Crown Guitar Foundation finishes season of celebration

The Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation’s Workshop and Festival wrapped up its seventh season yesterday in Bigfork.

More than just a star-studded, week-long music festival, the foundation’s primary objective is to offer in-depth music education to students of all ages and abilities.

“From our viewpoint, the reason Crown exists is to give every student the opportunity to learn from as many other artists as possible,” said Crown Executive Director Steve Anderson. “Education is our core. We want to provide a top-of-the-line experience, but make it fun too. Providing that collaborative, creative place ... It’s all key to the educational benefits.”

This year, 78 participants had the opportunity to take advantage of those educational benefits. Many of those students — ranging from age 9 to about 65 — received full scholarships to cover the costs of tuition for the workshop week; 14 of those scholarships came from the Crown foundation.

“This is life-changing [for students],” said Crown’s Workshop and Media Manager Amelia Thornton. “The networking and intense content offered in the classes ... It’s like no other place. The No. 1 mission of Crown is to build the next generation of musicians, and education is the heart of this. The workshop experience is what started all of this.”

Anderson said he is optimistic about the future of Crown and the education and outreach the organization is focused on.

“All of our allocation is focused on developing education and outreach, not just in Bigfork but throughout the entire Flathead Valley,” Anderson said. “I would love to increase the number of scholarships awarded every year. If we had 75 to 100 percent of our students on scholarships, I’d be happy.”

One of this year’s Crown scholarship recipients was Michelle Lynn Tribble, also known by her stage name, Michelle Rivers.

“The Crown scholarships, I mean that’s just a huge blessing for a lot of folks,” Tribble said.

From Eureka, this was Tribble’s first experience with Crown. She elected to take the singer and songwriter course, taught primarily by Crown faculty member Greg Horne and featuring artists in residence Jim Messina and Liz Longley.

“I came in without really knowing what to expect, but it’s been awesome,” Tribble said. “From day one, it got really deep really fast. The first day, Dave Feffer, who was the workshop founder [and current chair of Crown’s board of directors], told us that classes would be like drinking from a fire hose. He was exactly right!”

Tribble said one of her favorite things about the workshop was getting to know all the other participants.

“Everyone comes from such different backgrounds and experience levels, and it is cool getting to hear from everyone and learn from everyone,” she said. “In the singer and songwriter class, we get to know people through their songs. And I just can’t say how amazing that is — it’s pretty life-changing.”

Annika Gordon, a 2016 graduate of Whitefish High School, is also a scholarship recipient in the singer and songwriter course. This was her second time attending the workshop.

“It’s been cool so far,” she said. “I took the rock and blues class a couple of years ago, and there was lots of soloing and focus on guitar playing. This year, I’ve been able to focus on the writing aspect and hear from professionals who are really into the writing ... There are so many talented people in that class. It’s intimidating, but also inspiring.”

Anderson and Thornton both said one of the most significant changes to the workshop classes was the addition of the artists in residence as guest instructors.

“Last year we learned that putting the artists and faculty together to teach was a good way of life,” Anderson said. “So now, each class has two artists to provide that extra boost. What we’ve seen is that it takes everyone to a whole new level.”

Another important aspect of the workshop is the opportunity for participants to perform, not only for others in the workshop, but for the Crown audience attending the festival as well.

“We’ve taken the outdoor stage and assigned a class to perform every night,” Anderson said. “It really gives them a chance to feel the crowd in a less intimidating environment [compared to the main stage.]”

The student showcase concert on Friday gives the workshop students the chance to tackle that main stage.

“The big stage is cool but nerve-wracking,” Gordon said. “It’s empowering to be on this stage with all the famous, professional, super-genius people who have been here performing all week.”

Joseph Torgerson, 13, was a scholarship participant this year, his second year at Crown. He said he aspires to be a career musician, and that the time and experience he gained through Crown “has been really, really awesome.”

Torgerson was enrolled in the Dziuba and Co. Jazz class for the week, taught by faculty member Mark Dziuba and featuring artists in residence Julian Lage and Melvin Davis.

“The workshop classes have been very focused and intense,” Torgerson said. “Not only are you learning songs, but also learning techniques within the songs. So by the end you’ve learned a ton of stuff.”

Torgerson said he enjoyed the on-stage experience as well.

“It wouldn’t have been quite as stressful if Dweezil Zappa wasn’t in the front row!” Torgerson said, laughing. “I’ve been on stage a lot before, but that really pushed me to make it a great performance.”

The Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to “enrich the lives of students, artists, teachers and audiences through the study, performance, composition and celebration of the guitar.”

For more information on the workshop, festival or foundation, visit www.crownguitarfest.org.

Entertainment editor Stefanie Thompson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.