collages by pete sutherland
learn from keepers of the tradition
the music, the technique, the lore, the joy
Our teachers are extraordinary musicians who either grew up within their musical traditions or have devoted a major portion of their lives to learning and understanding its subtleties. They are highly gifted teachers - personable, approachable, attentive - who are eager to pass on their technical skills and lore to students.
FACULTY TEAM - 2023
Baron Collins-Hill - Mandolin
A Portland, Oregon based musician and educator, Baron plays and teaches mandolin, tenor guitar, six string guitar, tenor banjo, bouzouki, and other mandolin family instruments. Baron grew up playing the mandolin in Maine and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts with a degree in music performance and ethnomusicology. While traditional fiddle music takes up most of his time, he also loves to play bluegrass, jazz, and open improvisation. He plays tenor guitar and mandolin in Velocipede, teaches and performs throughout the West Coast and New England, and busies himself with a host of other projects.
to learn more about baron: mandobaron.com
to learn more about baron: mandobaron.com
Yann Falquet - Guitar, Button Accordion, Singing
Yann Falquet is a truly active and creative acoustic guitar player on the Québécois music scene. He has explored many styles of music and completed a Bachelors degree in Jazz. Since then, he has developed a personal guitar style for Québec folk music, inspired by the playing of the accompanists of different cultures (Brittany, Scandinavia, Ireland, North America, etc). His involvement in traditional music scene brought Yann to perform on numerous recordings, and to regularly tour throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. He also toured for three years with the award winning celtic/world group The McDades. Yann had the opportunity to teach at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in Limerick, at the Goderich Celtic College as well as at the Alasdair Fraser's Fiddle Train and Sierra Fiddle Camp.
to learn more about yann: falquetgemme.com
to learn more about yann: falquetgemme.com
Mary Fraser - Fiddle
Trained in classical violin, Mary Lauren Fraser studied violin as an instrument intensively. Since moving from the classical music world into traditional music, she has traveled to many places with rich fiddle traditions, immersing in the tunes and styles of Ireland, Scotland, Appalachia, Quebec and New England. With the Suzuki Violin Teacher certificate, and many years of experience teaching at music camps and festivals, Mary is a skilled teacher for all ages and abilities. Mostly performing solo, she has collaborated with other musicians and artists in New England in a wide range of creative and performance projects. A recent project includes researching and learning old traditional ballads of New England, from the Helen Hartness Flanders collection. Mary plays for dances, weddings, house concerts, funerals, parties, re-enactment events and more.
lydia ievins - Swedish Fiddle & Nyckelharpa
Based in Montague MA, lydia plays 5-string fiddle and nyckelharpa for Scandinavian and English country dancing. Inspired by her year of study at the Eric Sahlström Institute with some of Sweden’s best fiddle and nyckelharpa teachers, lydia has since focused her teaching on finding fun and effective ways to share those insights. Together with fiddler Andrea Larson she developed Träd Weekend, a popular intensive workshop for Scandi-interested dance musicians: work on Swedish tune repertoire, learn about engaging your core rhythm, explore how dance and movement inform your role as a musician, and practice the skills of playing for dancers. This same mission animates all her teaching. She has taught and/or played on staff at a variety of camps including Nordic Fiddles and Feet, Scandia Camp Mendocino, Northern Week at Ashokan, Fiddle Hell, CDSS English Week at Pinewoods, CDSS Family Weeks at Pinewoods and Ogontz, Folklore Village, and Berea Christmas Country Dance School. lydia has earned a bronze Zorn medal for her fiddling in the Uppland tradition. Her most recent CD, Koivu (2018), debuts a collaboration with Helsinki-based pianist and composer Juha Kujanpää.
to learn more about lydia: lydiamusic.org
to learn more about lydia: lydiamusic.org
Katie McNally - Scottish and Cape Breton Fiddle
Katie McNally grew up playing Scottish and Cape Breton music near Boston, Massachusetts and currently tours with her own projects, Fàrsan, Pine Tree Flyers, and the Katie McNally Trio. A member of the cross-genre fiddle supergroup, Childsplay, Katie has also toured with Karan Casey, John Whelan, and Galician bagpiper Carlos Núñez. She has appeared at Celtic Colours, Celtic Connections, Newport Folk Festival, and The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, as well as countless folk venues throughout North America and Europe. In addition to her busy touring schedule, she is the artistic director of the Boston States Fiddle Camp and is a devoted educator who teaches regularly at fiddle camps across the country and gives private lessons at her home in Portland, Maine.
to learn more about katie: katiemcnally.com
to learn more about katie: katiemcnally.com
Jeremiah McLane - Accordion, Piano
Accordionist Jeremiah McLane plays a wide variety of ethnic musical styles from Northern and Eastern Europe as well as American idioms such as jazz, swing, blues, and Zydeco. At this year’s Accordions Now Festival he is delighted to offer selections from the classical repertoire including works by composers Astor Piazzolla, Bela Bartok, Antonin Dvorak, Francis Poulenc and Alan Hovhaness as well as several of his own compositions. Mr. McLane has taught and performed throughout the United States and Europe, including such venues as the Royal Festival Hall in London, and the Picolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. He holds a Master’s in Contemporary Improvisation from the New England Conservatory of Music and teaches at St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont. He has been on staff at numerous music programs throughout the country including The Augusta Heritage Arts Center, The Swanannoa Gathering, Ashokan Fiddle & Dance, The John C. Campbell Folk School, and Centrum’s American Festival of Fiddle Tunes. He has composed numerous pieces for film and theatre and has received National Public Radio's “favorite picks” award for his second solo recording, Smile When You’re Ready, and French music magazine Trad Mag’s “BRAVO” award for his fifth release, Hummingbird.
to learn more about jeremiah: jeremiahmclane.com
to learn more about jeremiah: jeremiahmclane.com
Max Newman - Guitar, Mandolin
Max has spent a good portion of his life playing dances great and small across the continent. His guitar playing is refreshing, fun, and creative, and has allowed him to collaborate with a great variety of traditional musicians. In the Stringrays, he often alternates between hammering down rhythms and trading licks with bandmate Rodney Miller. His attention to detail with pairing music and dance is almost as well known as his love for a fresh cup of coffee. His playing has been profiled in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. When not with the band, he can often be found at his local dance in Concord, Massachusetts.
to learn more about max: maxnewman.com
Laura Risk - Quebecois Fiddle
Laura Risk’s fiddling has been described by filmmaker Ken Burns as “a revelation and achingly beautiful” and Living Tradition hails her “powerful, percussive style… bursting with energy and passion.”
Originally from California, now living in Montreal, Laura performs and teaches Québécois and Scottish fiddling internationally and has over a dozen albums to her credit. Her distinctive sound and compelling interpretations of traditional tunes are intensely personal yet grounded in meticulous archival and ethnographic research. Laura has toured with Cordelia’s Dad, Triptych, Ensemble Galilei, and dancer Sandy Silva; served as musical director for ensembles Childsplay and Revels North; and produced seven albums, including three for fiddler Hanneke Cassel. Her research credits include articles in Ethnomusicology and MUSICultures, co-authorship of The Glengarry Collection: The Highland Fiddle Music of Aonghas Grant (Mel Bay), and the CD-booklet Douglastown: Music and Song from the Gaspé Coast, awarded the 2014 Prix Mnémo. Laura holds a PhD in Musicology from McGill University, for which she received the 2017 Governor General’s Gold Medal.
to learn more about laura: laurarisk.com
Originally from California, now living in Montreal, Laura performs and teaches Québécois and Scottish fiddling internationally and has over a dozen albums to her credit. Her distinctive sound and compelling interpretations of traditional tunes are intensely personal yet grounded in meticulous archival and ethnographic research. Laura has toured with Cordelia’s Dad, Triptych, Ensemble Galilei, and dancer Sandy Silva; served as musical director for ensembles Childsplay and Revels North; and produced seven albums, including three for fiddler Hanneke Cassel. Her research credits include articles in Ethnomusicology and MUSICultures, co-authorship of The Glengarry Collection: The Highland Fiddle Music of Aonghas Grant (Mel Bay), and the CD-booklet Douglastown: Music and Song from the Gaspé Coast, awarded the 2014 Prix Mnémo. Laura holds a PhD in Musicology from McGill University, for which she received the 2017 Governor General’s Gold Medal.
to learn more about laura: laurarisk.com
Oliver Scanlon - Novice Fiddle, Sound
Oliver Scanlon began his early training with a stint with the Vermont Youth Orchestra and years in the Young Tradition Vermont’s Fiddleheads. Fiddler, mandolinist and tunesmith Scanlon was introduced to his mentor Pete Sutherland and the parallel universe of fiddle music at the age of nine. In 2008, Oliver and a few talented middle school friends formed the group which became The Irregulars and in 2013 he co-founded Pete’s Posse and became the youngest member of Sutherland’s long running dance band The Clayfoot Strutters. Oliver now teaches private fiddle and mandolin lessons, performs at concerts and contradances, provides live sound reinforcement in and around Vermont, and works at local violin shop Vermont Violins.
to learn more about oliver: petesposse.com
to learn more about oliver: petesposse.com
Becky Tracy - Irish and Contradance Fiddle
There is nothing Becky Tracy likes better than to take a room full of fiddle players and fashion them into harmonious bowing beauties. Becky has certainly played around, being the longest surviving fiddle player with Wild Asparagus (20 years!) and the only fiddle player in the soulful but now defunct band Nightingale. She has a driving yet sweet sound to her playing and her awareness of what makes that happen has led her to be a popular teacher at music camps. Her playing has been shaped by the influence of teachers Brendan Mulvihill and Eugene O'Donnell and Lisa Ornstein as well as her many years of playing for dancing. Her solo CD, Evergreen, is an album of haunting beauty, intimacy and exuberance.
to learn more about becky: blackislemusic.com
to learn more about becky: blackislemusic.com
Nicholas Williams - Flute, Accordion, Singing
Nicholas Williams graduated from York University in Toronto where he studied world music, contemporary improvisation, and composition. Since then he has immersed himself in the world of traditional music, where he is most known for his distinctive and rhythmic style of flute playing. Drawing mainly from Irish and North Indian flute playing techniques, he is also influenced by the musical traditions of Quebec, Brittany, Sweden, and the US. A member of the group Crowfoot, Nicholas has toured extensively in the US, Canada, and the UK, playing for concerts, contra, and English dance events. He plays piano for Scottish country dance with fiddler Laura Risk and 'Les Joueuers de bon accord'. Nicholas currently lives in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.
to learn more about nicholas: genticorum.com
