ConCertino 2009 Guests

Bill and Gretchen Roper
Guests of Honor

Guests of Honor Bill & Gretchen Roper have been active in recording, publishing,writing, and performing filk for over twenty years. Bill’s songs and performances include strong original material, both serious and humorous. He has a tape of his own, The Grim Roper, and one shared with Clif Flynt, Liftoff to Landing. He received Pegasus Awards for his songs, “Wind From Rainbow’s End,” and “Kinda Mediocre, Actually”. Gretchen has written or co-written lyrics for a large number of songs, including “Library Song”, “Brain Sludge”, and “My Husband the Filker,” which won a Pegasus award in 2003. In her collaborations with Bill, she is responsible for far more insanity than her demeanor would have you believe. To see their interplay on these songs is to watch a pair of masters at work. It is less widely known that Gretchen is also a delightful performer in her own right. In 2000 Bill was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame, and in 2006 Gretchen joined the Filk Hall of Fame ranks. You can learn more about them by checking the FHOF link on the FilKONtario website.Their albums include Seven Miles a Second, Crosstime Bus, and Falling Towards Orion.

Kathleen Sloan
Toastmaster

Kathleen Sloan, also known as "the Catalog Queen" is one of the last people in fandom to NOT have a website, so here is a more old fashioned bio.

Kathleen entered fandom in 1975 and went to her first filk at a Marconin 1976 (during a tornado warning, in a tornado shelter in a stair well; great acoustics!) For a long time she was mostly a listener,sitting quietly (ok I agree, that is a little hard to imagine) in the back of the room crocheting and adding the occasional harmony. She went to mostly Ohio and midwestern conventions, and after finishing medical school and residency, she started playing in circles. A move to Denver and a job change allowed her to attend many more filk cons, and she began to dabble at song writing. In 1993 Kathleen was asked to become an Interfilk director. Since then she has been (in) famous for her antics wenching at Interfilk auctions, as well as for donating many a strange item along with the occasional beautiful beadwork piece. She was even crazy enough to help co-run filking at Denvetion 3 in 2008 (and she has almost recovered from that experience).

Though not a prolific songwriter Kathleen has written several notable songs including "Catalog Queen", "A Kind Of Magic", and "Take It Back". She loves to cover other writers songs and enjoys learning filks to take around the country (and even Germany once in a while!) to share at multiple filk cons. You can often find Kathleen sitting just outside the circle working on some intricate bead project, waiting for the right moment to add a song to the evening's music. Kathleen is thrilled and honored to have been asked to be the toastmaster for Concertino, and is extra excited that she gets to come to the convention where Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell are the Interfilk guests . In 2007 Kathleen was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame, and you can learn more about her by checking the link on the FilkOntario website.

Harold Stein
Techno-Guest

Techno-Guest Harold Stein is an energetic figure at Northeastern conventions, recording concerts and open filks and getting people copies of their own performances as well as donating many to Interfilk. He was a member of the Denvention Art Show staff and art show and filk staff at Lunacon. He is running filk for I-Con in April. He has recorded and published seven CDs so far. Harold is currently working on Kathy Sands CD #3, tentatively titled Do Hackers Dream of Electric Sheep? (recorded and in the editing process), the Contata 2008 CD, and a special project for Concertino.

Lois Mangan
Ghost of Honor

December 15, 1946 to May 10, 2008.

Spouse, sister, Registered Nurse ("You only get *one* back!"), health care advocate for family, friends and patients, and fan of many things (the beauties of nature, music, dancing, history, reading, costuming, science fiction and fantasy) and, of course, filking (recruiter, club president, con chair, singer of classics and rounds, 2006 Filk Hall of Famer), died unexpectedly at home in Milford, MA, of respiratory failure secondary to Parkinson's Disease. She is free of pain and indignity, and of the frustrations of Parkinson's Disease.

Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell
Interfilk Guests

Our Interfilk Guests Brooke Lunderville & John Caspell are a filk duo from Vancouver, BC. Brooke sings & plays the mysterious banjola (what is that thing?), while John’s prodigious guitar skill almost lends an air of credibility to their otherwise dangerously ridiculous act. Along with a selection of strange cover songs, they perform Brooke’s compositions, which range from silly to touching and are disproportionately on the subject of the giant squid. Brooke & John will be releasing their very first album at Concertino this year! They are awfully excited about it and hope you like it! In the meantime, you can check out samples of their music at http://catfish.dhs.org/~happyfish/filk/.

John Caspell died on May 1, 2009, of complications following a motorcycle accident. There is a memorial page for him here.

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Last updated 17 May 2009

	Bill and Gretchen Roper Guests of Honor
	Guests of Honor Bill & Gretchen Roper have been active in recording, publishing,writing, and performing filk for over twenty years. Bill’s songs and performances include strong original material, both serious and humorous. He has a tape of his own, The Grim Roper, and one shared with Clif Flynt, Liftoff to Landing. He received Pegasus Awards for his songs, “Wind From Rainbow’s End,” and “Kinda Mediocre, Actually”. Gretchen has written or co-written lyrics for a large number of songs, including “Library Song”, “Brain Sludge”, and “My Husband the Filker,” which won a Pegasus award in 2003. In her collaborations with Bill, she is responsible for far more insanity than her demeanor would have you believe. To see their interplay on these songs is to watch a pair of masters at work. It is less widely known that Gretchen is also a delightful performer in her own right. In 2000 Bill was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame, and in 2006 Gretchen joined the Filk Hall of Fame ranks. You can learn more about them by checking the FHOF link on the FilKONtario website.Their albums include Seven Miles a Second, Crosstime Bus, and Falling Towards Orion.
	Kathleen Sloan Toastmaster
	Kathleen Sloan, also known as "the Catalog Queen" is one of the last people in fandom to NOT have a website, so here is a more old fashioned bio. Kathleen entered fandom in 1975 and went to her first filk at a Marconin 1976 (during a tornado warning, in a tornado shelter in a stair well; great acoustics!) For a long time she was mostly a listener,sitting quietly (ok I agree, that is a little hard to imagine) in the back of the room crocheting and adding the occasional harmony. She went to mostly Ohio and midwestern conventions, and after finishing medical school and residency, she started playing in circles. A move to Denver and a job change allowed her to attend many more filk cons, and she began to dabble at song writing. In 1993 Kathleen was asked to become an Interfilk director. Since then she has been (in) famous for her antics wenching at Interfilk auctions, as well as for donating many a strange item along with the occasional beautiful beadwork piece. She was even crazy enough to help co-run filking at Denvetion 3 in 2008 (and she has almost recovered from that experience). Though not a prolific songwriter Kathleen has written several notable songs including "Catalog Queen", "A Kind Of Magic", and "Take It Back". She loves to cover other writers songs and enjoys learning filks to take around the country (and even Germany once in a while!) to share at multiple filk cons. You can often find Kathleen sitting just outside the circle working on some intricate bead project, waiting for the right moment to add a song to the evening's music. Kathleen is thrilled and honored to have been asked to be the toastmaster for Concertino, and is extra excited that she gets to come to the convention where Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell are the Interfilk guests . In 2007 Kathleen was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame, and you can learn more about her by checking the link on the FilkOntario website.
	Harold Stein Techno-Guest
	Techno-Guest Harold Stein is an energetic figure at Northeastern conventions, recording concerts and open filks and getting people copies of their own performances as well as donating many to Interfilk. He was a member of the Denvention Art Show staff and art show and filk staff at Lunacon. He is running filk for I-Con in April. He has recorded and published seven CDs so far. Harold is currently working on Kathy Sands CD #3, tentatively titled Do Hackers Dream of Electric Sheep? (recorded and in the editing process), the Contata 2008 CD, and a special project for Concertino.
	Lois Mangan Ghost of Honor
	December 15, 1946 to May 10, 2008. Spouse, sister, Registered Nurse ("You only get one back!"), health care advocate for family, friends and patients, and fan of many things (the beauties of nature, music, dancing, history, reading, costuming, science fiction and fantasy) and, of course, filking (recruiter, club president, con chair, singer of classics and rounds, 2006 Filk Hall of Famer), died unexpectedly at home in Milford, MA, of respiratory failure secondary to Parkinson's Disease. She is free of pain and indignity, and of the frustrations of Parkinson's Disease.
	Brooke Lunderville and John Caspell Interfilk Guests
	Our Interfilk Guests Brooke Lunderville & John Caspell are a filk duo from Vancouver, BC. Brooke sings & plays the mysterious banjola (what is that thing?), while John’s prodigious guitar skill almost lends an air of credibility to their otherwise dangerously ridiculous act. Along with a selection of strange cover songs, they perform Brooke’s compositions, which range from silly to touching and are disproportionately on the subject of the giant squid. Brooke & John will be releasing their very first album at Concertino this year! They are awfully excited about it and hope you like it! In the meantime, you can check out samples of their music at http://catfish.dhs.org/~happyfish/filk/. John Caspell died on May 1, 2009, of complications following a motorcycle accident. There is a memorial page for him here.