The Folklife Children’s Program
The Folklife Festival’s Children’s Program was created in 1974 by Kate Rinzler, assisted by Barbara Melnicove. The mission was to encourage children’s participation in the Festival through teaching and learning dances, games and songs, telling jokes, listening to tales, recording their impressions in drawings, and discussing and sharing their own folklife.
Celebrating the Revival of Old-Time Southern Music and Dance
by Kate Rinzler & Mike Seeger, 1997 Folklife Festival, Special Events
Ralph Rinzler (1934-1994), founding director of the Festival of American Folklife, worked over the years with a host of gifted musicians and folklorists, doing fieldwork, issuing recordings, and presenting concerts. These people collectively advocated and participated in numerous revivals. The Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert Series pays tribute to Ralph and his work by honoring long-time colleagues and like-minded advocates, and the traditions which they have touched. This year we highlight the revival of Southern old-time and string band music.
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Remembering Kate Rinzler
by Jeff Place
Archivist, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collection, Smithsonian Institution
Each year the Smithsonian Folklife Festival holds a special evening concert to honor both its co-founder Ralph Rinzler (1934-1994) and a key person with whom he collaborated. The 2011 Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert pays tribute to his wife, Kate . For many years during Ralph’s tenure as director of the Festival, Kate was his confidante and worked closely by his side.
Kathryn Hughes Rinzler (and Ralph always referred to her as Kathryn when he was addressing her affectionately) was born in 1937 in London, England, to an old New
England family. She followed her dream to be a modern dancer and choreographer, studying dance in college and performing until she became a mother and her interests
turned to teaching. She remarked, “That became one of the main themes in my life, to become a teacher …. It’s much harder to be a dancer or choreographer! I was for a
while-but then that got transformed into writing plays from oral histories, creating choreographies for children, and in the meantime, I was really studying children’s ways of transforming their energies.” Kate used art to teach children about social issues. And children’s folklore-their art and their games-became another major theme in her life.
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Concert of Children’s Music to Remember Kate Rinzler
July 11, 2011
Each year the Smithsonian Folklife Festival holds a special evening concert to honor both its co-founder Ralph Rinzler (1934-1994) and a key person with whom he collaborated.
Last July 9, the Festival remembered Kate Rinzler (1937-2010) at the annual Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert. To read about Kate’s life, click here. The evening of family-friendly music featured three Smithsonian Folkways artists: Elizabeth Mitchell, Suni Paz, and Chip Taylor and the Grandkids.
Kate Rinzler Archives at Smithsonian Folklife Festival Website
Kate’s contributions and legacy to the festival are countless. She often wrote articles, curated artists, was program coordinator, and performed at the event. Her and Ralph’s impact is being felt and celebrated to this day!
The Ralph Rinzler Memoral Concert in 1997 was sponsored by the Friends of the Festival, the Ruth Mott Fund, Bob Dylan, the Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds, Homespun Tapes, County Records, the Woody Guthrie Foundation, Sugar Hill Records, Kate Rinzler, and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
The life of Kate Rinzler was celebrated on July 9, 2011 with lively performances by two Smithsonian Folkways recording artists, Elizabeth Mitchell and Suni Paz. Mitchell, who has recorded two albums for Smithsonian Folkways, made her Festival debut, while renowned Argentinean songwriter/singer Suni Paz, who recorded several albums for Smithsonian Folkways, returned to the Festival after many years. In this video, they perform “Peace Like a River” from Mitchell’s 2006 album You Are My Little Bird.
If you’d like to explore the Smithsonian Folklife Festival online archives of Kate Rizler please click here!