Here is a summary of the NEFilks (Permanent Northeast Floating Filk Conventions) held to date. Please contact me if you have any additions or corrections. Information prior to 1999 is based largely on Steve Brinich’s “The Floating Northeast Filk Cons Past,” in the ConCertino 99 program book. Other sources include past program books, MASSFILC records, and my own memory.
ConCerto, June 8-10, 1990, Cherry Hill, NJ.
Guests of Honor: Kathy Mar, Linda Melnick
Chair: Carol Kabakjian
Toastmaster: J. Spencer Love
Notes: This was the first regional filk convention in the northeastern
US, and initiated a number of traditions for later conventions in the series, including the songbook within the program book.
ConCertino, June 19-21, 1992, Westboro, MA
Guests of Honor: T.J. and Mitchell Burnside-Clapp
Chair: J. Spencer Love
Toastmaster: Duane Elms
Listener Guest: Lindy Sears
Special Guest: Naomi Pardue
Interfilk Guest: Randy Farran
Notes: When plans for another ConCerto in New Jersey fell through, Spencer convinced M.A.S.S. F.I.L.C. (now MASSFILC) to plan a convention in New England, starting from scratch in February. The name means “a small concerto.” This was the first convention in the series to have an Interfilk guest and a listener guest.
Conterpoint, June 4-6, 1993, Baltimore, MD
Guest of Honor: Bill Roper
Chair: Lindy Sears
Toastmaster: Dick Eney
Folk Guest: Sue Trainor
Notes: One of the contributors to the songbook portion of the
program book was Pete Seeger.
Contata 1994, June 10-13, 1994, Secaucus, NJ
Guest of Honor: Joey Shoji
Chair: Mike Browne
Toastmistress: Mary Ellen Wessels
ConCertino ’95, June 9-11, 1995, Westboro, MA
Guests of Honor: Barry and Sally Childs-Helton
Chair: Ellen Kranzer
Toastmistress: Judith Hayman
Interfilk Guest: Jordin Kare
Listener Guest: Bob Lauren
Conterpoint Too!, June 21-23, 1996, Triangle/Quantico, VA
Guests of Honor: Heather Alexander, Leslie Fish
Chair: Crystal Paul
Toastmistress: Rennie Levine
BNFs at Large: Cynthia McQuillin and “Dr. Jane” Robinson
Notes: Cynthia and Jane were invited with the help of an anonymous
donor, but Cynthia was unable to attend due to illness.
The Second ConCerto, June 13-15, 1997, Cherry Hill, NJ
Guests of Honor: Urban Tapestry (Allison Durno, Jodi Krangle, Debbie Ridpath Ohi)
Chair: T. William Wells
Toastmaster: Ian Hanley
Interfilk Guest: Philip Allcock
Listener Guest: Ellen Kranzer
Contata 98, June 10-12, 1998, Saddle Brook, NJ
Guest of Honor: Steve Macdonald
Chair: Mike Browne
Listener Guest: Marc Glasser
Toastmaster: Marc Osier
Interfilk Guest: Jane Mailander
ConCertino 99, July 9-11, 1999, Westboro, MA
Guests of Honor: Bill and Brenda Sutton
Chair: Gary McGath
Listener Guest: Mike Browne
Toastmaster: Ed Hutnik
Interfilk Guest: Alan Thiesen
Notes: The chair’s promise to get 100 members was reached at
the banquet, but it was noticed that the last six entities to sign up
weren’t breathing.
Conterpoint Three, June 16-18, 2000, Triangle/Quantico, VA
Guest of Honor: Joe Bethancourt
Chair: Harold Feld
Group Guest: Clam Chowder
Toastmaster: Steven Joel Zeve
Interfilk Guest: Lynn Gold
Conterpoint Four, June 22-24, 2001, Rockville, MD
Guest of Honor: Michael Longcor
Chair: Steve Brinich
Toastmaster: H. Paul Shuch
Interfilk Guest: “Downtown” Freddy Brown
Notes: The Third Concerto, which would normally have fallen into the 2001
rotation, was cancelled with a year’s notice, so Conglomeration filled in the gap.
Contata 3, June 21-23, 2002, South Plainfield, NJ
Guests of Honor: Dandelion Wine (Tom Jeffers and Dave Clement)
Chair: Bruce Adelsohn
Toastmaster: Solomon Davidoff
Interfilk Guest: Andrew Eigel
Listener Guest: Steve Brinich
ConCertino ’03, July 18-20, 2003, Worcester, MA
Guests of Honor: Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff
Chair: Lois Mangan
Toastmaster: Erica Neely
Writer Guest: Ellen Kushner
Listener Guest: Priscilla Olson
Choirmaster: Ed Stauff
Interfilk Guest: Rika Körte
Conterpoint 2004, June 11-13, 2004, Rockville, MD
Guest of Honor: Chris “Minstrel” Malme
Chair: Gary Ehrlich
Toastmaster: Bob Esty
Interfilk Guest: Jordan Mann
Contata 2005, June 24-26, 2005, Secaucus, NJ
Guests of Honor: Carla Ulbrich and Joe Giacoio
Chair: Debra Fran Baker
Toastmaster: Harold Feld
Listener Guest: Persis Thorndike
Interfilk Guest: Mara Brener
ConCertino ’06, June 16-18, 2006, Worcester, MA
Guest of Honor: Mike Whitaker
Chair: Robin Holly
Toastmistress: Mary Crowell
Honored Listener Guests: Mabel Liang and Bob Leigh
Interfilk Guest: Nancy Louise Freeman
Conterpoint 2007, June 22-24, 2007, Rockville, MD
Guest of Honor: Wild Mercy
Chair: Crystal Paul
Toastmaster: John Hall
Interfilk Guest: Seanan McGuire
Notes: A CD-ROM with songs and other features was given to members
instead of the usual songbook.
Contata 5, June 20-22, 2008, Parsippany, NJ
Guest of Honor: Heather Dale
Chair: Merav Hoffman
Toastmaster: Tom Smith
Listener Guest: Crystal Paul
Retro GoH: Carla Ulbrich
Interfilk Guests: Nate and Louie Bucklin
Notes: Due to an injury, Tom Smith was unable to attend. Carla Ulbrich
was invited as Retro GoH and stand-in toastmaster. Christine Lavin
(at whose concert Tom was injured) MC’ed the benefit concert for Tom Smith.
ConCertino 2009, June 19-21, 2009, Worcester, MA
Guests of Honor: Bill and Gretchen Roper
Chair: Gary McGath
Toastmaster: Kathleen Sloan
Techno-Guest: Harold Stein
Ghost of Honor: Lois Mangan
Interfilk Guests: Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell
Notes: John Caspell died of complications following a traffic accident
before the convention. A limited-edition CD, prepared by Harold Stein, was distributed to convention guests and premier members.
Conterpoint 2010, June 25-27, 2010, Rockville, MD
Guests of Honor: Ed Stauff and Mary Ellen Wessels
Chair: Gary Ehrlich
Toastmistress: Juanita Coulson
Interfilk Guest: Char MacKay
Listener Guests: Jonathan and Debbie Baker
Note: The Bakers were unable to attend due to a death in the family.
Contata 6, July 1-3, 2011, Parsippany, NJ
Guest of Honor: Judi Miller
Chair: Merav Hoffman
Toastmaster: Tom Smith
Interfilk Guests: Pavlov’s Duck
Listener Guest: Deb Wunder
ConCertino 2012, June 29-July 1, 2012, Boxborough, MA
Guest of Honor: Playing Rapunzel
Chair: Ellen Kranzer
Toastmaster: Partners in K’Rhyme
Interfilk Guest: Peggi Warner-Lalonde
Songwriter Guest: Ariel Cinii
Conterpoint 2013, June 21-23, 2013, Rockville, MD
Guests of Honor: Stone Dragons (Tom and Sue Jeffers)
Chair: Gary Ehrlich
Toastmaster: Andrew Ross
Interfilk Guest: Lissa Allcock
Listener Guests: Jonathan and Debbie Baker
Contata 7, June 20-22, 2014, Morristown, NJ
Guests of Honor: Amy McNally and David Perry
Chair: Joshua Kronengold
Toastmaster: T.J. and Mitchell Burnside Clapp
Interfilk Guest: Peter Alway
Listener Guest: Sheryl Ehrlich
ConCertino 2015, June 19-21, 2015, Boxborough, MA
Guests of Honor: Summer and Fall (Eva Van Daele-Hunt and Crystal Blum)
Chair: Gary McGath
Toastmaster: Rand Bellavia
Interfilk Guest: Kari Maaren
LinGuest: Mark Mandel
Conterpoint 2016, July 1-3, 2016, Timonium, MD
Guests of Honor: Bill and Brenda Sutton
Chair: Steve Brinich
Toastmaster: Callie Hills
Interfilk Guest: Kip McMurray
Contata 2017, June 23-25, 2017, Morristown, NJ
Guest of Honor: Bob Kanefsky
Chairs: Merav Hoffman, Joshua Kronengold
Brave Toaster: Mary Ellen Wessels
Seasoned Guest: Jane Sibley
Interfilk Guest: Angry Antz / Zornige Ameisen (Silke Kovàr and Steffi Zurek)
ConCertino 2018, June 29-July 1, 2018, Dedham, MA
Guest of Honor: Cecilia Eng
Chair: Ben Newman, Beth Runnerwolf
Toastmaster: Errol Elumir
Fan Guest: Filthy Pierre (Erwin S. Strauss)
Interfilk Guest: Gabrielle Gold
NEWhere 2020, July 3-5, 2020,online
Guest of Honor: Gary Ehrlich
Chair: Alex Wittenberg
NEWhere 2021, June 18-20, 2021, online
Guest of Honor: Dave Weingart
Chair: Alex Wittenberg
NEWh3re, June 10-12, 2022, online
Guest of Honor: Astrisoni
Chair: Alex Wittenberg
A convention scorecard:
- ConCerto: Conventions held in the New Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia. No permanent organization is associated with ConCerto.
- ConCertino: Conventions held in Massachusetts, organized
by MASSFILC - Contata: Conventions held in the New York City area,
organized by New York Metropolitan Filk Organization. - Conterpoint: Conventions held in the Baltimore / D.C. area. The first one received organizational backing from MASSFILC; Conglomeration was formed to organize subsequent conventions.
- NEWhere: Online conventions using Zoom or other conferencing technology. Pronounced “anywhere,” not “new here.”