2024 ARTISTS

Evan Premo creates heart-centered music that inspires audiences and musicians alike.  His music has been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra, River Town Duo, Owen Dalby of St. Lawrence String Quartet, the International Society of Bassists, Front Porch Ensemble, The Gregory/Kaplan Duo, The Pine Mountain Music Festival, Capitol City Concerts, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra.  His works have been premiered by Aizuri Quartet and Aeolus Quartet. Evan is a member of New York City based chamber music collective, DeCoda with whom we performs in residencies around the world including four he led in Abu Dhabi, UAE.  As a member of Ensemble ACJW Evan has performed many concerts at Carnegie Hall and participated in residencies in Spain and Germany. As a chamber musician he has performed at summer music festivals throughout the country and has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Evan is artistic director and founder of “Beethoven and Banjos”, residency that brings together folk and classical musicians for cross-genre concerts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  www.evanpremo.com

Andreas John
I am the son of Theresia Weber-John and Evan John of respective German and Welsh ancestry. I live off the beaten path in central Vermont. As a child, I remember exploring my parents’ darkroom: a ramshackle space next to our garage. The red safe lights, three trays of chemicals and the string draped with drying prints. I loved the feel of their Leica and Nikon cameras and the buttons on the light meter, the ritual of loading 35 mm film and the solid, definitive click of the shutter.  We live in an incredible time of possibility with imagery and I feel so honored to be carrying this passion and artistry forward. When I have a camera in my hands, time seems to bend and the world lights up around me. We are truly In “The Hands of Beauty”. What a deep privilege to witness, learn, explore and create in this way.    www.inthehandsofbeauty.com

Jan Sandman
I am highly interested in the Creative process and its ability to heal, expand and express the human spirit.  As an author and an artist, I derive tremendous pleasure and hope for humanity from creative expression, my own and others. I believe art reveals a doorway into the magnificence that we, as humans, are capable of.  For my entire life, creativity in all its forms has been a bright torch guiding me and leading me in all of my work, in all ways. I live with it. I feel it is so connected to life force itself and so, at its best, to the highest expression of spirit and holiness. I studied photography at the Art Institute of Boston and have studied with various masters in other forms: watercolor, clay sculpture, pastel, and cold wax to name a few mediums.  When I discovered cold wax work, I felt as though I had come home. Here was a medium that had the freedom of expression and texture and layering and luminosity that spoke to me so deeply. In addition, I found the medium to be enormously physically satisfying.  I teach and practice Authentic Movement, facilitate Family Constellations, practice Trager Bodywork, and help people to deeply connect with their essence. I find that painting takes me in this direction of essence also. Deeper and deeper into what is most true.   www.Jansandmanart.com and   www.Jansandman.com

Laurel Premo is known for her rhythmically deep and rapt delivery of roots music. She has spent her life immersed in American and Nordic folk traditions, and now, both new compositions and arrangements of older music are held in a living relationship with tradition, musically revealing a bloom of underlying harmonic drones, minimalist repetition, and rich polyrhythm. “Premo viscerally threw herself into the music she played, rocking back and forth, and fully embodying the swaying nature of her compositions. There was something deeply moving about witnessing such an embodied and emotionally present performer work their magic” -The Taos News. Though diverse, Laurel Premo’s roles inside of performance, composition, research, guiding, and teaching are also one and the same, and can be simply put - work in vibration. Her strength and value inside of community resides in welcoming folks into or moving through emotion, providing functional or ritual experiences with sound, and helping folks find their own force and connect with greater ones. www.laurelpremo.com