We’re a small team with big love of music!
Rick Manning, Founder
e j George, Camp Coordinator
Bethany Parisi, Marketing
Megan Omohundro
Executive Director, CSMA
Howdy folks! I’m Rick and I started the Winter Village Bluegrass Festival in January 2011 hoping to bring some great progressive bluegrass music to Ithaca during the winter, when we need a lift! The festival was so much fun I added a music camp weekend in 2013.
I have been playing music since college at the University of Rhode Island where I studied horticulture. That’s when I heard “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and Vassar and Doc’s version of Down Yonder changed everything! After college, I moved to Austin, TX where I ran a Community Gardening program, played lots of music, and learned to love Western Swing and Texas fiddle music. Four years later, I headed to Ithaca to attend Cornell’s Master of Landscape Architecture program. After grad school I found work, a band, and my wife Sally here in Ithaca. We stayed raise our son Thomas.
I have been fortunate in my ‘day job’ to lead our community’s effort to design and build the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and the restoration of Stewart Park, Ithaca’s historic lakefront park. While doing this community planning work, I became involved in Ithaca’s tourism promotion world and learned about the importance of winter tourism to Ithaca’s hospitality industry. One of my bands, Cornerstone, had performed a few times in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s at Wintergrass in Seattle and at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival near Boston and I realized that bluegrass and roots music fills hotels, even during the winter. The Tompkins County Tourism Program has been a supporter of Winter Village ever since. Since 2025 WVMC found a home at the CSMA, a wonderful Ithaca institution where I now teach mandolin and fiddle.
I recently moved on from my park and trail work and am enjoying this ‘encore’ phase, with more time for music, my gardening obsession, family, friends and travel.
Hi there! I'm e j George and I've been involved with the Winter Village Music Camp since its early days.
My parents and their siblings were avid fans of the 60s folk music revival and, as kids, my siblings and I listened to their albums which led to a long-time appreciation of traditional tunes and songs. Not a musician myself, my kids were, and my first involvement with WVMC was bringing them as campers. Once they settled in, I started pitching in here and there to help out and before long I officially joined the crew.
Having previously been involved in planning events for varied organizations (Healthy Food for All, Northern Light Learning Center, Natural Builders Northeast, Cornell Outdoor Education, etc), I soon became Winter Village's Camp Coordinator - assisting with organizing the overall event ahead of time and then helping to keep everything running smoothly.
Outside of Winter Village, I am a long time educator who enjoys creatively incorporating music, movement, song, story, and verse into my teaching. I also occasionally help my partner heft huge hunks of wood around as part of his timber frame business when he needs an extra hand. In my free time, I enjoy reading, singing, cooking, and outdoor activities.
Hey there! I’m Bethany (Bee) Parisi. My job at Winter Village Music is to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes while documenting and posting all the magic that happens here along the way.
I grew up in a house filled with music and surrounded by incredible musicians, but as a visual artist I always found my own creative voice through crafting.
Winter Village Music Camp brought music back into my life in a way I didn't expect. After my father passed away, I didn't realize how much I missed the sound of people playing until my first day at Winter Village. Hearing the wave of people practicing and jamming actually moved me to tears; it felt like coming home.
That feeling inspired me to finally pick up the banjo! I’m unfortunately not a prodigy (my journey is very much 'slow and steady'), but I’m working hard to be jam-ready so I can play along with this amazing community.
You can learn more about Megan and the rest of the CSMA team here.