The Bluegrass Journeymen Academy (BJA) has just completed its first eight-week module of bluegrass music instruction for school age children in Kathmandu, Nepal. Banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and upright bass were taught by American bluegrass music educators as part of an after-school program at a school in Kathmandu.
The Bluegrass Journeymen Academy is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization committed to expanding the global reach of bluegrass through education, collaboration, and performances. It is their goal to supply resources, and opportunities to learn, and to have cross-cultural exchanges often partnering with schools, music programs, and musicians around the world. The BJA bought instruments in the US and shipped them over for use in the lessons. The first group of students being around 30 children, they divided among the different instruments. The first pioneering batch of teachers to work in the Kathmandu program was Max Winkels, Brett Kretzer, Chad Harris, Angel Chantel, Ben Errington, Mickey Abraham, and Patrick Fitzsimons.
John Karanjit is the head of the music department at the school in Kathmandu and said, “Most of the students really loved their classes, their teachers, and the music. Many of the students had not heard bluegrass music before, and got more and more excited about the music after watching their teachers jamming together at the beginning of their class times.”
He said the bluegrass banjo was particularly alien to many of the students initially, and that he has already had students approaching him that received their certificate of completion after the first module and performance. They are excited to continue with the second level and looking forward to continuing with their instruments in the long term. He has also been approached by other students who had not signed up for the first bluegrass module who are eager to start to learn in the fall session.
I asked a few of the teachers their thoughts after coming home from their time teaching in Nepal. Max Winkels was the banjo teacher, and when asked about his experience he said, “I love the kids and loved the program. It was life changing! I really love Kathmandu!”
Brett Kretzer, mandolin teacher, said “Nepal is such a great country to have an exchange with because the Nepalese people are just so friendly and welcoming. I would definitely be interested in going back and teaching there again.” Also on mandolin was Patrick Fitzsimons, who not only plays and teaches the mandolin but is also the founder and executive director of the program. He said, “We had so much fun, and it was really amazing to see how much the students progressed. We are really excited to see how the program and the kids will progress over the coming years.”
How did this all get started, you might be wondering?
In 2023 the Bluegrass Journeymen Founder/Director, Patrick Fitzsimons, and Executive Officer, Elliot Siff, reached out to me to set up an outreach tour for their band in Nepal. They were interested in doing a combination of concerts and educational workshops. They had been working already for a number of years in India and had watched my documentary called The Mountain Music Project, which compared the similarities between bluegrass and old time music in the US to some of the traditional mountain music in Nepal. They had also learned that my business, Music Arts Adventures, had been leading Music Arts and Culture Tours and organizing some customized tours in Nepal for a number of years. Patrick and Elliot were very interested in first doing a music and educational tour there, and then possibly setting up a long-term program teaching bluegrass music to Nepali children.
I reached out to some of the contacts in Nepal that I have been working with for years, and one of my fellow musicians over there is the head of the music program at a very well-respected school called Triyog, and he was interested in pursuing this possibility. To make a long story not so long, after many meetings with the administrators, and a great show of the Bluegrass Journeymen band at their school that year, it was decided that we could launch the program at their school, and it turned out to be a great fit.
The BJA then got hard to work researching how to get the needed instruments for the students purchased and sent to Nepal. They ended up working with both Gold Tone and Sweetwater to get the instruments for the students, and help ship them over to Kathmandu. All involved started asking around the bluegrass community to find some good teachers who might be interested in a fun adventure heading over to Nepal to teach. We conducted some interviews of potential teachers, and from those initial applications and interviews, the first pioneering line up of instructors was chosen to help get the program up and running.
The program has proved to be a success, with a fall eight-week module coming up at Triyog, and applications being accepted for a spring session. It is also possible that the program might be expanding to other locations. So, if you know of any great teachers of bluegrass, please let them know of the opportunity, and the chance to apply to join us in Nepal.
Anyone interested in being considered for a teaching position can head to the Bluegrass Journeymen Academy web site and fill out an application form online. There they can also inquire about becoming a sponsor, making a financial donation of any size to support this effort, or joining their email list.
They are currently looking for some teachers for this coming fall module, which includes two months of teaching in Nepal. Specifically, at this point, they are looking for some bluegrass banjo teachers, but are happy to get applications from teachers of other instruments as well.
Here are some little video clips from the show at the end of the first module of the Spring 2025 Bluegrass Academy in Kathmandu. Thank you to Elliot Siff for putting together this video. These clips were filmed by the various teachers and parents of the students on phones. Thank you also to Elliot Siff who sent me the photos from the classrooms included here as well.
Here are a few photos that were taken over there during lesson time.
