Ernie Hawkins, internationally renowned acoustic guitar virtuoso, plays and sings blues, ragtime, and gospel. His riveting music springs mostly from the early 1900s east coast Piedmont and Texas steel-string flattop fingerpicking styles. In performance, Ernie captivates the audience by infusing his articulate and dynamic personal style, while communicating the beauty and complexity in this picking tradition. Ernie studied extensively with Rev. Gary Davis, and played with Son House, Mance Lipscomb, Fred McDowell, Robert Pete Williams, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and many others. In addition, he spent thousands of hours ferreting out and studying obscure and historic recordings.

As one of a handful fortunate enough to study with the old masters, he now serves as a master to other aspiring musicians.  Ernie is dedicated to the continuation of this music and generously shares his “trade secrets”.  A beloved and patient teacher, he is in demand worldwide and has taught internationally at guitar camps. Ernie’s teaching makes it easy to understand the guitar fretboard and apply that knowledge to country blues and ragtime guitar playing. We are thrilled to have Ernie teach in at our first Finger Lakes acoustic music workshop!

At the age of 12, John Miller was inspired to play the guitar after seeing Mississippi John Hurt perform at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. He bought his first guitar at the age of 16 and launched into an intensive period of study of country blues guitar, learning the music of John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb, Bo Carter, Blind Blake, and other greats. John’s thrilled to come to Trumansburg as he has strong roots in the area. He attended Cornell University and was recruited to play electric bass in a bluegrass and country band, Country Cooking, with Russ Barenberg, Peter Wernick on banjo, guitar and vocals, Nondi Leonard (later Joan Wernick) on vocals, and Tony Trischka on banjo! By the time he was twenty-seven, John had released five solo albums to international critical acclaim. Those albums ranged from country blues and old time country music to the songs of George Gershwin. For the next 15 years, John focused on teaching, founding two music camps, composing, and building a vocabulary in jazz and Latin music. In the last seven years, John has released CDs with a jazz trio, Catwalk, duos with mandolinist John Reischman, violinist Ruthie Dornfeld, singer Becky Kilgore, and French cabaret music with the ensemble Rouge. Says Miller of his musical travels, “I’ve played many, many different styles of music in recent years, but I’ve come to realize that everything I’ve done has been informed by my early involvement with country blues and the lessons I learned from that music: the primacy of rhythm and the need to communicate with clarity and strength of purpose. I strive for those qualities in the music I play, and I hope that what I do honors the memory of my heroes -- like John Hurt, who have passed on.” We are very fortunate to have John at our first workshop! He will offer a connected series of workshops in the afternoon sessions and stand-alone sessions Saturday and Sunday morning.

Learn more about John from his web site.

Patrick Burke

Ithaca and the surrounding Finger Lakes area have a vibrant local music scene. In fact, Trumansburg hosts the annual Grassroots Festival in July. Patrick Burke is one of our talented local artists that has graced the stage at Grassroots. His influences include Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Deacon Don Nelson, Blind Blake, Frank Stokes, Barbecue Bob, Bo Carter, Memphis Jug Band, Mississippi Sheiks, Cannon's Jug Stompers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Willie Brown, Robert Wilkins, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Etta Baker ... and more. Pat performs old-time country blues solo and with Gregor Sayet-Bone and Brian "Sid" Burke, his son. Pat is also a member of  The Evil City String Band along with Richie Stearns, singer-songwriter and banjo player, Steve Selin on fiddle, and Stephanie Jenkins on bass. We’re thrilled to have Pat share his knowledge of country blues and string band guitar styles.

Travel and Accomodations

See the location to the right for a map to the Conservatory in Trumansburg. If you are traveling by air, It is a short ride from Tompkins County Regional Airport (ITH) to Trumansburg.

There are a number of Bed & Breakfasts near Trumansburg and motels/hotels in the nearby Ithaca area.  If you sign up before March 1, you'll be entered in a drawing for a room (Friday and Saturday nights) at McLallen House Bed & Breakfast, a workshop co-sponsor. Our faculty will be staying there!

A number of excellent restaurants and cafes are within walking distance of the Conservatory.

More information on travel to the Ithaca/Trumansburg area is available here.