daniel hunsaker hawkins

So this is a little off-topic, but just too cool not to post. My brother, Seth Collings Hawkins - wilderness medicine specialist, occasional banjo player, and full-time stud - is currently spending several months in Bhutan, helping to create a EMS system more or less from scratch, spending quality international time with his wife Kelly and three boys Ethan, Kai, and Noah (ages 11, 8, and 4) and blogging. His most recent post is all about the soundscapes of Bhutan, It definitely made me feel like I was there with him, which I wish I could be.

The whole blog is a great adventure to follow - you might also check out his post on EMS in the Himalayas for a more complete introduction to his work there. My favorite posts, however, are those from and about the boys, like this one:

"What they say about Himalayan cultures valuing children is really true. At first it has been really hard for Noah in particular to adapt to this. Boundaries are very different, and everyone here feels very free to touch him and talk directly to him which spooked him out for a while. But then he made an abrupt transition and announced one day 'I'm famous.' Thereafter it was game on, and now he seems to welcome the attention. 'Everybody here really likes me,' he says now. Here he is getting a blessing from a monk at the Temple of the Dawn -- one of many high points of attention for him. Next, he says, he plans to become a rock star. Watch out world."

Last month saw me working back-to-back at two very different but both very wonderful programs. Maine Fiddle Camp is an absolutely fantastic program at Camp NEOFA; it features instruction on various instruments that have come into contact with traditional music styles specifically as they've evolved in Maine, lots of wonderful people and jamming, and not least of all, unbelievably good food. I just returned from the June weekend and week, but there are also two weeks in August, so if you have any interest at all in American traditional music, I highly highly encourage you to check it out. Also, for my students from last month, a new page is up on the website and will be password-free for the next week. All the tunes I taught are featured there; contact me for the password so you can continue using the page for reference!

Summertrios, on the other hand, is a chamber music program in - get this - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania that caters specifically to adult amateurs. The staff is top-notch, and the repertoire is fantastic - in one week, I played the Debussy String Quartet, Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8, and Brahms Op. 114, along with a bevvy of other gems. So if you classical chamber music is your thing, don't hesitate to visit their website; I only work at Week 2, but they've got a variety of different programs.