Back in Maine

Once again the two ladies enjoyed a week of fiddling at Acadia Trad School -www.acadiatradschool.com - in Bar Harbor, Maine.
In this photo, old-time fiddler Pete Sutherland gives a lesson on the porch at College of the Atlantic.
Other fiddle instructors were Bruce Molsky, Pascal Miousse, and Liz Carroll.

Acadia Trad

Bar Harbor, Maine is a few hours drive from Boston. This summer the 2 ladies ventured there for our summer fiddle fix. We attended the first ever Acadia Traditional School of Music and Art, held on the campus of College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Lessons from masters of fiddle Richard Forest, Michael Doucette, Troy MacGillivray, and Pascal Miousse were accompanied by the wonderful Maine landscape.

Did I mention we were treated to an evening harbor cruise?

Next year, the school will offer a mix of Irish, Old-Time, and Acadian teaching. 

Great fiddling! Great fun!

Check out the program for 2014!     www.acadiatradschool.com

Blazin' in Boston

What luck for us!! Blazin' Fiddles spent the weekend, Oct. 26 - 28, in Boston, giving workshops and concerts. Janet and I reconnected with Jenna Reid (see post below, Sept. 2010). We enjoyed all the workshops, but especially hers, learning Shetland tunes: the Papa Stour Bridal March and Up and Doon da Harbour. The Friday night concert at Club Passim was fantastic!!

2010 Photo Albums

Aberdeen/Mousa/Lerwick

Yell, W. Mainland, Bressay

Noss, Jarshoff

The 2010 Frenzy

Once again, the 2 ladies attended the musical feast known as 'The Shetland Fiddle Frenzy.' We experienced the energy and excitement of Shetland fiddling, pretty much non-stop for a week. Although our base was in Lerwick, classes were held one day in Cullivoe, with a side trip to Gloup. Another day, classes were held in Hillswick, with a side trip to Eshaness. We were fortunate to have three excellent teachers for our classes: Bryan Gear - with Violet Tulloch,
Jenna Reid, and Ross Couper.

An added musical event was the CD release party for Escape, music written by Jenna and Beth Reid, shown above, performed with their ensemble (we highly recommend the CD).

This being the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tom Anderson, we came home with a few more of his tunes. I had a disposable video camera with me and had an audience member record the student recital at the final concert. That video is posted below: "Student Concert." Trust me, Janet and I were onstage, to the left, 3rd row. The tunes are 2 compositions by Tom Anderson: The Road to Moreview, and The Eshaness Two-step.

In addition to traveling with our classes to Hillswick and Cullivoe, Janet and I managed to explore Mousa and Noss. Our travel photos are posted in 3 albums online. They may be accessed by clicking on each of the album titles on
the right column: "2010 Photo Albums."

Construction of the Mareel performance center is well under way. It should be an exciting venue for next year's events.

Student Concert/ Shetland Fiddle Frenzy 2010

3rd time !

The 2 ladies have registered and are making arrangements to attend the 2010 Fiddle Frenzy.