The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts has awarded SRSNH members Sylvia Miskoe and Douglas Brunson a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant. This grant enables a master traditional artist, Sylvia, to work with an apprentice, Douglas, for ten months.

Douglas lives in Merrimack, NH, and began playing accordion when he was 8 years old. After he met John Carmichael at the NH Highland Games, his goal was to play ‘like John’. He began taking Scottish accordion lessons with Sylvia in 2007. Apprentices must be 12 years old but the Arts Council waived that rule since Douglas will not be 12 until November.

Sylvia and Douglas will meet weekly to learn the style and background of Scottish tunes, from airs and strathspeys to jigs and reels. At the end of the apprenticeship, Douglas will present a program of Scottish music to a local gathering.

The goal of the traditional arts apprenticeships is to further traditional arts, i.e. music, woodworking, instrument making, and pass the skills on to other artists. The grant provides monies for Douglas’ lessons and for books and CD’s he will use in the learning process. This is the first time a grant has been awarded to an accordionist.