We are bringing back musical yoga to the Sugar Maple Music Festival! Katie Muschlewski of Lotus Roots Yoga is a Madison local, musician and Yoga instructor. She founded Lotus Roots Yoga in 2005 and developed a yoga program for children called Yoga Sprouts in 2007 when she realized there were no yoga programs for her young children. She teaches all ages and abilities. Katie will offer several sessions on Saturday, August 3 at the Beginner Jam Tent.

12:30-1:15 All Ages Yoga
Join us for a relaxing yoga class to prepare for a day of fun! Live music will accompany this easy and accessible workout for all abilities. Yoga mats are available to borrow.

2:45-3 Yoga Sprouts
(kids 4 and under, please bring your grownup. Older kids welcome!)
Let’s go on an adventure! Katie Muschlewski offers her most popular Yoga Sprouts! Child & Caregiver Yoga Adventures ©2013. Kids are natural yogis! Come play pirates, swim with dolphins, and swing through the trees with monkeys! All ages and abilities are welcome. Yoga mats provided. (also at 4:45)

3:30-4:15 Teen Yoga
Kundalini Yoga is the Science of Self Awareness. Check out these awesome yoga techniques to feel confident, reduce stress, and strengthen your body and will-power! This is a special class for tweens and teens only. All abilities welcome. Yoga mats provided.

The Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (FLTMC) is a non-profit organization which not only produces the Sugar Maple Music Festival and Sugar Maple Concert Series but also supports the art of traditional music and dance throughout the greater Madison community. FLTMC provides educational and performance opportunities that bring together people of all ages to celebrate diverse musical traditions.

In holding with our mission, FLTMC is proud to sponsor Music con Brio’s Summer Workshop.  The workshop is a chance to spend a whole day making music with Music con Brio and an amazing guest artist, culminating in a side-by-side performance!  This year’s workshop is August 4 and will feature 2019 Sugar Maple Fest mainstage artists the Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio! 

Danny Barnes (the Bad Livers, Dave Matthews Band), roots music legend and recent winner of Steve Martins’ Prize for Excellence in Banjo, is teaming up with two young creative voices of the acoustic world: Mandolinist Joe K. Walsh (the Gibson Brothers, Mr. Sun) and guitarist Grant Gordy (David Grisman Quintet).  Come spend the day hanging with the guys honing your bluegrass style and jamming together in concert!

Open to ALL musicians age 10 and up with at least two years of experience on their instrument.  

The workshop will be held at the Goodman Community Center. $40 per workshop for current Music con Brio students, $60 per workshop for others. Lunch, snack and t-shirt included! Register online at: www.musicconbrio.org

Special thanks to our event sponsors: the Sugar Maple Music Festival, Total Administrative Services Corporation (TASC), and the Goodman Community Center.

Calling ALL musicians: Music con Brio is proud to present a Summer Workshop Series event featuring bluegrass band Circus No. 9! These acoustic freaks of nature feature five-string wonder Matthew Davis, who followed up his 2016 National Banjo Championship win with a crown as champ at the 2017 Rockygrass Festival. The band hails from East Tennessee and puts the “pro” in progressive bluegrass sounds. Come spend the day hanging with the guys pickin’ some tunes, experimenting with bluegrass style, and jamming together in concert! Open to ALL musicians with at least two years experience on their instrument.  Generously sponsored by the Sugar Maple Music Festival and the Goodman Community Center. Date and time: Sunday, July 1, 10am – 5 pm (Free concert at 4 pm featuring Circus No. 9 and all participants) Location: Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St Madison 53704 What you get: 3 workshop sessions and concert with Circus No. 9. Lunch, snack & t-shirt provided. Cost: $60 (need-based scholarships available) Register online at: www.musicconbrio.org

Last year, the nonprofit Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (FLTMC) gave a scholarship to Madison’s MadFiddle, a youth fiddle ensemble led by musician and teacher Shauncey Ali. We recently followed up with Shauncey to learn what he did with the scholarship and this is what he told us.

“I wanted to use the scholarship to impact as many young people as possible, while also touching on a youth population for which private violin lessons might be less common.

In December, I constructed a 40-minute “History of American Folk Music” presentation that was equal parts lecture and performance. It outlined a historic overview of the development of folk music in the U.S., emphasizing the impact that immigration and slavery have had on existing genres.

I presented a series of assemblies at Glendale Elementary School, to a student body that is 75 percent Hispanic, African-American and Asian.

Then in April I did a brief residency with Glendale’s fifth grade strings class, which occurs concurrently with recess. I was amazed to learn that these students had elected to learn a stringed instrument over running around on the playground. It was very special to share traditional fiddle tunes and songs with students for whom this experience was new.”

We at the Sugar Maple couldn’t be more impressed – or humbled. Glad we could play a small part in this important work that connects youth with music and history.

Looking for a family-friendly way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Come to the Barrymore Theatre at 1 p.m., February 12th, for the 16th Annual United Way Bluegrass Benefit. Six bands and performers are volunteering their time and talents with all proceeds going to United Way of Dane County. Longtime United Way advocate Dave Kinney has organized this concert since its inception.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring your entire family to a fun and entertaining event while giving back to our community,” said Kinney. “I’m proud of the positive change United Way brings to our community and I love that I can contribute to that change with this concert.”

Over the last 16 years, this annual concert has grown in popularity among bluegrass fans and families who are looking for kid-friendly activities. Thank you to Barrymore Theatre, Steve Gotcher (Audio for the Arts), WORT 89.9 FM and Isthmus for their partnership.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 5 – 12. Children 5 and under are free. For families, there is a maximum cost of $20. Tickets are available at the door and online.

Program of Performers

Cork ‘n Bottle String Band 1:00 p.m.

Sparetime Bluegrass 2:00 p.m.

Dave Landau – The King of Kids Music 2:30 p.m.

MadFiddle & Highway 151 3:00 p.m.

The Soggy Prairie Boys 4:20 p.m.

Old Tin Can String Band 5:00 p.m.