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 Laurent
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
- Chairs: 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/li>
NEWhere 2022, June 10-12, 2022, Online
- Guest of Honor: Astrisoni
- Chair: Alex Wittenberg/li>
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 (NYMFO).
- 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 convention, started because of COVID. Pronounced "anywhere."
