PREVIEW: Caffe Lena brings Fiddles & Foliage to Saratoga Springs
9/29/24 at High Rock Park, Saratoga Springs
“Like everything Caffe Lena does, their school of music is rooted in trying to keep the folk tradition alive, which is so much about sharing music communally.”
It should come as a shock to no one that, when it comes time for budget cuts in schools, arts education programs are the first to be impacted. It’s a truth as universal as “water is wet” or “Northway traffic is the bane of my existence”.
Speaking from multiple perspectives here – musician, former student and teacher of music, parent of school-aged children – it’s a vast disservice to limit kids’ access to the arts. I could go on and on as to why, but that’s not the point of this article. The point is to shine a light on a treasured local institution doing it right: Caffe Lena.
“The focus of Caffe Lena School of Music is to rekindle music as a social pastime,” the school’s director, Vivian Nesbitt, tells me. “Music lessons cost money and instruments are expensive – even renting them can be daunting. Our goal is to remove the barrier of entry for people; we can offer full scholarships to those in need, and even partial scholarships for people who have maybe three kids that all want to come.”
It’s maintaining these scholarships that led to the start of their Fiddles & Foliage Festival, which debuted last year in Saratoga Springs. The family-friendly event is, in part, designed to help refill both their need-based scholarship, the Matt McCabe Fund, and their merit-based scholarship, the Kearney Fund. But the main goal of the event, as is the case with everything Caffe Lena presents, is to bring the community together to celebrate the arts.
“It is a big old block party,” Vivian shares. “It feels like a family reunion for all the people who participate in the classes at Caffe Lena, the teachers and the community members who support the school. Yes, it is our number one fundraiser for the year for the School of Music, but it doesn’t feel like a fundraiser.”
Last year’s inaugural event was a great opportunity for them to not only get together, but to invite new people into the family and get a feel for the school’s core values. It featured plenty of local food vendors, games and activities for the whole family, and – of course! – a wide variety of live music (not just fiddles). This year’s festival, taking place Sunday afternoon at High Rock Park, promises to be even bigger.
“We've expanded our vendors so that we have more people coming from the community,” Vivian tells me. “We're sharing it with like-minded organizations. There will be a representative from the Waldorf School doing crafts, and also the Saratoga Springs Public Library will have a van there. We've simplified our entertainment offerings to feature student bands, but don't be fooled. They are really good. We also have instructor bands. It is really a showcase for both our instructors and our students that are in bands, and very much about all the people who make this place so special.”
A charmingly unique selection of entertainment Vivian helps arrange for the festival is the Band Scramble, where students of all backgrounds get their names tossed into a hat and then selected at random for a performance.
“We make little bands out of three or four people that may have never met, and then they get together and play a song. It's super fun, and they all perform [their songs] in front of the audience at the end.”
The school was dreamt up a few years ago in order to try and get instruments into the hands of kids before, say, an iPhone. There’s no hierarchy in the class structure, meaning every student is in it together, regardless of skill level. Like everything Caffe Lena does, their school of music is rooted in trying to keep the folk tradition alive, a tradition which is all about sharing music communally. Their passion for this is unrivaled – you can feel it the moment you step foot into the venue.
“One of the things that really blows me away about this place is you can feel the history in the walls,” Vivian beams. ”Everybody who plays a guitar or sings a song in this place… ‘the great, the nearly great, the not so great, they are all in their own way responsible for my still being here.’ That’s Lena Spencer’s quote. It’s right here on the wall in our green room.”
I had the incredible opportunity to perform on the Lena stage for the first time earlier this year, and I felt what Vivian describes firsthand. The room has a calming presence, like the walls are telling you their stories in a hushed voice. Before the first note of a performance even rings out, it’s clear that something special is about to happen. I’ve never played for a more respectful crowd; those that step foot into Caffe Lena’s listening room are there because of an unrelenting devotion to music, and the same can be said of the school that Vivian runs.
Knowing all of this, I had to ask what the most rewarding part of her job running the school has been. I was anticipating any number of enthusiastic answers, but instead, I was met with an unmistakable pause.
“Oh my gosh. I just got a little emotional,” Vivian admits. She explains that she’s retiring at the end of the year. The shakiness in her voice, above all else, made it clear as day: this is a person who cares deeply about her job, her community and her students. This is a person who took on the challenge of opening a school at the very beginning of a pandemic and not only rose to the occasion, but found a way to keep the spirit of folk music alive even when it required being socially distant. This is a person who belongs at the helm of an arts education institution, and after just 20 minutes on the phone, there is no doubt in my mind she will be sorely missed. What she has given the community in educating the next generation of musicians is invaluable, and that fact is not lost on her.
“The most meaningful thing for me is to unlock the doors, turn on the lights, provide the tools for people and watch the magic happen,” she answers, gently. “To see people coming into this legendary venue and making it their own by adding their own creative musical voice in this place.”
It’s safe to say Vivian and her team have added plenty of their creative voices to the venue’s DNA, and I look forward to hearing the walls whisper her stories to me the next time I’m there.
Support Caffe Lena’s School of Music by attending the Fiddles & Foliage festival at High Rock Park in Saratoga Springs, this Sunday, September 29th from 12:00 - 4:00 PM. The event is family-friendly and rain-or-shine. For more information, visit https://www.caffelena.org/fiddles-foliage-festival/.
