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Winter School is a rare opportunity to learn from some of the best players and the most creative instructors of Celtic music, while spending time in community with fellow musicians and music appreciators.
Learn MoreLearn MoreWinter School is an opportunity to learn tunes from some of the best players and the most inspiring instructors of Scottish and Cape Breton music, spending time in community with fellow musicians and music appreciators, and just have fun!
The fiddle program is open to all melody players and runs concurrently with the smallpipes, piano, and guitar programs, giving players of all instruments a chance to learn from each other and to play together. If you are unsure if these classes are a good fit for you or your instrument, please contact Cayley@CelticArts.org
Fiddle classes will be split into three self-assigned levels: advanced beginner/intermediate, intermediate, and intermediate/advanced. This program is not ideal for complete beginners. Your group will have a chance to learn from three different instructors each day. All music will be taught by ear.
Students arrive on Saturday morning, February 10th, after breakfast. The schedule will include group classes each day, sessions, evening ceilidhs, and a few fun extras. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn pipe tunes direct from our piping instructors, attend the instructor concert, have the option to be part of our no-stress participant performance night, and more! Classes end on Tuesday, February 13th at noon. Registration for this program also includes one complimentary ticket to the Masters of Scottish Arts concert in Edmonds on Friday, February 9th.
“I went to fiddle camps in my teens and early twenties, but it’s been a good 15 years since I was last able to attend one. Spending this last week at Winter School felt like coming home. Everyone was so welcoming, the atmosphere was so inspiring, and the instructors were absolutely amazing!”
–Rachel, CAF Winter School fiddle student
Prices for the Fiddle Program include tuition, housing, and meals:
Jenna is from Lakewood, New York and is a graduate of Berklee College of Music. While studying, she was selected to receive the Fletcher Bright Award & and The American Roots Music Award – two honors given annually to one outstanding string player. She performs in a duo with Scottish harpist, Mairi Chaimbeul, Seamus Egan Project, & the Hanneke Cassel Band, and has performed with The Milk Carton Kids, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards Darol Anger & The Furies, Old Blind Dogs and as a soloist at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. In addition to a busy touring schedule, Jenna teaches at music camps & courses throughout the year and is Assistant Professor in the String Department at Berklee College of Music.
Alasdair White is an exceptional exponent of west coast Scottish music and is widely regarded as one of the foremost Scottish fiddler players of his generation. He was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands of singular importance to Gaelic Scotland’s musical heritage and is perhaps best known as having been a member of Scotland’s seminal Battlefield Band for over 16 years, touring extensively in that time throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Now resident in New York, Alasdair has performed and recorded as a guest with many of the best-known names in Scottish, Irish and Breton traditional music including Kathleen MacInnis, Julie Fowlis, Eddie Reader, Allan MacDonald, Manus Lunny, Nuala Kennedy, and Arnaud Ciapolino. Current ongoing projects include Daimh, the Alan Kelly Gang and of course, Battlefield Band. Alasdair also recently premiered a major commission at the Hebridean Celtic festival in Stornoway, an hour-long original piece entitled An Iuchair.
Wendy MacIsaac is a renowned fiddler from Cape Breton who has been playing music for more than 30 years. She is recognized as one of the “old school” style of players who has kept the traditional sound going and has a deep respect for it. Wendy is also a sought after piano accompanist and step dancer. Besides performing as a solo artist, Wendy records and tours in a critically acclaimed and award-winning band with Mary Jane Lamond and Cathy Porter. She is a founding member of Beólach, and has also performed with The Cape Breton Summertime Revue, Capercaillie, The Chieftains, Ashley MacIsaac, and toured with Heather Rankin and The Rankin Sisters. Wendy has recorded on more than 20 albums (including four of her own, two with Beólach, and one with her and Mary Jane), and is in high demand for her skills at teaching the Cape Breton style of fiddling.