PORT TOWNSEND — Centrum is adding new programs and has a new artistic director in multi-instrumentalist Jerron Paxton for the Acoustic Blues Festival & Workshop.
Centrum, a 42-year-old arts organization, is one of several partners with the Fort Worden Lifelong Learning Center Public Development Authority, which took over management of the campus portion of the park in May while State Parks continues to manage the rest of the park.
Centrum’s festivals and workshops were to continue to be the centerpiece of activities at the park.
“The challenge under the new model with the PDA is to increase traffic and visitation at the park,” said Rob Birman, Centrum executive director.
“Centrum is doing that by adding three new weeks of programming next year and two more in 2016 so we can expand our programs into the shoulder season.”
The three additional weeks include two new events, Kitchen Culture from May 6-10 and the Chamber Music Workshop from June 16-21.
Centrum is also adding a section to the successful Ukulele Festival, which now runs from Oct. 7-18.
Youth involvement is a guiding purpose in all Centrum programs, evidenced by the selection of Paxton, 26, as artistic director of the Acoustic Blues Festival, scheduled July 26 to Aug. 2.
Paxton succeeds Daryl Davis, who had served as artistic director of the festival since 2012.
“The cool thing about Jerron is that he represents the younger generation, but he has a very old soul,” Birman said.
“He is so dedicated to the idea of authentic and original country blues, and he seems like a natural fit because he is so well-known and well-loved,” Birman added.
“Because of his performances all over the country, he’ll draw more young people into the program, which is exciting.”
Paxton has cut a large figure at many of the recent blues festivals, serving on the faculty from 2008-10 and again in 2013.
Like blues itself, Paxton combines many diverse aspects.
He is tall, round and colorfully dressed. He is sight-impaired (not quite blind as his “Blind Boy” sobriquet implies). And he’s Jewish.
He was first introduced to Centrum and the blues festival when he was 19. He served on the faculty from 2008-10 and again in 2013.
He plays fiddle, banjo, piano, harmonica, Cajun accordion, ukulele, guitar and bones.
Davis, who is also an author of books about race relations, remains on this year’s faculty teaching pianists and “remains an invaluable partner with Centrum,” Birman said.
Davis said he plans to focus on such new ventures as opening two music publishing companies and releasing the sequel to his book, Klan-Destine Relationships: A Black Man’s Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan, which was published in 1998.
“There is a whole crop of young musicians who are harkening back to the early foundations of roots music in America,” Birman said
“That’s really valuable because everyone wants the music to be conserved, passed on from one generation to the next.
“That’s what all the programs at Centrum are all about.”
This year’s Kitchen Culture celebration centers around Cajun culture and will be the first in a series of events that have limitless source potential, Birman said.
Like the Ukulele Festival, which is now in its third year, Kitchen Culture springs from the imagination of program director Peter McCracken.
“The music we celebrate here is meant for the kitchen or the salon,” Birman said.
“It is not music that was written to be performed on a stage but to be shared at a dance or in a social setting.”
The logical progression, Birman said, is to dig deeper into the cultures surrounding the music presented at Centrum every summer, and Cajun culture is a natural place to start.
The staff for the event consists of a band, two professional chefs and a dance instructor, all steeped in Cajun traditions and eager to pass on their skills to participants on three different tracks.
Each day will end with a social gathering that includes dancing, food and music all created by the participants.
Birman called the Cajun program “an easy stretch” but hopes to explore any culture in the world, such as Yiddish or Basque.
If successful, Centrum could present two Kitchen Culture events per year, he said.
The Chamber Music Workshop represents another new strategy, seeking to benefit a small group of people in a large way rather than putting on a large festival.
For the weeklong workshop, Centrum will invite two string quartets to participate, offering them instruction and coaching about how to reach the next step in the development of their music.
“Chamber music is a specialized art form,” Birman said.
“It’s not like the blues festival. You don’t want to have 300 people here playing chamber music.“
Birman said the goal is to expand programs year-round, although this will require developing content that can be offered indoors.
Other 2015 Centrum events are the Brazilian Choro Workshop, April 22-26; Voice Works, June 23-28; the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, June 28-July 5; Port Townsend Writer’s Conference, July 9-19; and Jazz Port Townsend, July 19-26.
For more information, including ticket prices and registration, see www.centrum.org or call 360-385-3102.
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
