Gordon Bok (Special Event)

Gordon Bok grew up around the boatyards of Camden, Maine. In his early years, he worked on a variety of vessels, from passenger schooners to yachts. He learned many tunes, sea songs, stories, legends and ballads from the people he worked with. His early songs like "Bay of Fundy", began to get attention, as did his rich voice and fluid guitar work. Paul Stookey, of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, produced Gordon's first album for Verve. At a time when folk music was experiencing a great revival, Gordon became a leader in preserving, collecting, creating and sharing a wide variety of rich and intensely beautiful songs of both land and sea. His mastery of both 6- and 12-string guitars added to his already well-developed vocal expression to create an unmistakable style that has carried him through decades of being one of our most cherished folk artists. He has made more than a score of albums and many other musicians have recorded his songs. His music has been used in films and is published in folk music anthologies, including Rise Up Singing and his own collections, Time and the Flying Snow and One to Sing, One to Haul.In addition to performing in concert halls, coffeehouses, and festivals through the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Scandinavia, New Zealand, and Australia, Gordon has taught choral singing and song writing at summer music camps and other gatherings. He has served both as Artist-in Residence and faculty member of the College of the Atlantic. Although he never graduated from college, he received an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the Maine Maritime Academy in 1997.Gordon's deep bass voice and his guitars and cellamba are perfectlly suited to the acoustics of Tifereth Israel Congregation's Wolman Sanctuary.