RiverRead Books

 We welcome back Amy Shapiro and Andy Lutins!      

Amy & Allen brings a breadth of folk music styles to the contra dance floor. As members of Wild Rose and the Thorns (a Binghamton, NY-based contra dance band), Amy Shapiro and Allen Lutins have played scores of contra dances throughout New York and Pennsylvania. Their duo performances feature European folk music (especially Celtic and Scandinavian) as well as Old Time and other ‘Americana’ classics.

Allen is best known as a clarinetist with several Ithaca-based klezmer ensembles. He is also an accomplished guitarist and Irish whistle player, performing in a variety of other styles (including the early music ensemble Musica Universalis). Amy started out playing classical violin and viola, coming to folk music later in life playing widely in New York’s Southern Tier area for contra and English country dancing. Over the past several years, she has become interested in Scandinavian and other European music styles and attended folk workshops in Germany.