Red Wing Academy 2025
Red Wing Academy is hosted by Eric Brubaker of The Steel Wheels as a four-day intensive camp held June 15-18, 2025 at Eastern Mennonite University, leading up to a performance on stage with the band on June 20th at Red Wing Roots Music Festival.
Red Wing Academy is open to non-beginner violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, mandolin and banjo students ages 5 – 19. Students will receive individual and group instruction from highly trained music teachers and will also be coached by members of The Steel Wheels throughout the week. Daily curriculum will include group classes, mini lessons, improv and jam sessions, technique and tone development, stage performance, electives, recreation, panel discussions, showcases, and more. Each day will close with a camp wide rehearsal to practice for Red Wing performance.
Throughout the 4-day workshop, students will learn several tunes to perform collectively which will culminate at Red Wing Roots Music Festival with a live, on-stage performance with The Steel Wheels.
Information for 2025 will be announced later this fall.
Please consider donating to Red Wing Academy’s scholarship fund. Stay updated at www.redwingroots.com/
Please consider donating to Red Wing Academy’s scholarship fund. As of 2024, a new nonprofit organization named Red Wing Academy Foundation has been founded to provide financial assistance to attendees in the form of tuition scholarships. Your donations make it possible for everyone to have access to this amazing opportunity!
VISION
We see the old lines between instruction and play dissolving, bringing the spirit of traditional American music into the classroom, and fusing the culture of festivals with expert training in string instruments and live performance.
MISSION
The Academy’s mission is to nurture both the wings and the roots of the newest generation of old time musicians. We provide emerging, student musicians with the skills, talents, and community to go beyond classical training into the culture of improvisational performance and group play, the hallmark of a genre that has always celebrated spontaneity and place as part of its sound and tradition.
