Bio

Shane Jewell has been the founding director of the Free Range Folk Choir on Vashon Island since 2008. He is a skilled composer and musical arranger with over 20 years professional experience directing vocal and instrumental ensembles. Trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a B.A. in music performance, Shane performs as a professional musician and offers instruction in over a dozen instruments. He has run a successful private music studio since 2001, and has served as a faculty music instructor at the Seattle Waldorf High School, the Sunrise Waldorf School (Duncan, BC), the Harbor School (Vashon, WA) and the Homestead School (Vashon, WA). He has also served as co-founder and instructor from 2011-2014 for the Rock Island String Kollective, a Vashon-based string ensemble dedicated to passing on a love of music to young musicians. Coming from a family with over five generations of musicians, Shane has deep roots in North American folk music traditions. He has also performed and studied with folk musicians from diverse musical traditions around the world. His particular interest is in the ways that music based in community lifts the spirit and cultivates resilience.