Traditional Music Apprenticeship Available
Local musician and mentor Alex Caton will offer an immersive apprenticeship through The Arts Center In Orange starting in January 2024. (Photo Credit: Alex Caton)
Are you a musician or singer looking to deepen your relationship with traditional music? The Arts Center In Orange is offering an immersive opportunity to study traditional music one-on-one with local musician and mentor Alex Caton. The apprentice will receive regular private lessons, opportunities to play with and for others, and a chance to significantly improve their skills over a six-month period (January through June 2024). The ultimate goal is to help keep these uniquely American musical traditions alive and be able to pass them on to future generations through performance and instruction.
This rare opportunity is open to a student 15 years or older, including adults, with some proficiency (at least an intermediate level) in Irish, old time or bluegrass fiddle, clawhammer banjo, or harmony singing. The candidate must be willing and able to get transport to weekly lessons plus occasional jam sessions (including the open jam at The Arts Center In Orange and various others in the area), play occasional gigs, visit the Senior Center in Orange and the Boys and Girls Club, and participate in a final performance at The Arts Center. The apprentice must be willing and able to practice regularly outside of lesson time to prepare for jams and shows.
Alex Caton has dedicated her life to studying and teaching these traditions. She moved to the central Virginia area in 2001 and soon after started working with The Arts Center In Orange as an outreach artist playing and singing for Head Start preschoolers to seniors. Alex has toured internationally, recorded numerous albums, and runs a traditional music camp in Highland County, Va., since 2005. She teaches privately at her home near Gordonsville and continues to work with The Arts Center In Orange as an outreach artist specializing in singing with seniors, and now as a mentor to aspiring musicians.
Those interested may apply through Nov. 30, 2023, at www.artscenterinorange.com/open-calls/music-mentorship-2023.