THE NEW YORK PACKET

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM'S MARITIME MUSIC GROUP

THE NEW YORK PACKET was founded in 1979 by folk song collector, author and singer Dan Milner. They became South Street Seaport Museum's official maritime music group in 1999.  The New York Packet draws upon 9 highly respected singers and musicians each with his or her own areas of musical, historical or cultural expertise: working shanties, ballads, the Hudson Valley, immigration, African-American song, the Port of New York, inland waterways, Irish traditional song and the repertoire of New York's concert saloons and early vaudeville.

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM is a vibrant center for maritime and urban history in the heart of Lower Manhattan. Among the museum's many treasures are an unparalleled collection of historic ships (including the 347-foot, steel-hulled, four-masted bark, Peking; the schooners Lettie G. Howard and Pioneer; and the Ambrose Lightship), the 1811 Federal Period buildings of Schermerhorn Row, piers that have seen the comings and goings of packets and clipper ships alike, numerous exhibit galleries, and over 1,000,000 books and artifacts relating to New York and maritime history. Your link to the museum's website is South Street Seaport Museum

2005-2006 FALL-WINTER-SPRING CONCERTS: Between October and May, concerts are on Sunday afternoons starting at 3PM at South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery, 209 Water Street (between Fulton and Beekman Streets) in Lower Manhattan. Admission: $5 adults / $2 children. Each month The New York Packet invites special guests.

October 2 - THE CANNIFFE FAMILY. Direct from Cork City in Ireland. Tony, Mary, Tim and Dermot accompany their fine singing with fiddle, cittern, uilleann bagpipes and guitar. They were headliners at this year's Mersey Shanty Festival.

November 6 - JOE HICKERSON. Former head of the Archive of American Folk Life at The Library of Congress, Joe is fathoms deep in the musical lore of this nation.

December 4 - THE NEW YORK PACKET. Come join with us in singing the songs that made tall ships sail on time.

Previous guests have included Liverpool's Hughie Jones, Louis Killen, Mainbrace from Wales, Mick Moloney, Robbie O'Connell, All-Ireland Singing Champion Jim MacFarland, Cliff Haslam from Lancashire, Donal Maguire, Alison MacMorland & Geordie McIntyre from Scotland, Anita Best & Pam Morgan from Newfoundland, Don Sineti, Rick Spencer & Marc Bernier from Mystic Seaport, All-Ireland Fiddle Champions Brian Conway and Pat Mangan, Susan McKeown, David Kincaid, Dick & Carol Holdstock, Ken Hall & Peta Webb, and David Jones & Heather Wood from England.  Concert series co-sponsored by the Folk Music Society of New York.

Other Performances: Shortly after the World Trade Center disaster, on October 20th, 2001, Jan Christensen, Bob Conroy, Frank Hendricks and Dan Milner of The New York Packet sang at a benefit concert for the New York Firemen's Widows & Children's Fund and the Staten Island Firefighters' Memorial organized by Bob Conroy; 73 of the firefighters who died in New York City on September 11th, 2001 lived on Staten Island.  Over $4,000 was raised. Members of The New York Packet regularly sing at folk music and maritime festivals around the North America and Europe.  They have appeared in Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and, in the USA, in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusets, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont.  Please e-mail The New York Packet at folkmusic@prodigy.net for concert details or to discuss booking availability.

The New York Packet brings South Street to Midtown Manhattan at Culture Fest, a celebration of the Big Apple's museums. Pictured (from left), present and past members Frank Woerner, Al Cuenin, Jan Christensen, Bob Conroy, Dan Milner and Bonnie Milner.

The New York Packet on tour in England in August 2001. Dan Milner & Bob Conroy with Joy Bennett, Alison Kelley & Bonnie Milner of The Johnson Girls and Yorkshire accordion whiz, Sam Pirt, entertaining an audience of 1,000 in the BBC Marquee, Sidmouth Folk Festival.

An appreciation of William Main Doerflinger (1910-2000) was published in The Log of Mystic Seaport, Spring 2002. Bill was one of America's great folk song collectors and the only person ever to find "The Leaving of Liverpool" in tradition. Click William Main Doerflinger - Dean of Maritime Music Scholars to view the article.

Jan Christensen of The New York Packet organizes the monthly New York Chantey Sing through the patronage of Rev. Mary Grambsch of The Seamen's Church Institute, 241 Water Street, Manhattan.  The next open maritime sings will be June 18, 2005.

The World's most comprehensive Maritime Music site is The Bitter End.

Photos: Thanks to Sean Murtha, Howie Leifer and Maggie Bye.