2012 is our 23rd Year!

Spend an inspiring, challenging, and thrilling week with others who share your passion for bluegrass! Each August we’re proud to host NimbleFingers Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Workshops in Sorrento, BC–about 5 hours from Vancouver by car between Kamloops and Salmon Arm. Now in our 23rd year, we provide a friendly and noncompetitive environment for everyone from beginners to advanced players, with ample opportunity for group learning, electives, organized jam sessions, and many other spontaneous activities.

There are student concerts, band scrambles, instructor concerts, campground picking sessions, and old time dances. We hear from many of our regulars that the summer music workshop is what they look forward to the most each year. We offer two separate weeks of workshops, and many of our attendees stay for both.

Our home for the workshops, Sorrento Centre, is a beautiful retreat by the shores of Shuswap Lake operated by the Anglican Church of Canada. The site contains two lodges, cabins, and lots of campsites; other facilities include a covered amphitheatre, a private beach, and beautiful trails. The kitchen specializes in fine home-style cooking, now using fresh ingredients from their own organic farm.  Luckily, the harvest comes pouring in during the last two weeks in August. Farm tours are popular for students during the workshop.  Sorrento Centre is also the location of the annual Sorrento Bluegrass Festival, which will take place on August 25th.

NimbleFingers is a new name for an old friend – the BCBW, or British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop. For 22 years the BCBW was brilliantly run by longtime directors Jay Buckwold and Ada Cheung. This year Jay and Ada decided it was time to pass the reins to the next generation,  and we (Julie Kerr and Craig Korth) were up to the task. In taking over the long successful heritage of the BCBW, we plan on keeping up the tradition that participants from across Canada and the US have enjoyed at the BCBW over the past 22 years – great instructors, engaging workshops, fantastic accommodations, and lots of amazing music. It’s going to be a great new ‘season’ for the Western Canadian bluegrass and old-time scene.

See you this summer!

The NimbleFingers Crew

Week 1 2011