Simple Gifts in Concert Sunday

Simple Gifts in Concert Sunday

Simple Gifts, one of Pennsylvania’s most popular folk acts, will be performing in Huntingdon on Sunday, November 13 at 2 pm. This versatile duo plays an impressive array of instruments, including the violin, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, recorder, banjo, guitar, bowed psaltery, baritone fiddle, shruti box, banjolin, guitjo, and doumbek. 

Simple Gifts’s performances range across a variety of musical styles, such as Irish jigs, American reels, Klezmer freilachs, Gypsy melodies, and Balkan dance tunes. The duo put their own distinctive stamp on whatever type of music they are playing, blending styles from diverse cultures with their American roots. 

Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon have performed as Simple Gifts since 1995. They have appeared at venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including the Smithsonian, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Longwood Gardens, National Theater, Whitaker Center, Hershey Theatre, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and dozens of colleges and universities throughout the region. 

Simple Gifts has recorded six albums. Their newest, “Crossing Borders: Music of Many Lands,” received a national award from Indie Acoustic. Their previous album, “Time and Again,” won a bronze star (third place) in the Crossroads Music Awards. Their recordings include traditional music from Romania, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, France, Sweden, Denmark, and America, plus original compositions by each group member.

The concert will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 13, at the Huntingdon County Arts Center at 313 12^th Street. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $16 for Arts Council members and students (with ID). Juniata College students and children 12 and under are free.