PP&M inducted into the
Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame

Noel Paul, Joan Baez & Peter - Photo by Brent Goldman

Two-Days of Music, Education and Fun April 19 – 20, 2024

(Boston) Some of the most notable names in folk, Americana, and roots music history and their family members will attend the inaugural induction ceremony at the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame (FARHOF), Boston’s living music museum, inside the Boch Center Wang Theatre. Set for April 19 and 20, the Induction Ceremony weekend will include award presentations, live performances, tours, podcasts, interviews and more celebrating folk, Americana, and roots music. The events are not open to the public.

Paul Prestopino, long time accompanist for Peter, Paul and Mary, a renowned multi-instrument sideman and recording engineer, with long experience in bluegrass, old-time, folk, and contra dance musics, passed away peacefully at his home in Roosevelt, NJ, on July 16, 2023.

  Our dear friend and fellow performer, Paul Prestopino, has passed. "An extraordinary talent, and what a sweetheart he was!”, says Peter. "He toured and recorded with us for over thirty years, On my solo recordings, he was my go-to buddy, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and more - any, or all, of them on a given song. He always found the most tasteful, moving, way to “layer" them in so that together, they told the song’s soul, and its story. For so many, Presto was a “musician’s musician”, a real mench-and-a-half and, in the trio's eyes, his politics and his unrepentant, ethical, heart were absolutely the best! May his name be a blessing in our lives.

“Presto was a jewel", says Noel Paul. "I loved his directness and his always appropriate reminder that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line (must have been the carpenter in him). Whether in the context of Peter, Paul and Mary, my solo work or our personal friendship, I am forever thankful for his generous and uniquely supportive presence in my life. He will be deeply missed.” P.S. He loved to laugh and, as a matter of principle, he always wore overalls and different colored socks -- (on stage and off.)

EMBRACING THE ROOT

Dear friends,

Noel and I are pleased to alert you to two performances in New York, on Aug 26 and 27th, of a newly-written, "climate conscious", hopeful and prayerful opera called "Embracing the Root".

The opera was co-written by a wonderful friend and gifted composer the trio has known for over 40 years, Carman Moore, pictured below with his co-writer, Lotte Arnsbjerg, who just arrived in New York on a flight from Copenhagen, Denmark, where she resides.

"Embracing the Root", a work-in-progress, is being humbly presented with very affordable ticket prices, and we are hoping you will consider attending one of the the performances, should you be in NYC on Aug 26th or 27th.

EMBRACING THE ROOT
at The Center at West Park,
86th St. and Amsterdam Ave., in Manhattan

Fri 8/26 & Sat 8/27 at 7:30
$15 general admission
$10 students & seniors

Tickets can be purchased on line at www.centeratwestpark.org
and will also be available at the door,

If you are interested in learning more about "Embracing the Root" and/or would like to consider contributing a small donation to the cost of mounting this production, please click HERE.

Also, I, Peter (since I live in NYC) will be attending both performances and I'd love to say a brief hello to you after the performance, outside the venue and, yes, I will be sporting a "still prudent to wear" mask,

With warmest regards and thanks, always, for your greatly appreciated friendship and support,

Peter and Noel

Robert De Cormier, Composer And Renowned Music Director, Dies At 95 

By LIAM ELDER-CONNORS
VPR

Robert De Cormier, a composer, musician and prolific arranger of choral music,passed away Tuesday at the age of 95.
For well over half a century, De Cormier’s presence in the world of classical and folk music has been felt, around the world and at home in Vermont. A graduate of Juilliard, De Cormier straddled classical and folk music, often bringing the two together in new and unexpected ways.

Early Life

De Cormier was born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1922. According to De Cormier, his musical journey began at age seven:“I wanted a trombone but it was a little big for me and my parents finally got me a trumpet. I have no idea why,” he told VPR in a 2002 interview. “Music is that kind of thing which has the strange effect on people.”De Cormier stuck with the trumpet through high school, and by college, he knew he wanted to study music. He spent two years at Colby College in Maine, then two semesters at the University of New Mexico before joining the army and fighting in World War II.

click here for the rest of the story

'Impeachable' is a new twist on the kinds of songs that Peter, Paul and Mary were singing that helped mobilize Americans.

People have been wondering what folksinger/activists, some of them septuagenarians like Noel Paul Stookey and me, might be doing in the face of the current cataclysmic challenges to our democracy and our nation.

(click here for the rest of the story from The Huffington Post)

Everyone Knows Peter, Paul and Mary. But What About Bob?

Grace Notes
by JAMES BARRON

The world is full of who-knew jobs, jobs you did not know were jobs until you found out that somebody did them. Who knew that had a "recording secretary"?

That was the title suggested by Noel Paul Stookey — Paul to the world. The man who had the job wrote down the vocal lines that Mr. Stookey and Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers improvised in rehearsal so they would remember them. And no, Mr. Stookey did not have a pun in mind, suggesting "recording secretary" as a title for someone who listened in at, um, recording sessions, sometimes telling the engineer to squelch this note or boost that one. (click here for the rest of the story from the NY TIMES)

Elmore Magazine  

Click Here to read the story and listen to 'Give Yourself To Love' 

Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey of folk trio
 Peter, Paul and Mary sing "Blowin' in the Wind"
on WSJ Live