Benjamin Keith Stewart
Traditional Appalachian, British, and Ukrainian Repertoire
Benjamin Keith Stewart…
has been drawn to singing with others from a very young age. Making music in a group holds a special mysticism for him. Although it was musical theater that filled this void when he was young, he was lucky enough to be introduced to West African drumming, dancing, and singing traditions in college, which opened a portal into the world of folk music that has never since been closed. One thing led to another, and ever since Benya has been exploring, studying and performing in folk song traditions—first Ghanaian, but then Appalachian, British, and Ukrainian. And now he is excited to spend time studying some of these very special songs together with the participants of Folk Camp 2024. For the last year, Benya has been intensively studying Ukrainian folk singing while based in Kyiv, while trying to serve the significant desire there to learn songs from the Appalachians. He has taken classes with Hanna and Serhii Ohrimchuk, and regularly attends the conservatory class of Yevhen Yefremov of Drevo.