New Jersey Folk Festival Program Book 2013 Apr. 2013 | Page 8

Presenting our Performers

Jim Albertson, known for both his storytelling and his singing, has been

contributing to the New Jersey Folk Festival since its very first year in 1975.
He served as emcee for the first 14 years of the festival and has received the
festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to the folk and New
Jersey culture. Jim was elected the first president of the New Jersey Folklore
society in 1980 for his expertise in South Jersey Traditions. In 1985, he released
an album, Down Jersey, on the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways label. Jim
was born in Atlantic City and grew up in the surrounding area.

Michael Aaron Rockland is professor of American Studies at

Rutgers University. His early career was in the U.S. diplomatic service,
during which he was a cultural attaché in both Argentina and Spain.
He is the author of twelve books, three of which have received special
recognition. His first book, Sarmiento’s Travels in the United States in
1847 (Princeton), was chosen by The Washington Post’s Book World
as one of the “Fifty Best Books of the Year.” His novel, A Bliss Case
(Coffee House) was a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year.” A book he co-wrote, Looking
for America on the New Jersey Turnpike (Rutgers) was chosen by the New Jersey State Library
as one of the “Ten Best Books Ever Written on New Jersey or by a New Jerseyan.” His latest
books are Stones, a novel (Hansen Publishing Group), The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in
Steel (Rutgers). Rockland has won five major teaching/lecturing awards, including the National
Teaching Award in American Studies. He has lectured in some twenty-one countries around the
world. A regular contributor to New Jersey Monthly magazine, he has also worked in television
and film production, mostly for P.B.S. He is regularly interviewed on N.P.R.

Next Generation,

young musicians in
the Delaware Valley, get together every month
during the school year at the Irish center
in Philadelphia to learn a new tune and to
have an Irish seisiun (or session) with their
peers. They also perform at the annual IrishAmerican Children’s festival at the Garden Sate
Discovery Museum and have performed at the
Comhaltas Ceoltoiiri Eireann convention and
the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s Irish Music and
Dance Festival. Many of the musicians have
competed in the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil
and have gone on to represent the United States
in the All-Ireland Competition.