SONGROOTS INSTRUCTOR CONCERT
SATURDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2026 | DOORS AT 19:30, MUSIC FROM 20:00
THIS IS A SOLD OUT EVENT
As SongRoots Summer Camp completes its 13th year, it will close the festivities off with a Vancouver show featuring its world class instructors: Dawn Pemberton (Vancouver), Gideon Crevoshay (Vermont), Jennifer Scott (Vancouver), Jenny Lester (Vancouver Island), Kali Paguirigan (Colorado), Kathy Bullock (Vermont), Lexi Ugelow (Massachusetts), Lysander Jaffe (Massachusetts), Màiri Britton (Cape Breton), Moira Smiley (Vermont), Mollie Stone (Chicago), and Karla Mundy (Vancouver).
About the Performers
Vibrant, genuine and soulful, Dawn has deep musical roots that take her powerful voice from gospel and soul to jazz, funk and world music. Dawn has her B.Mus in Jazz Studies from Capilano University and is a certified teacher in Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method.
She has become a staple of the Vancouver music scene and can often be found tearin’ it up as a vocalist, pianist, teacher, musical director, vocal coach, adjudicator, choir director and “go to girl” for live performances and studio sessions. She currently is on faculty in the Musical Theatre Department at Capilano University and hosts her own funk, soul, and r&b show called, “Get on The Good Foot” on CKUA Radio. She has also spent her time touring with her own original music project as well as, Moira Smiley + VOCO, Vox.Infold, The Bluesberries, and Canadian blues juggernaut,The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer. Dawn has toured extensively throughout Canada and Europe and has performed with musical greats such as Bettye LaVette, John Boutte, Kenny Werner, Kurt Elling, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Randy Bachman, Ruthie Foster, The Hamiltones, The Sojourners, Linda Tillery and has opened for musical heavyweights such as Maceo Parker, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, The Philosopher Kings and Lee Fields. Dawn is the founder and Artistic Director of Roots ‘N’ Wings Women’s Choir and teaches masterclasses and workshops all over North America. Dawn’s debut solo album, Say Somethin’, released on DoRight! Music won Best Urban Recording at the 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards and has received praise from around the globe forecasting her as “…the new queen of Canadian soul.” A passionate educator and performer, Dawn approaches music with a sense of adventure, quirkiness, and serious groove and shapes it into her own unique and dynamic package. Tight, expressive and bold, Dawn will hit you where it counts, funk you up and make you say “Go ‘head!”.
Gideon Crevoshay
Gideon Crevoshay is a musician from the hills of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He uses the human voice to explore the countless dimensions of sound, language, and improvisation. Gideon studies traditional and ancient forms of singing from the US, Caucasus, and Mediterranean, finding inspiration in the wisdom contained within these traditions and how they can inform present ideas of music making and community. He performs regularly with many projects including Tenores de Aterúe, Resonanda, Starry Mountain Singers, and Briars of North America, and is grateful to have been able to perform with such artists as Meredith Monk, Cynthia Hopkins, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Gideon has taught youth-oriented songwriting and sound production courses with Found Sound Nation, and teaches polyphonic singing to young adults with the world music organization, Village Harmony.
Jennifer Scott is a singer and pianist born in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She specializes in jazz, blues, and world music. She is considered one of the more important jazz artists working in Canada and the United States today.
As well as being a performer, she arranges and writes jazz and pop tunes, with several CDs containing a combination of original tunes, tunes she has arranged, and more traditional tunes.
She has also appeared on many CBC recordings and has worked with many other musicians both live and in studio.
Jenny Lester is a dynamic Bluegrass performer and recording artist who has established herself as an important singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist.
Her original songs are carefully crafted in the bluegrass convention while displaying a contemporary freshness and that breathes new life into the fabled “high lonesome” sound.
She studied at South Plains College in Texas and has three Golden Reel awards.
Kali Paguirigan
Kali Paguirigan is a singer and teacher who lived for many years in Brooklyn, NY, before moving to Denver with her Colorado-born husband. Kali is a classically trained singer with musical interests that are all over the map. She has long been interested in and sung music from all corners of the world, with a particular interest in Balkan singing and music of the African diaspora. Still, she is just as comfortable singing an operatic aria or other traditional classic singing styles. She loves helping singers sing whatever they want in their most authentic voice.
As a yogi and yoga teacher, Kali practices mantra singing and singing for release and wellness. Kali is the Artistic Director of the Denver Choir League and loves programming diverse concerts with local Denver musicians. She is also a founding member of a chamber group called ReSound, which specializes in music for string quartet and voice. She is thrilled to be attending and teaching at her first-ever Song Roots camp!
Karla Mundy is a vibrant, soulful and diverse vocalist, pianist, arranger and choir leader. Karla directs Rhythm ‘n’ Roots and Harmony Mountain Singers in Vancouver, the City Soul Choir and the Island Soul Choir on Vancouver Island. Karla leads harmony singing workshops throughout BC and organizes many singing camps, workshops and singing study trips abroad. Karla is a founding member of the No Sh!t Shirleys, TriVo, Cleia, Plough, Tanglewood Trio and Big Whoop! Karla is passionate about teaching harmony singing, getting the music off the page and digging deep into new musical territory.
Dr. Kathy Bullock is a teacher, performer, conductor, arranger, and scholar who specializes in the area of African American Sacred Music. A Professor Emerita of Music at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky where she taught for almost thirty years, she is also currently a Visiting Professor at Bennington College, Bennington, VT.
Dr. Bullock earned the Ph.D. and M.A. in Music Theory from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and a B.A. in Music from Brandeis University, MA and has taught in a wide variety of musical areas.
She continues to perform, conduct workshops, direct choirs, and teaching courses in African American Music throughout the United States, Europe and Africa, sharing hope and joy during these challenging times.
Lexi is a vocalist, songwriter, expressive arts workshop and music education facilitator based in Cambridge, MA. She is a life long learner and lover of intergenerational community singing. A professional vocalist and self produced songwriter, Lexi has toured with groups such as Northern Harmony, Culomba, Honey & Soul and Road Dogs, performing and teaching workshops to adults and children.
Though her interests and experience with music spans from funk, to world folk music, you can be always be sure to expect some buttery harmonies. A firm believer that our bodies are our instruments, she encourages the practice of non-judgement during exploration of musical play.
Moving into her fifth year as co-music director for Sing Positive, Lexi continues to use music as a way to help others build community, confidence and self expression.
Lysander Jaffe is a Boston-based violinist, violist, and vocalist, equally at home in chamber music, traditional music, and cross-genre collaborations. Known for his command of East European and Mediterranean folk styles, he balances a busy international touring schedule with a commitment to community music in New England. He is a Co-Artistic Director of Grammy-nominated string orchestra Palaver Strings and a founding member of the Yiddish ensemble Levyosn and the vocal quintet Culomba. He has studied with masters of traditional music in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Greece, Corsica, and Georgia, and is a two-time recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Apprenticeship in Traditional Arts. As a teacher, Lysander is passionate about broadening sonic and cultural horizons, teaching not only repertoire but listening skills and expressive vocabulary. He has taught for SongRoots and Village Harmony and directs two Boston-area choirs, SingPositive and Boston Harmony. Lysander holds a Masters in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory. For more information, visit lysanderjaffe.com
Mairi Britton
Màiri Britton is a Gaelic educator, musician, and project coordinator based in Unama’ki | Cape Breton. She works in numerous roles focused on uplifting and celebrating Gaelic language and culture, primarily as a Gaelic instructor and as Coordinator of the Cala Cainnte (Language Haven) project and Cainnt is Ceathramhan (Language and Lyrics) Gaelic folklore project.
As a musician, Màiri is in regular demand as a tutor and performer of Gaelic song, stepdance and Scottish harp and has toured as a member of Gaelic trad group Fàrsan. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Màiri retains strong ties to her motherland and loves visiting tradition-bearers on both sides of the Atlantic to learn from their store of songs, stories and cultural wisdom.
Singer / Composer, Moira Smiley travels the world creating new works for voices and accompanying her performances with her banjo, accordion, piano, and percussive movement. Her recordings feature spare, vocally-driven collections of warped traditional songs and original polyphony.
In February, 2021 Moira Smiley & VOCO (with Karla Mundy + Dawn Pemberton!) released vocal album, In Our Voices. Moira also recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Live on KEXP At Home, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Tune-Yards for their Sketchy album release.
In September 2024, Moira released The Rhizome Project, a book and album of folksongs with string quartet.
Mollie Stone
Mollie Stone serves as Choral Conductor at the University of Chicago, directing the University Chorus and Women’s Ensemble. Stone is also the Co-Founder/Director of the Chicago World Music Chorus, and teaches internationally with the organization Village Harmony.
Stone holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College, a Master of Music degree in conducting from Westminster Choir College, a Doctorate in choral conducting from Northwestern University, and has studied at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She wrote her dissertation on how Black South Africans have adapted the choral music of the anti-apartheid struggle to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In 2001, Stone received a grant from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to produce a teaching DVD (Vela Vela) that helps American choral directors to learn and teach Black South African choral music more authentically in the oral tradition.
Stone works both internationally and locally to help create programs and collaborations that allow singers to study the music of various traditions by working directly with tradition bearers, and to provide tradition bearers with platforms and resources that support them in sharing their music on their own terms.
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