John Langstaff: community musician and reveler

John Langstaff fits within a select group of pathfinders in American music education who have shaped the profession's service to schools and society with special attention to the traditional musical expressions of American folk. His life and works are worthy of study for the contributions he made as a singer who modelled the nuances of traditional genres and styles for school children, youth and adult amateur musicians who shared his enthusiasm for traditional song, and for his attention to bringing energy, ideas and support to community music making. This biographical study pays tribute to Langstaff and his contributions to issues that concern the current practices of music educators and community musicians. The exuberance of Langstaff, in his own singing of traditional songs on recordings and in the productions of the performance groups he named The Revels, are telling of the best of music education and the emergence of community music practice. Of equal significance is his initiation of a movement that quite literally revelled in, and was deeply committed to, the restoration of traditional music of a bygone era.