White Oak
Roots Weekend
Come spread your roots! Grow on your core instrument while also exploring the many influences of American Roots Music.
When: June 26th —> July 28th, 2026
Price: $150
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The rich tapestry of styles now called “American Roots Music” reflects the remarkable diversity of people who have contributed to our music. From integrated string bands in Appalachia, to border-blurring dance styles in the Southwest, and indigenous honky-tonk in the western plains, music has long provided spaces for poor and working class people to connect across racial and cultural barriers. This weekend of workshops and performances celebrates that legacy by providing a deeply inclusive place for making music in a beautiful rural setting.
Participants can expect workshops from expert instructors in the following areas. Banjo, African Drumming, Fiddle, Guitar, Kora, African Dance and Mariachi. We are also proud to offer visual art activities with Sharon Bladholm. This is a chance for attendees to grow on their core instrument while also trying something new. Experimenting with other Roots Music influences will only serve to strengthen your core instrument and broaden your appreciation for the genre as a whole!
As part of The Savanna Sanctuary commitment to conservation awareness and nature immersion at White Oak Savanna, this is a camping event. Attendees will have access to campsites on the beautifully restored savanna prairie, with easy access to bathroom, shower and kitchen facilities. For those who prefer not to camp, there are many hotel options within a short distance from the grounds.
Food service from the White Oak kitchen is included in the price. Attendees with special dietary needs will have available kitchen space to store groceries.
Because of our commitment to youth education, college age students may attend at half price. Attendees under 18 are also half price when attending with a registered adult.
Meet the Instructors
Taylor Ackley, Artistic Director
Taylor Ackley is first and foremost a folk musician. Born into a working class family with a remarkable heritage of traditional American music, his work grows directly out of the rich musical expression cultivated across the generations of pickers, singers, song writers and fiddlers that populate his family tree. His academic training began at Adelphi University. He continued his studies at Stony Brook University, where he earned a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Composition as well as a Master’s Degree in Ethnomusicology.
Taylor is the founder and director of the Deep Roots Ensemble. A group which merges classical chamber music instrumentation and techniques with traditional American music performance practice into a refined and cohesive style. They have performed around the United States and have released two albums of Taylor’s music, Songs from the Bitterroot (2018) and Hard Tellin’ (2020) both through the 4Tay Records label.
Jali Kunda
Jali Kunda is a dynamic ensemble led by brothers Mamadu and Abdu, dedicated to preserving and sharing the rich musical heritage of West Africa, Senegal. As a master drummer and griot storyteller, Mamadu brings the heartbeat of Africa to life through powerful rhythms and interactive performances. Abdu, a skilled kora player, weaves enchanting melodies that transport listeners to the heart of Senegal’s griot traditions.
Marlyn Barrera-Carrera
Marlyn Barrera-Carrera is the Orchestra and Mariachi Director at Wheeling High School in
Township High School District 214 and currently serves on the Board of the Illinois American String Teachers Association (ASTA). Before joining Wheeling High School, Barrera-Carrera taught orchestra for grades four through eight in Carol Stream for five years, collaborating with her music team to establish new orchestra programs across eight schools.
As a violinist, Barrera-Carrera performs with various orchestras throughout the Chicagoland
area and chamber ensembles. A career highlight was performing at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park with Dr. L. Subramaniam during India’s 70th Anniversary Concert. Her mariachi journey began under the guidance of the late director Arquímides Sánchez Ramírez of Mariachi Los Sánchez from San Juan del Río, Querétaro, Mexico, where she developed a lifelong passion for the genre. She is a former member of Mariachi Tesoro de México (Chicago) and currently performs with Mariachi Sirenas, Chicago’s all-female mariachi ensemble.She earned her bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Elmhurst University and her master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Florida, with a focus on orchestra pedagogy and mariachi curriculum development. She lives in Chicagoland with her husband Javier, and their pets.
Jonas Friddle
Jonas Friddle is a singer, songwriter and Old-Time banjo player whose songs have received The John Lennon Songwriting Award, First Place in the Great American Song Contest and a nomination for Album of the Year in the Independent Music Awards. Friddle was raised in the mountains of North Carolina and learned to play guitar on a yard sale Harmony six string. He continued his love of music all the way to Berea College, where he found the deep well of the folk tradition. After serving his time in higher education, he spent a year traveling around the world playing music in pubs and living rooms. In 2007 Jonas landed in Chicago, started the Barehand Jugband, the Sleepy Lou Old-Time duo and joined the faculty at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Jess Baldissero
Jess Baldissero is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, improviser, educator and mother based in Chicago, IL. With a background in social work and a passion for teaching youth, Jess is deeply inspired by communal, connection-centered art. This has led her toward making music as a therapeutic tool, fiddling for social dance and community events, and nearly a decade teaching at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music before founding independent studio Heart Strings Chicago in 2020. Jess plays fiddle and sings in dozens of Chicago bands, fronts original songwriting project Joybird, old time/early country duo Horseshoe Bender, and old time stringband Mulefoot. Her playing has been featured on NPR, XRT, and the BBC. She’s been composer/lyricist and performer for the House Theatre Company of Chicago and Chicago Children’s Theatre, and played Chicago stages Lincoln Hall, Park West, the Hideout, Evanston SPACE and more. Her most recent collaborations have been fiddling on tour with experimental blues artist Buffalo Nichols, including performances at Merlefest (Wilkesboro, NC) and Festival International de Jazz (Montreal, QC), co-creating a recorded sound installation for artist Aimée M. Everett’s exhibition titled, “Two Births and the Afterlife” (George Washington Carver Museum, Austin, TX 2024) and developing a movement and sound performance piece and accompanying community workshop series called “Tending to the M{other}” with Aurora Tabar and Christine Shallenberg (Roman Susan Gallery & Rhinofest Chicago, 2025).
Sharon Bladhom
Sharon's work has been profoundly influenced by her participation as artist, on scientific expeditions to remote and biologically diverse ecosystems of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon on expeditions with the Field Museum, Conservation International and Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program. She has long explored the interfaces of art, science, conservation and nature in numerous series of artworks in diverse mediums including glass, bronze and ceramic, as well as works on paper.
Concurrently she has run Opal Glass Studios since 1983 and continues to complete many important commissions and show her art work in numerous galleries and museums. Sharon has created many temporary installations at Conservatories and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux, France, as well as Suite Home Chicago, Amazon Rising for Shedd Aquarium, and a Cool Globe sponsored by the Chicago Botanical Garden that is still traveling the world.