Vermont School of
Irish Traditional Music

Welcome to our

Fall 2026

6- Week Repertoire Series!​

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Ever since we began teaching Irish music way back in 2008, we have advertised our traditional music classes as “Irish session repertoire”.

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Here’s our confession:

Our real goal was to foster community - a community of musicians who had enough repertoire in common that they could enjoy playing music together inside Vermont and also throughout the world.

And we had another quiet goal: to pass on the concept that playing traditional music is about much more than just accumulating repertoire.

We are proud that our secret goal of fostering community has been more successful than we could have possibly imagined. And we’re proud that our students, past and present, have a wide reputation of of being knowledgeable and respectful when it comes to Irish music.

Most of all, we’re happy to have met so many wonderful people and to have made such good friends, in Vermont and beyond.

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Registration opens

September 5th, 2026

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Registration deadline:

September 23rd, 2026

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Classes begin:

September 30th, 2026

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Here is a quote from a post on learning Irish music:​

"Dont spend your time worrying about anyone being better than you. The wonderful thing about music is that there's always someone who is at a different stage in their journey."

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You are welcome to choose one or both classes!

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Class Options:

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​​​1. Introduction to

Core Irish Repertoire

(in-person only)

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This in-person series is designed for people who can already play a melody instrument, but want to learn more about Irish traditional music. 

​More experienced Irish musicians who would like to review and practice core repertoire are also welcome to this class.

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The goal of the Core Repertoire class is to help you meet other musicians,  learn some solid Irish repertoire, and enjoy the art of playing Irish music with others.

 

One tune will be assigned each week, accompanied by the story behind the tune, videos, and instructional sound files.

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We'll go through all the assigned tunes in class, review tunes already assigned, and practice playing them with each other.  We will also work on speed, with exercises to help you work up to "session speed" in your playing.

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By the end of the series you'll have learned some popular Irish session tunes and some of the history behind the music we play.

But you will also make some new friends and be introduced to both the local and the world-wide community of people who love to play Irish music.

 

Dates :

Wednesdays

September 30th - November 4th

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Time (Core Repertoire)

6:30 - 7:45 pm

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Location for in-person classes:

St. Leo's Hall

(behind St. Andrew's Catholic Church)

109 South Main St., Waterbury Vermont

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2. Advanced In-Person Classes

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This class aims to give musicians a deeper look into Irish music and repertoire. It is geared to musicians who play at an intermediate to advanced level, and who want to learn more about iconic musicians, composers, and styles of playing.​​

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We hope that learning about the players and composers of this music (and some of the stories behind the tunes) will help make both the music and the playing of it more meaningful to you.

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Classes will feature weekly assigned tunes, teaching sound files, video clips, and stories behind the tunes using both email and Google Drive. 

We will also offer practice suggestions to help increase speed and "lift" in your playing.

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You can download and work with the audio files at your convenience.

  In addition, in-person classes focus on socializing with other musicians, learning to play a tune at different speeds, from moderate to fast, as well as learning to play comfortably in small to large group settings.

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Time

7:45- 9:00 pm

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Location

St. Leo's Hall (behind St. Andrew's Catholic Church)

109 South Main St., Waterbury, VT

 

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3. Advanced Online Classes

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The online series is geared to musicians who live outside Vermont. or who cannot conveniently attend in-person classes.​​​​

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(See above for description)

 

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​Theme for the Fall 2026

Advanced Repertoire Series:

The Living Tradition

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The Irish music tradition has never been set in stone.  It is a vibrant, living thing.  

While new recordings are often based on music that was played generations before, musicians today continue to put their own stamp on older tunes, or compose new ones that add to the repertoire.

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This fall we are selecting tunes from some of the exciting new recordings in our collection.  These are tunes (some new, some old)  that seem to be in the current repertoire and which we think will be fun to teach.

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As always we will teach one new tune and one review tune (optional) each week.

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And we'll do our best to continue the community-building which is at the heart of the Irish traditional music family.

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​​​​Who can register?

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This series is open to Vermonters and out-of-staters alike - with the understanding that

no class audio files may be shared outside the class. 

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What is the tuition?

 

We want to keep classes affordable for everyone, so we’re asking for a suggested registration fee of just $100 USD 

 

If you are able to chip in more to support this effort or to help those who can't afford it, we're hugely grateful.

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If you are not able to afford $100, just contribute whatever you can.

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How to register:

 

You can register simply by emailing us at benedictandhilari@gmail.com.

Specify which class you are registering for, and what instrument you play.

 

We will confirm your registration and let you know how to pay tuition.

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