Conterpoint 2010
Guests
of Honor
Ed Stauff and Mary Ellen Wessels
Toastmistress
Juanita Coulson
Interfilk
Guest
Char MacKay
Listener
Guests
(in absentia)
Jonathan and Debbie Baker
Conterpoint 2010 will
be at the Chase Suite Hotel in
A day or two before the con, you may want to check the local weather
forecasts from The
Weather
Channel or The
Washington Post.
Pre-registration is now closed. Registration at
the door will be $60
for the weekend, with individual day rates of $20 for Friday, $30 for
Saturday, or $15 for Sunday.
Supporting Memberships are available for $15. Supporting Members will
get a copy of the convention songbook and program book.
Gary McGath will again be producing our songbook.
Please send your
submissions to Gary McGath, 42 Heather Court, Nashua NH 03062, or by
e-mail to (songbook atsimbol mcgath dot com). The deadline for
submissions is May 23rd, 2010.
Our programming will feature the usual array of
concerts, workshops, one-shots and theme filks, plus the fabulous
Interfilk auction. We expect a number of special programs celebrating
20 years of the Northeast Filk Convention, including a memorial concert
to honor those members of our community who have passed away. Among the
workshops being planned are a Middle-Eastern drum workshop hosted by
our Interfilk Guest, a harmony workshop hosted by MEW, and a panel on
Approaches to Songwriting with Ed, Juanita, and Gary McGath.
The schedule will be posted shortly before the convention. In the
meantime, watch our Conterpoint
LiveJournal community for details.
The song contest theme
is “Making Contact”, in honor of Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010.
Songs
can
be
about
first
contact, getting in contact with someone,
making a romantic contact (especially a hopeful one *grin*), or
anything else having to do the theme. Entries that have been previously
published in print or online must have appeared after June 22, 2009.
All entries must be performed at the convention. If you cannot attend
(or prefer not to perform) someone else may present your entry.
Running a convention takes all the help we can
get. Anyone willing to work a shift at the registration table, con
suite, etc. should contact the appropriate member of the committee (see
below). Volunteers to help with the late-night hours in the con suite
would be particularly welcomed. We also need people interested in
helping with child care and children’s programming.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Conspiracy donations to the con suite are
enthusiastically welcomed. We will also be keeping a kosher table. Con
suite staff will direct you where to place contributions. Naturally,
kosher food only should be placed on the table marked for that purpose.
Ed Stauff
and Mary Ellen Wessels: We are excited to
have Ed and Mary Ellen (better known to most filkers as “MEW”) as our
Guests of Honor. MEW was the Toastmistress for the first Contata in
1994 and has run vocal and performance workshops at a number of
conventions, including the first Conterpoint in 1993. Ed is a man of
many talents, including being an exceptional pianist and a choir
leader. He is also a composer who has developed choral arrangements
for a number of filk songs, folk songs, and hymns.
Juanita Coulson: Who better to help us celebrate 20 years
of NEFilk than one of the grande dames of filk? Juanita has been part
of the filk community since the term was first coined in the 1950's. In
addition to her own songs, which include classics such as “Chess”,
“Hairy Larry” and “The Mummy Shuffle”, she has also set a number of
Indiana poet Martha Keller's works to music (notably, “No Quarter, No
Quarter”). Juanita is the author of over a
dozen books, including Space Trap, Star Sister, and the four books
of the Children of the Stars series. She and her husband Robert “Buck”
Coulson (who passed away in 1999) won a Hugo Award in 1965 for editing
the fanzine Yandro.
Jonathan
and Debbie
Baker: Jonathan and Debbie have been extensively involved with
the NEFilk convention. Debbie has run the kosher con suite for every
Contata except for Contata ‘05, when she took a break from con suite to
chair the convention. She also ran kosher con suites for Conterpoint
‘04 and Second Concerto. Jonathan was Publications for Contata ‘05 and
Treasurer for Contata ‘08. Outside of NEFilk, Debbie has also run the
staff den for Lunacon. In her spare time, Debbie
writes fanfiction in the X-Files, Voyager, Smallville, and Highlander
universes, among many others.
Note:
Regrettably, Jonathan and Debbie will be unable to attend the
convention because of a recent death in the family. The planned
Listerners' Choice concert will go on as scheduled in their honor.
Char MacKay: Our Interfilk guest comes to us from the
other
GAFilk
ConFlikt
The UK Filk Convention
Consonance
FilKONtario
D-F-D-F
The Floating Northeast Filk Convention
HarmUni
ConChord
FilkCONtinental
Ohio Valley Filk Fest
Conglomeration
Filk Hall of Fame
Interfilk
MASSFILC
NYMFO
Pegasus Awards
Con Chair: Gary Ehrlich (electro atsimbol
speakeasy DOT net)
Registration and Treasurer: Steve Brinich (sbrinich atsimbol speakeasy
DOT net)
Hotel Liaison: Crystal Paul (malachite atsimbol speakeasy DOT net)
Programming: Sheryl Ehrlich (sherylg atsimbol speakeasy DOT net)
Con Suite: Catherine Birzer (sherylg atsimbol speakeasy DOT net)
Sound/Recording: Scott Dorsey (kludge atsimbol panix DOT com)
Songbook: Gary McGath (songbook atsimbol mcgath DOT com)
Please see our LiveJournal community, conterpoint,
for the latest updates and discussion and to post any questions you may
have.
Updated 24 April 2010