The Importance of The Gathering
Sophie Aguilar | Nov. 12, 2025
Since 1991, Warren Wilson College (WWC) has held a five-week summer music workshop program called the Swannanoa Gathering (SG). There are seven programs over the course of the five weeks, with the traditional song week being the most popular. It is held on the WWC campus, where participants from around the globe sleep in the dorms, eat in the dining hall and take any musical classes they choose. The participants come together to learn, perform and entertain each other through the shared interest in music.
Kevin Kehrberg has been a professor of music at WWC for 14 years and is the current director of the SG, taking over in 2024.
“One reason why I decided to [take over the role of director] was because it’s a really important program for the college, and it’s one that I really want to continue to succeed,” Kehrberg said. “I felt like with my experience, I was in a good position to help.”
Over this past summer, Rachel Gaskins spent six weeks doing an internship at the SG. Gaskins is a music major who plays the hammered dulcimer and was drawn to the Gathering because of the ability to take classes while working. Gaskins emphasizes that the SG is a place that is not just about music, but also the way music connects people.
The SG offers a variety of classes with varying levels of experience. Classes cover topics from songwriting, instrument playing, musical history, and more. Some classes include “Acappella Vocal Improv: Have Fun, Unlock Creativity,” “Fiddle Tunes on the Five String” and “Overcoming Creative Paralysis in Songwriting.”
Seaf Bate is a traditional musician and was the first member to work on the new SG crew at WWC over this past summer. Her work included many administrative and guest relations tasks. The crew has now expanded from just Bate and the supervisor to a larger staff. Gaskins said she is glad that the crew has started expanding because there was a large amount of work that was always put onto the same small group of people before.
“I really care about old-time and music, and the Gathering is a really good place to get to study that,” Bate said. “When you’re a staff member, you get to take one or two classes a week, depending on what your work schedule is.”
John Cloyd Miller, a music professor at WWC helped teach the first SG weekend workshop, which was a two-day event about songwriting. He co-taught the class with Jane Kramer, a singer-songwriter and alum of WWC. The SG is working to do more weekend workshops like this one throughout the school year.
“I’m really looking forward to more of those kinds of workshops moving forward,” Miller said. “I think it was very successful.”
Hosting events, such as the weekend workshop, during the school year makes them more accessible for WWC students.
“I think my focus as someone who worked there was to impact the student community more. We have, in the past, had a lot of students come and attend for cheap or free,” Bate said. “It’s a super valuable part of the college. I really want students to get to utilize it more because it is such a good program, and there are so many things here that we do on campus that bleed into it.”
The Swannanoa Gathering is a time when people come together from different backgrounds and varied levels of experience. There is no set target demographic for the SG, meaning it brings in members of all different ages. Each participant shares at least one thing in common: a passion for music.
“It’s a really great way of bringing, not just people from all over the country here together, but also bringing people from the surrounding area here, which is cool because Warren Wilson has the whole ideology of community outreach and engaging with the community,” Gaskins said.
More information about the Swannanoa Gathering can be found on the website or on their Instagram page.