the life of the people
around them. Laura, you’re everywhere.' " 
- Ruelaine Stokes

The January 27, 2021, issue of
The City Pulse, includes a feature article
by Lawrence Cosentino about Laura’s
many contributions to our community.
It is available online at:
  Lansing City Pulse 
_____________
 

Until we can sing together again,
please stay safe.