Family Folk Machine

It’s November, a time for reflecting on what’s important to us, to our families, to our community. Each year at this time the Family Folk Machine reaches out with our Annual Appeal, asking for your support so that our work can continue.

You can make a donation of any size today by sending a check to
Family Folk Machine
P.O. Box 1421
Iowa City, IA 52244

or by navigating to the “Donate” tab of this website.

For ten years, the FFM has been a place for people of all ages and backgrounds to shine and grow into their full musical humanity. I hope you will consider an Annual Appeal donation!

High school student Lulu Roarick designed the artwork for our fall poster celebrating the FFM 10th Anniversary! The rainbow refers to an original song Shine On by Janet Lessner and arranged by Alma Drake and Jean Littlejohn that is one of several new, original songs the Family Folk Machine will debut at the Fall Concert, November 12, 2023.

Save the date! We will perform our fall program at a concert at the Englert Theatre on Sunday, November 12 at 3:00 p.m.

Rehearsals start Sunday, August 20th at 2pm at City Park (weather permitting). We enjoyed being outdoors during Covid and continue the tradition. We move indoors to the Iowa City Senior Center October 8. Please email jean@familyfolkmachine.org for information.

As part of our 10th anniversary celebration, the Family Folk Machine will host a screening of the movie “Pete Seeger: The Power of Song” on Tuesday, May 2, beginning at 6:45 p.m. at the Senior Center in downtown Iowa City. This inspiring film features interviews with Arlo Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and many other folks and documents important moments in Pete’s life and work. For those interested in how songs can make change in the world, it’s a really energizing story!

We’ll provide popcorn and an enthusiastic sing-along after the film. Please plan to join us!

Happy New Year from the Family Folk Machine!

We are excited to begin rehearsals for our spring session, “Love in the Harmony,” celebrating the 10th anniversary of the FFM! When we first gathered in January 2013, we couldn’t imagine what the coming ten years would bring. It will bring great joy to gather friends old and new this Sunday to begin our work together for this spring.

Our spring session will combine “greatest hits” of the past ten years of FFM concerts with some new songs about how music works on our world, including two brand-new originals. Other highlights include songwriting workshops for kids (with Nicole Upchurch) and adults (with Christine Moad) and a harmony-singing workshop with Annie Savage and Greg Blake.

Is the time right for you to sing with us? Send an email to jean@familyfolkmachine.org if you’d like to join us! We rehearse on Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m. at the Iowa City Senior Center.

And it is not too late to support our work with a donation to the 10th Anniversary edition of the FFM Annual Appeal! You can send a check to our P.O. Box or donate securely online using the “Donate” tab above!

Save the Date
The Family Folk Machine spring concert will take place at the Englert Theatre on Saturday, May 13 at 3:00 p.m. Hope to see you there!

We have launched the FFM Annual Appeal! Coming up on our 10th anniversary in January of 2023, please consider supporting our work with a donation of any size! We hope to keep singing and building community for 10 more years, and 10 after that. You can make a secure online donation here:

https://secure.processdonation.org/familyfolkmachine/Donation.aspx

or you can send a check to

Family Folk Machine
P.O. Box 1421
Iowa City, IA 52244

Thanks for your support! We wouldn’t be here without our community!

Hope to see you at the Englert on November 13 at 3:00 p.m. for Carry On: Songs for Living!

Carry On: Songs for Living

We can’t wait to present our fall concert, Carry On: Songs for Living, at the Englert Theatre on Sunday, November 13, at 3:00 p.m.!

Join us this Saturday, May 14, at 3 p.m. at the historic Englert Theatre for the spring concert of the Family Folk Machine! Sing a Song: To Noisemaking! will feature songs about the joy of singing together and will get you singing along. Hope you can be there!

We are so pleased to present a special collaboration with the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre as part of the performance. Led by Monica Leo, the FFM kids will present a puppet shadow play accompanied by an original song by FFM teen Tessera Rippentrop.

The concert is family-friendly and free. Donations will be accepted with gratitude. If you can’t join us in person, you can tune in using this link:
https://youtu.be/eP68czIkSL4
either in real time or anytime after the concert.

You can also catch members of the FFM at the Iowa City Public Works open house, an all-day party on Saturday, May 21 at the new public works building at 3810 Napoleon Lane. Our set will be 11:00 to 11:30; find all the details here: https://www.icgov.org/news/upcoming-public-works-open-house-features-day-family-fun-─-roller-skating-quilts-more .

We’ll start our Fall 2022 session, Carry On: Songs for Living, in mid-August! Drop us a note if you might like to join us then.

The Family Folk Machine will present our spring concert, “Sing a Song: To Noisemaking!” on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. The concert is free with donations gratefully accepted. We will be celebrating the joys of singing together in this song-themed concert. As a musical centerpiece, we will feature a puppet shadow play presented by the FFM kids under the direction of Eulenspiegel Puppets’ Monica Leo. The shadow play will be set to an original song by Tessera Rippentrop.

Hope you can join us on May 14!