Frank Woerner & the Richmond Tavernacle Choir to Perform at OSA Hall, 5/20

Frank Woerner and the Richmond Tavernacle Choir will be in Concert Friday, May 20, 2011 at OSA Hall, 220 E. 23rd St, Suite 707 (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues), New York, 10010.  This concert is to celebrate and honor Frank Woerner for his pivotal role in promoting, teaching, and continuing folk music in the NYC Area.

Frank has been captivating audiences and bringing folk music to life everywhere he sings since the mid 1960s. His enthusiasm is uncontainable as he pantomimes actions and joyously lifts his dynamic voice in song. Although he is most associated with sea songs and rousing chanteys, Frank's enormous repertoire is filled with songs from every genre of folk music from North America and the British Isles. He can sing for hours and never repeat a song. Frank plays concertina, guitar, and banjo. Beyond performing, it is his role as a mentor and inspiration to generations of "folkies" that is being honored. The Richmond Tavernacle Choir (Frank, Norm Pederson, Bob Conroy, Jan Christensen, David Kleiman, Alison Kelley, Heather Wood, Ken Schatz) performs annually at the restored tavern in Historic Richmondtown on Staten Island - hence the name.

Frank's interest in folk music was piqued in the 1950s. In 1965 Louis Killen introduced attendees at Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA, to music from the British Isles as well as sea chanteys and maritime music. "We were charged up to our eyebrows," says Frank. New Yorkers returned home so excited by the experience that with the organizational drive of Jerry Epstein and Bernie Klay, they formed the New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club, described by Frank as "A feeding trough," in the decades since its formation. In 1967 Frank and Bernie formed The X-Seamen's Institute with two others, performing regularly at South Street Seaport, Mystic Seaport and numerous other maritime venues. The group recorded six albums of sea shanties for the Smithsonian Institution's Folkways Records label. Frank has also appeared as a guest on many albums including Watersign, The NexTradition and The Johnson Girls - all groups that would not have existed without Frank's inspiration.

Join us Friday, May 20, at 8:00 pm at OSA Hall, 220 E. 23rd Street, suite 707, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. General Admission is $20; children, and full-time students under 22 are free. Tickets are available at the door or online at http://brownpapertickets.com/event/171241. More details and information at: www.folkmusicny.org; or 212-957-8386.

The Folk Music Society of New York, Inc. hosts concerts for music lovers who can relax and listen, sing along on the chorus, or dance in the aisles to the best of traditional music.