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August
20, 2004 MacGillivrays' Exceptional Show By Jan DeGrass, Coast Reporter - Sechelt, BC Marches, reels, jigs and hornpipes. The fiddling, dancing MacGillivray siblings, with lead performer Kendra, pianist Troy and drummer/dancer Sabra, put on an exceptional show of virtuoso quality on August 11 at the Heritage Playhouse. Kendra, who hails from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and is an Eastern champion, played her heart out on the fiddle to an almost full house of Celtic music lovers. Brother Troy dazzled with his skill on the piano ("He's got the hot fingers, doesn't he?" said Kendra), while sister Sabra shone with her original choreography for Scottish dancing. Just to underscore their talent, half way through the concert Kendra and Troy switched instruments to awe the audience with their versatility. The best moments, however, were when all three downed instruments and step danced together, freely, joyously, as if they'd been doing that all their lives, which perhaps they had. What's to stop this musical talent from becoming a household name, like the Rankin Family? Not a lot-perhaps a little more attention to stage presence, a few costume changes, but I'm being picky here. This was one of the best Celtic music acts from off Coast that we've seen in a long time. |
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August
2004 Hot Celtic Fiddle Music: Kendra MacGillivray Review By Marian van der Zon, Linear Reflections - Victoria, BC Victoria's Fairfield
United Church is hot and sticky on Monday evening, August 9th.
Nevertheless, the church is largely full. Audience members sit fanning
themselves in the packed lower portions for superior acoustics, while in
the upper portions the view is better and the heat is more intense. Kendra
MacGillivray enters the room with her two siblings, Troy and Sabra. Kendra
is personable and enthusiastic. Laughing about the heat, they launch into
their first piece. Kendra's foot is stomping, her bow is flying, and
everyone's face is glistening. The middle sibling Sabra
alternates between playing the bodhran on a number of songs and also
treats the audience to her Highland and Scottish step dancing. With
costume changes and an impressive dance performance despite the heat, it
is easy to see why she has been invited to dance internationally and
sports a list of awards (5 time Nova Scotia Championship, 8th place at the
World Highland Dancing Championships in Dunoon, Scotland for example). A
business degree from St. Francis Xavier University allows Kendra to do her
own management and she combines her love of family in her grassroots
approach. She says that it is, "nice to able to perform as a family.
We listen to each other and that is the key. Sit down, throw out ideas and
then fine-tune them so it suits everybody. At times, mom and dad perform
with us as well.. Mom plays piano, dad plays fiddle and guitar."
British Columbians had the opportunity to catch the three talented
MacGillivray's blings in Victoria, Courtenay, Gibsons, Vancouver, Kamloops,
Salmon Arm, and Lake Country. |
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August
13, 2004 Toe-tapping Celtic trio By DANNA JOHNSON, Kamloops This Week - Kamloops, BC Kendra MacGillivray has been playing the fiddle since she can remember. And while she's played, her brother Troy has always been at her side, step-dancing and playing piano, her sister Sabra dancing and playing the Bodhran, or Celtic hand drum. The Nova Scotian trio is
part of a sweeping movement to keep Celtic music and dance alive, Kendra
said, and she couldn't be more proud. "We love it. It's something we
grew up doing and we want to keep it alive, that's for sure." "I took a business degree at St. Francis Xavier [University]. I was thinking of getting into the tourism industry and doing marketing. I'm glad it turned out the way it did." After Kendra graduated in 1995 she was able to play her fiddle as part of a video promoting Nova Scotia, so she's been able to fulfil both dreams. "It was the best of both worlds and it's kind of continued from there. We got a bug for travelling." Indeed, the trio has toured Japan, Australia, Barbados, Germany, Iceland and throughout the United States. "We got a lot of chances to travel and see parts of the world that you don't get to see every day." The MacGillivray's are on the only Western Canadian tour that they'll do this year, stopping in Kamloops tonight for Music in the Park and then heading off to Salmon Arm for the Roots and Blues Festival. Regardless of whether they're back in Nova Scotia or on the West Coast, Kendra said audiences have a typical response to the high-energy Celtic performance. "They'll be sort of dancing in their seats, beating their feet and clapping their hands. Sometimes you can get a pretty rowdy crowd if they enjoy the music and know the tunes." Kendra was named 2002 female artist of the year and instrumental artist of the year at the East Coast Music Awards. She was featured in a CBS movie, Heart of a Stranger, starring Jane Seymour. |
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August
11, 2004 Fiddler carries on family tradition By KRISTIN FRONEMAN, Vernon Morning Star - Vernon, BC East coast fiddling sensation Kendra MacGillivray is looking to strike a bow out west when she performs at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival this weekend and at the Creekside Theatre in Lake Country, Monday. A relative newcomer in this part of the country, MacGillivray's playing prowessis known by many out east. Like some of the other fiddling "Macs" of Nova Scotia, MacGillivray has helped preserve the traditional music of her homeland and forefathers. She was schooled in traditional strings by the same teacher as Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac and his cousin Wendy MacIsaac of Celtic group Beolach, all of whom have visited the North Okanagan at one time or another. A product of a musical family from Antigonish, N.S. (approx. 1/2 hour drive from Cape Breton Isle.), MacGillivray, 31, credits famed fiddle teacher Stan Chapman for kindling an interest in both her and many other young Nova Scotians to play traditional Scottish and Celtic music. "Back when I started playing fiddle 20-odd years ago, the music was dying out. There were not many young people playing it," she said. "Then this fiddle teacher from Antigonish started teaching the traditional ways after many approached him." Last October, Chapman's former students, including MacGillivray, honoured him at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton. "We owe a large part to him that the music is flourishing now," said MacGillivray. "Between all of us, we're now playing all over the world." MacGillivray is also grateful to Chapman for helping her learn the music her grandfather, Hugh A. MacDonald, performed. One of the first recording artists of traditional Scottish fiddle music, MacDonald died in 1976 just before MacGillivray picked up the fiddle herself. His memory was honoured in 2001 when he received the East Coast Music Association's (ECMA) Stompin' Tom Connors Award. MacGillivray is following in her grandfather's footsteps, and won two ECMA awards in 2002 for female artist of the year and instrumentalist of the year. She has also served as a musical ambassador for her home province, travelling the world on behalf of Nova Scotia Tourism to promote the province's music, food and outdoor attractions, since graduating post secondary at St. Francis Xavier University. "Natalie MacMaster did it before me," said MacGillivray who began working with the tourism marketing team in '95. Last year, she was invited to perform at Ottawa's National Arts Centre with famed U.S. composer Philip Glass (who has composed music for numerous movie soundtracks, including The Truman Show and The Hours). "It was neat to talk to him. He knows Paul Simon and has met lots of interesting people," she said. Her next project is to complete her fourth CD to follow her other traditional- based recordings, Antigonish's Own (from 1990), Clear The Track (1996) and Over the Waves (2000). MacGillivray says she wants to spread her wings on this new CD and explore other genres of music like MacMaster did on her last CD, Blueprint, which added a bluegrass influence to traditional fiddling. "I would be interested in trying to take a traditional tune and sit with musicians who play other styles and put a Latin jazz groove behind it," she said. "I'm doing more writing and composing now more than I've ever done. The tunes are coming out of me. . . and I am experimenting more with different tunes, although I am still deeply rooted in the style I play." Those traditional sounds will be heard when MacGillivray plays on this tour accompanied by her brother Troy, a pianist and fiddler, and her sister Sabra, a champion highland dancer, step dancer and bodhran player. MacGillivray is making up for her missed performance at Roots and Blues last summer when the Toronto blackout caused the cancellation of her flight west. She was one of a few artists (including headliner Chantal Kreviazuk) unable to make it to the festival because of the massive power outage. "We couldn't go further than Toronto and just by luck we found a flight on the milk route back to Halifax," she said. "They automatically booked us again to play this year. As I knew this far ahead, I was able to get Sabra and Troy to join me. We decided to book some other dates while out there that won't affect the festival." MacGillivray is looking forward to seeing more of B.C. as she has only made brief visits here in the past. Her brother Troy did an extensive tour of B.C., including a date in the North Okanagan, when he toured here in the spring, and Sabra has competed in Kelowna at a highland dance event. MacGillivray and her
siblings will not only be performing a solo set at Roots and Blues (Sunday
on the Barn Stage at 3:10 p.m.), she will be participating in a number of
workshops with musicians from all over Canada, from Newfoundland's "I was in a workshop down at the New Bedford folk festival near Boston a month ago. It was an interesting combo: one member of this band, one member of that band. . . They're a great idea. You get people who wouldn't normally listen to just our kind of music. If it draws them in, I think it's a great thing." |
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August
6, 2004 Fiddler takes her family on cross-country tour By Jeanine Soodeen - Weekend Edition, Victoria News - Victoria, BC Growing up in a musical family, Celtic fiddler Kendra MacGillivray feels it's only right to take her family on tour with her. The 2002 East Coast Music Award Female Artist of the Year and Instrumental Artist of the Year, MacGillivray begins her B.C. tour Aug. 9 at the Fairfield United Church with brother Troy and sister Sabra backing her up. "They're great performers. It's a bonus we happen to be brothers and sisters," said MacGillivray. "I happen to think Troy is one of the best piano accompanists around. We've been playing so long together our styles almost match. "Sabra, she's an incredible dancer. She really adds a lot to the show." All three siblings have separate performing schedules and to find them together on tour doesn't happen often. MacGillivray has played a number of concerts during the past year with other combinations, not to mention notable musicians. "The Philip Glass (& Friends in concert at National Arts Centre in Ottawa) that was really one of the highlights for me. I got to perform with other artists I had listened to over the years and was inspired by," she said, naming Loreena McKennitt, Colin James, Rita MacNeil and Glass. She also performed with Symphony Nova Scotia in the Maritime Pops Series, Atlantic Scene Festival in Ottawa, Villa Montalvo in California and was a feature performer in DRUM!, the musical in Halifax. MacGillivray meant to have a 2004 recording ready for release this fall. However, the summer has been too busy, and she is now looking to have it ready for the spring, in time for the summer festival season. The fourth recording will be a mix of traditional tunes and original compositions. A performer at festivals and events around the world, MacGillivray has been teaching the Celtic fiddle style for the past 15 years. This fall, she says, she will have to cut that down to workshops and master classes, as well as the occasional guest lecture at St. Francis Xavier University. MacGillivray, who manages her own music career, graduated with a bachelor of business administration in 1995 from the university. Although she grew up in a musical home - her mother played piano and father, guitar and fiddle - it was not until she graduated from university that MacGillivray decided on a music career. The B.C. tour will highlight not just her talents, but the musical bond between brother and sisters. Troy, who recently released his second album, Boomerang, also plays fiddle. The two plan a double fiddle set, which promises to make for an exciting show. As well as being a champion Highland dancer and a step dancer, Sabra accompanies on bodhran. |
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August
5, 2004 Versatile fiddler MacGillivray keeps tunes at her fingertips By Mike Devlin, Victoria Times Colonist - Victoria, BC Don't ask fiddler Kendra MacGillivray what tunes she performed last year. She can barely remember what she played last week. Her short-term memory loss is understandable given her non-stop tour schedule, which has the 31-year-old Celtic performer traversing from coast to coast much of the year. For example, last summer MacGillivray was invited to perform in Ottawa at a star-studded concert hosted by noted composer Philip Glass. He'd invited the Antigonish, N.S., native to perform at his National Arts Centre concert alongside Loreena McKennitt, Kate and Ann McGarrigle, Colin James, Rita MacNeil and Mary Jane Lamond. And what did she perform during this chance of a lifetime? "Oh God, I can't remember," MacGillivray says with a laugh. "I do know that I did play the Polka No. 3 medley, because I wanted to play something that was me. I know I definitely played that, but I can't remember what else. I guess a bunch of marches, strathspeys and reels." Therein lies the appeal of a fiddler such as MacGillivray. She's equally at home performing at a family kitchen party as she is in a high-pressure situation. It all comes down to versatility, she says. "You have to be flexible in order to do this full-time. I'll go from playing on stage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa with Philip Glass to a dance in Cape Breton where you have to pump out hundreds of tunes in a four-hour range."For a fiddler, you have to know a lot of tunes and you have to be able to perform in lots of different venues." MacGillivray, who in the past has performed at Courtenay's Vancouver Island Music Festival, is making her official local debut Monday at Fairfield United Church. Local fans of Nova Scotia fiddle tunes are no doubt anxiously awaiting her arrival, as MacGillivray's esteemed reputation is due in part to her lineage: her grandfather, Hugh A. MacDonald, is considered by many to be Antigonish's answer to Don Messer. MacGillivray has made great strides recently by carving out a reputation of her own. At the 2002 East Coast Music Association awards show, MacGillivray was voted the Female Artist of the Year (ahead of Rita MacNeil) as well as the Instrumental Artist of the Year. She has also been awarded a Young Alumna of the Year award from her alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University. Even though she was raised in a famous fiddle family, MacGillivray was never pressured to pursue her grandfather's passion. In fact, playing the fiddle always felt natural to the MacGillivray family. Evidence of that can be found Monday when Kendra performs with her sister Sabra (bodhran, step-dancing) and brother Troy (piano, fiddle) in tow. "It's nice that we did take an interest in it and carry it on," she says of her family's musical tradition. "And our parents really nurtured that. But nobody forced us that's for sure." The road is one of the few places the MacGillivray clan has a chance to catch up, Kendra says. Sabra lives in Cape Breton near Creignish, home to fellow fiddlers Ashley MacIsaac and Natalie MacMaster, while Troy lives at the MacGillivray family home in Antigonish. Kendra is back living at home for the summer as well, after six years in Halifax. She blames the move on her busy tour schedule. "I was looking at it, and I wasn't going to be around for May, June, July, August, September and October," she says. "So what am I doing paying rent?" |
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August
4, 2004 Scottish songstress performing Celtic fiddle music in Courtenay Campbell River Mirror - Campbell River, BC MacGillivray and her siblings will perform Tuesday, Aug. 10 in Courtenay, at the Old Church Theatre. Celtic fiddler Kendra MacGillivray is the 2002 ECMA "Female Artist of the Year" and "Instrumental Artist of the Year." MacGillivray has performed at festivals and events around the world. From a square dance or Scottish concert in Cape Breton to a main stage performance at the Glengarry Highland Games or Harrison Festival of the Arts or to a corporate event in Japan or Barbados, MacGillivray plays the music of her Scottish ancestors with energy and passion. In the past year, MacGillivray has performed with Philip Glass and Friends in concert at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Symphony Nova Scotia in the "Maritime Pops Series," Atlantic Scene Festival in Ottawa, Villa Montalvo in California and was a featured performer in DRUM!, the musical in Halifax. MacGillivray has three recordings - "Over the Waves," released in 2000, "Clear the Track," released in 1996, and "Antigonish's Own," her debut recording in 1990. MacGillivray is in the process of selecting, arranging and composing tunes for a new 2004 recording and show. At the same time she continues to perform her most requested selections, ranging from lively jigs to hauntingly beautiful slow airs and rousing sets of strathspeys and reels - in theatres, festivals and corporate events - in venues nearby and far away... "Over the Waves." The Old Church Theatre is located at 755 Harmston Avenue. The concert starts at 8 p.m. Admission is $15 and tickets are available at Sound Advice Music Store. |
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July
31, 2004 Celtic Fiddlers Dance in From Nova Scotia By Jan DeGrass, Coast Reporter - Sechelt, BC Celtic Fiddler Kendra MacGillivray, the 2002 ECMA Female Artist of the Year & Instrumental Artist of the Year, visits the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Wednesday, August 11 as part of her B.C. tour. It's the first time that all three Nova Scotian siblings, Troy MacGillivray on piano/fiddle and Sabra MacGillivray on bodhran/stepdancing, have performed on the Sunshine Coast. The Antigonish born Kendra MacGillivray has performed the music of her Scottish ancestors with energy and passion at festivals and events around the world, including a main stage performance at the Glengarry Highland Games and a concert with Philip Glass & Friends at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Musically, she was influenced in childhood by the fiddle music of her grandfather, Hugh A. MacDonald, a pioneer recording artist and recipient of the ECMA Stompin' Tom Award. Although she was much too young to learn fiddle tunes from him while he was living, Kendra danced to his music at every chance and his playing has inspired her. She first started taking highland dance lessons at the age of six, followed by classical piano, fiddle and classical violin lessons. MacGillivray has three recordings: Over the Waves, released in 2000, Clear the Track, 1996, and Antigonish's Own, her debut recording in 1990. The August 11 instrumental concert will be a mixture of her most requested selections, ranging from lively jigs to hauntingly beautiful slow airs and rousing sets of strathspeys and reels. It appeals to all ages, she says, from the three-year-old that wants to dance in the aisles to the 80 year olds in the audience. Sister Sabra will definitely be dancing, Kendra and Troy may dance, and there will likely be some piano music among the traditional tunes. Troy MacGillivray was recently on the Coast performing solo; he has highlighted a busy year in 2003 with the release of his second album, Boomerang, which received a 2004 ECMA Nomination for Instrumental Album of the Year. The Music Industry Association of Nova Scotia has recognized him with a Nomination for Folk/Traditional Artist of the Year. Troy began impressing audiences with his step dancing at age six, and by age thirteen he was teaching piano at the renowned Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in Cape Breton. His studies in other musical styles include Grade 7 Toronto Conservatory of Music for classical piano, four years in a stringed orchestra and a B.A. from St. Francis Xavier University's notable jazz program. Sabra MacGillivray is a champion highland dancer, a spectacular step dancer and a talented musician. She is probably one of the Atlantic region's leading ambassadors of Highland and Scottish step dancing since she is often seen in Nova Scotia tourism commercials and has been a guest on TV specials. She tours and performs with her sister, Kendra, and brother, Troy, most often as a highland dancer, step dancer or accompanying them on fiddle and piano with the bodhran. One of her proudest moments was when she was invited to perform at the Royal Military Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland as a soloist from Canada. Her list of awards is impressive: five times Nova Scotia Champion, ten times interprovincial representative at the Canadian Championships, eighth overall at the World Highland Dancing Championships in Dunoon,Scotland, International Gathering of the Clans Champion, and two-time Atlantic Canadian High Aggregate winner, just to name a few. Step dancing is another one of Sabra's loves. She choreographs her own steps using quick and intricate footwork, combining movements that she has learned in Cape Breton step, Highland, Irish, and Flamenco dancing. |
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July
14, 2004 Violinist has music in the blood Salmon Arm Observer, Salmon Arm, BC Celtic Fiddler Kendra MacGillivray is the 2002 East Coast Music Association Female Artist of the Year and Instrumental Artist of the Year. She has performed at festivals and events around the world and will be appearing at this year's Roots & Blues Festival Aug. 14 to Aug.15. From a square dance or Scottish concert in Cape Breton to a main stage performance at the Glengarry Highland Games or Harrison Festival of the Arts or to a corporate event in Japan or Barbados, MacGillivray plays the music of her Scottish ancestors with energy and passion. In the past year, MacGillivray has performed with Philip Glass & Friends in concert at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Symphony Nova Scotia in the Maritime Pops Series, Atlantic Scene Festival in Ottawa, Villa Montalvo in California and was a featured performer in DRUM, the musical in Halifax. MacGillivray was also featured in a CBS movie called, Heart of a Stranger, starring Jane Seymour and presented awards on the 2003 East Coast Music Awards, a CBC production and the 2002 MIANS Music Awards. She was also awarded the Young Alumna of the Year from her alma mater, St. Francis Xavier University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1995. MacGillivray has been a guest lecturer at St. Francis Xavier University, Business of Music course, because she has been managing her own career up to the present. Musically, she was influenced from the very beginning by her grandfather's fiddle music, Hugh A. MacDonald, a pioneer recording artist and recipient of the ECMA Stompin' Tom Award and a Nova Scotia Country Hall of Fame inductee. Although she was much too young to learn fiddle tunes from him while he was living, MacGillivray danced to his music at every chance and his playing has inspired the music she plays today. Naturally, MacGillivray started taking highland dance lessons at the age of six, followed by classical piano lessons, fiddle lessons and then classical violin lessons. Music and dance were in her blood! MacGillivray has three recordings, Over the Waves, released in 2000, Clear the Track, released in 1996, and Antigonish's Own, her debut recording in 1990. MacGillivray is in the process of selecting, arranging and composing tunes for a new 2004 recording and show. At the same time she continues to perform her most requested selections, ranging from lively jigs, to hauntingly beautiful slow airs and rousing sets of strathspeys and reels. MacGillivray will be accompanied by her siblings, Troy and Sabra, for her B.C. tourdates. Troy MacGillivray highlighted a busy year in 2003 with the release of his second album, Boomerang which received a 2004 ECMA Nomination for Instrumental Album of the Year. The album is hot on the heels of his first disc, Musical Ties, which received an ECMA Nomination for Instrumental Artist/Group of the Year in February 2003. The Music Industry Association of Nova Scotia has also recognized Troy this year with a nomination for Folk/Traditional Artist of the Year. Sabra MacGillivray, has been performing on stage ever since she can remember. She is a champion highland dancer, step-dancer extraordinaire, and bodhran player. She is a solo highland and step dancer with sister and brother, Kendra and Troy and performs with other dancers as the Macquarrie Dancers. She is also a choreographer and a highland dance teacher. Sabra has competed in highland dancing competitions all across Canada, the New England States and Scotland. She placed eighth overall in the Adult World Championships in Scotland, has five Nova Scotia championship titles, International Gathering of the Clans Champion, and two Atlantic championship trophies. |
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July
2004 Those fiddling, dancing, piano-playing MacGillivrays By Steve Edge - BC Rogue Folk Review, Vancouver, BC Nova Scotia is rightly praised for the fiddle traditions of Cape Breton, but on the mainland around Antigonish there is also a real hotbed of fiddle music with roots deep in the Highlands of Scotland. The MacGillivrays are descended from Highland settlers who came to Canada in 1791, bringing their rich music with them. These MacGillivrays are a pretty talented bunch! At the end of April we brought young fiddler/pianist Troy MacGillivray to the St. James Hall for a concert, and he did not disappoint. His prodigious fiddle talents and compositional skills really shone, and his latest CD, "Boomerang," also showcases his piano playing to great effect. Kendra MacGillivray has released three CDs to date, and has a new one due out to coincide with this western tour. I remember being particularly impressed with her fiddle playing when she performed at the Vancouver Celtic Festival a few years ago. Plenty of others have been impressed, too, for she has won numerous East Coast Music Awards. Somewhere in there she's managed to receive a Bachelor of Business Management degree from St. Francis Xavier University, and was recently voted "Alumna of the Year" at that revered institution. It will be great to hear Kendra again. Her music is heavily influenced by her late grandfather's music. Hugh A. MacDonald was a recording pioneer and a much revered figure in Nova Scotia fiddle music. "Hughie the Fiddler", as he was known, played for dances, weddings, concerts, and such for over 70 years. He was a regular guest on radio shows from the 1930s onwards, and the family home is something of a shrine for visiting fiddlers from around the world. Hughie died before these three siblings were born, but they all danced to his records and that was how Kendra made her start in music. Sabra MacGillivray is a celebrated Highland dancer and teacher, who also plays bodhran. She is a registered massage therapist too, with her own practice in Port Hawkesbury. The MacGillivrays represent some of the finest young talent in the country, and are touring western Canada together for the first time. It will be a scintillating evening for fans of Scottish and East Coast fiddle music. |
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June
2004 Sundays and Mondays - King's Playhouse announces two concert series for the summer The Buzz, PEI This summer, in addition to producing a six-week season of plays and musicals, the King's Playhouse is presenting two concert seriesFamily Night Sundays showcase a different musical family each week, while Mixed Bag Mondays bring a variety of musical styles and artists to the Georgetown stage. Family Night Sundays On August 1 the Zaat family takes to the stage under the leadership of father Con. An established keyboard player, he is joined by family and friends for an eclectic evening of music. Urban Carmichael partners with sisters Margie, Leona, and Julie, along with relatives galore for their August 8 concert. Expect comedy, great harmonies, and original Island entertainment. The Beck family from Montague wraps up Family Night Sundays with a get-together on August 15. Siblings Rob, Jock, Nancy, and Cam are joined by members of the next two generations (including Pam, Christie, Rachel, Amy, Laurel, Lisa, Quincy, Leah, and Katie) for some gospel favourites. The King's Playhouse 2004
summer season runs from July 10 until August 21. |
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June
2004 Victoria Showcase Series - Mae Moore opens Victoria series in concert with Lester Quitzau The Buzz, PEI The Monday Night Showcase Series at the Victoria Playhouse begins July 5 with a performance by neo-folk artists Mae Moore and Lester Quitzau. The first time Lester and Mae performed together as a duo was opening for Taj Mahal in 2002. Lester brings his trademark groove and sweeping blues vocabulary, and Mae her acoustic jazz and familiar folk feel to this new collaboration. John and Michelle Law take to the stage Monday July 12. The Laws are a husband and wife songwriting duo from Ontario, whose musical style represents the essence of bluegrass, country and folk. The new Island group Hedgerow will perform on the Victoria stage July 26, August 30 and September 21. Through the stories of Alan Buchanan, the songs of Allan Rankin, and the musicianship of Brad Fremlin and Perry Williams, Hedgerow offers audiences a pure-hearted, humorous, and at times irreverent look at Prince Edward Island. The jazz ensemble Mobile Pried will take to the stage August 2. Fresh from the North Sea International Jazz Festival this young quartet with the "New York Sound" is going places. The group is comprised of bassist Pat Reid and drummer Chris Driscoll (both from PEI), tenor saxophonist Jon Lindhorst from Toronto and Montreal guitarist Jim Bland. Morgan Davis, the 2004 Juno Award Winner for Blues Album of the Year will perform Monday August 16. Morgan has been playing the blues across Canada for 33 yearsfrom Victoria, BC to St. John's, NF. On Monday August 23 fiddler Kendra MacGillivray and her trio will play the music of their Scottish ancestors. |
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Week
of May 17, 2004
Kitchen party - Musical family brings taste of Nova Scotia to Iqaluit By Jennifer Geens - Nunavut News North, Northern News Services, Iqaluit Nova Scotia musician Troy MacGillivray said the only place he's played in that comes close to Iqaluit was northern Scotland. "It was almost like it," he said. "No trees. Rocky hills. It's great." MacGillivray, his sisters Kendra and Sabra, and singer Dave Gunning made the most of their week in the Nunavut capital. Wednesday night the MacGillivrays led a fiddle workshop. Thursday afternoon they played for students. Friday afternoon they played for elders. Saturday night was their Nova Scotia Kitchen Party at the Cadet Hall. The Kitchen Party featured setpieces of the MacGillivrays and their guest Dave Gunning singing, fiddling, playing piano and performing highland dancing, along with a few informal jams. If they can fit it in, MacGillvray said he hoped to do some snowmobiling. The trip to Iqaluit came about through many connections Nunavut musicians have with the East coast. Fiddle groups have contacts with other fiddle groups. Students from Nunavut attend Gaelic College at St. Ann's in Cape Breton every summer for music instruction, and Iqaluit musician Jimmie Inch even went to school in the MacGillivray's hometown of Antigonish, N.S. "It's like a big clique," said MacGillivray. Even so, he said it was a moving experience to walk into the Wednesday night workshop and hear Iqaluit fiddlers practicing songs from Nova Scotia. "It was exciting to hear tunes from home," he said. MacGillivray has been on the road for more than a month, cross-crossing the nation on his "Boomerang" tour. He started in Toronto, went across country to Victoria, B.C., headed back to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick then took a jaunt to Ottawa where he met up with his sisters for the trip to Iqaluit. After the shows in Iqaluit, he wraps up the tour with a few more shows in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. |
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February
19, 2004 Memories of the third ECMAs in Newfoundland By Stephen Cooke - Halifax Herald
Another act you'd have to
go to the Rock to see is 8-Track Favourites, a pet project for the
Punters' front man Larry Foley, with Brothers in Stereo's Andrew LeDrew on
pedal steel and former Wonderful Grand Band/current Rasa member Sandy
Morris on lead guitar. I wrapped up my Saturday night with a set by
Newfoundland's answer to Little Orton Hoggett, playing old school country
favourites like Willie Nelson's On the Road Again and Glen Campbell's
Rhinestone Cowboy. |
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January
17, 2004 Review of Celtic Colours Festival - Teacher's Pets Concert By Virginia MacIsaac - Rambles.net This concert could easily
have been held every night of Celtic Colours. It became the favorite of
all the shows I saw in 2003 - perhaps because of my Cape Breton bias, but
there were a few mainlanders in this show! |
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December
1, 2003 East Coast Musicians Coming To Cornwall Cornwall Seaway News East Coast Musicians Kendra and Troy MacGillivary are coming to Eastern Ontario. The Fresh-Air Association will be holding a fundraising project to recognize their appreciation for two fiddlers' families who have served their community well, with oil portraits of Bev MacQueen and Donald MacLeod playing piano and fiddle together. The Cornwall concert will take place at Blessed Sacrament Hall, Tollgate Road on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2003 at 7pm |
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October
15, 2003 Teacher's pets: Stan Chapman honoured by students, by CB Fiddlers Association By Frank MacDonald - Inverness Oran In the early 1970's, when Cape Breton was trying to fend off the perception that fiddlers were vanishing from the island, Frank MacInnis was told about a student at the Nova Scotia Teachers College who was a wizard with the instrument. Unfortunately, the New Glasgow native wasn't a Cape Breton style fiddler. Put me in touch with him, said MacInnis, an organizer of the 1973 Glendale Fiddle Festival and a founder of the Cape Breton Fiddlers Association. By 1975, Stan Chapman was among the hundred fiddlers on the stage at Glendale's 1975 Cape Breton Fiddle Festival and one of ten Cape Breton fiddlers selected to represent the island's music at the 1976 Olympics,performing before Queen Elizabeth II. In another couple of years, Chapman, now a school teacher in Antigonish, was taking on students and teaching them to be Cape Breton fiddlers. Young people, children really, were traveling from Cape Breton to Antigonish on the back of Angus MacIsaac's truck to study with Chapman, children with names like Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, Wendy MacIsaac, Stephanie Wills. "Stan Chapman had a mission," Bob MacEachern told a packed Judique Community Centre on Monday night, "to have young Cape Breton fiddlers spread the Gospel of Stan to every corner of the world. We (the CapeBreton Fiddlers Association) say tonight your mission has been accomplished. Congratulations on a job well done!" How well the job was done was evident from the former students who filled the stage to pay tribute to their teacher as part of the Celtic Colours International Music Festival. "I was his first private student," said Jackie Dunn-MacIsaac, who also co-hosted the evening with Dave MacIsaac. "In my very first lesson with him, Stan brought the music alive in my life. I don't know how to begin to thank him for opening the doors he did in my life," Stephanie Wills told her mentor. "In September, twenty years ago, Ashley and I got in the back of Angus' truck and headed for Antigonish. When we got there he was teaching his advanced class, Jackie and Kendra and those. We were intimidated, if you can believe that," Wendy MacIsaac recalled. "Thank you for teaching me, but also for inspiring me to play my grandfather's, Hugh A. MacDonald's, music," Kendra MacGillivray said to Chapman. "Thirteen years ago, I started studying with Stan. In my opinion, a good teacher is one where you go home after class and practice without even realizing you're practicing," Mairi Rankin told the audience. "I was very nervous my first class, but you made me feel very special. Stan has been so much a part of this renaissance. Whenever you teach you encourage your students to be better but to remain comfortable with where they are. That's amagical balance for a teacher to have," Natalie MacMaster said. Following each student's remark, she performed a set of tunes for the teacher, and when Natalie MacMaster finished her "blast" she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to tell Chapman that she had composed a tune in his honour. "I already played it, it was the first reel in the set," she said, then replayed the tune. The remarks, the memories and the music were all part of an emotional salute to a man whose impact on Cape Breton fiddling will ripple through many generations to come, many of his own students already having gone on to teach Cape Breton fiddling to classes of their own students. It was an evening that Wendy MacIsaac noted was filled with Girl Power!, a six-fiddler fact that didn't seem to disturb Dave MacIsaac who accompanied them all on his guitar, and related how, meeting Stan Chapman at the 1975Glendale Fiddle Festival, "we've been good buddies ever since," exchanging tapes of Cape Breton fiddling whenever they meet. The evening was as special for the students as it was for the teacher, Jackie Dunn pointed out. "We don't get to play much together. The last time was in 1990-91, and there are so many of his students who aren't here tonight, Rodney MacDonald, Glenn Graham, John Pellerine. All of Stan's students couldn't fit on this stage." "The first time we all got together was in 1984 to play for the Pope's visit to Halifax. That was followed by a concert series at UCCB, a huge show, and that was the beginning of us being recognized as the next generation, so thanks very much, Stan." Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman doesn't play the fiddle - yet, but has been immersing herself in its music through the last two Celtic Colours at least, and was present for the tribute to Stan Chapman, telling him as she made a presentation on behalf of the province, "You are a most remarkable man. People are giving thanks to you for all you have done for this community. You have imbued in your students a lifelong love of music. You have much to be proud of, and we are proud of you for what you have done." Another student, Hon. Rodney MacDonald, couldn't be present but sent his personal appreciation for Stan as his teacher, and congratulations on behalf of the province. Burton MacIntyre, also with the Cape Breton Fiddlers Association, briefly described a scene from the first Glendale Fiddle Festival as organizers shook the bushes to find enough fiddlers to total one hundred on stage, and then moved the audience forward to last Friday and the opening ceremonies of the Celtic Colours. "Of the 70 fiddlers from the fiddlers association, twenty-five of them were young fiddlers. You've done so much for our young people." Stan Chapman, in his remarks, thanked the organizers for "a super wonderful evening. I am extremely happy, and what's happened on stage is awesome. But I want to acknowledge all my students who are not on this stage." It was never his idea, Chapman said, that his students would earn a living by playing the fiddle. He was teaching them to play for the love of playing, for the fun of playing. But people like Buddy MacMaster and John Allan Cameron and others opened up the opportunities that allowed many of the young fiddlers to have careers. "As a teacher, you learn that you learn more from your students than they do from you." The show, which had opened with a school house setting and Chapman teaching six squeaky fiddlers blossomed into an opening set with teacher and students driving the tunes off the back walls, and at the end of the evening, they did it again; and interspersed throughout the Teacher's Pets show were ovations and applause from a Cape Breton music fan base that learned, if they did not already know, that the quiet, unassuming man in the middle of all those young energetic fiddlers is largely responsible for them having traveled across the country, from Europe, from the United States for the Celtic Colours International Music Festival. His students are their musical heroes. |
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October
14, 2003
One of the hottest tickets at this year's annual Cape Breton music festival, Teacher's Pets: A Tribute to Stan Chapman, brought out the big guns to salute the Antigonish-based instructor at the Judique Community Centre on Monday night. To call the lineup "all-star" would be something of an understatement, with Jackie Dunn, Stephanie Wills, Wendy MacIsaac, Kendra MacGillivray, Mairi Rankin and Natalie MacMaster all turning out for the class reunion, while pianist Troy MacGillivray and guitarist Dave MacIsaac added their own unique rhythm. A school desk piled high with textbooks and polished apples graced the stage as a bit of tongue-in-cheek decoration. "Stan Chapman, this is your life!" joked Dave MacIsaac, a longtime friend who's been trading tapes with the educator since the mid-'70s, when they met at a Gaelic gathering in Glendale. MacIsaac co-hosted with Dunn; perhaps ringleading is a more appropriate verb, considering the bit of clowning that opened the show, with the assembled ex-students tuning up torturously and mocking their earliest days with an assault of off-key sawing. MacIsaac poked fun at his co-host, whose married name is also MacIsaac, asking "Which MacIsaac did you Dunn?" while Dunn remarked that she was the oldest of Chapman's students there, but not the oldest musician, thanks to the presence of a certain grey-haired guitarist ... But the assembled multitude were in all seriousness when it came to sharing their experiences with Chapman and playing sets which demonstrated how he shaped their talents without constricting individual styles. You didn't have to be a fiddle expert to notice that no two musicians sounded the same, each bringing their own sense of heritage and identity to their playing. Dunn kicked things off with the help of guitarist MacIsaac and Wills on keyboards, with a set that included strathspeys by John Morris Rankin and her great uncle Dan Hughie MacEachern. Kendra MacGillivray popped out from backstage for a spirited bit of stepdancing, while Dunn tore through the tunes like a sports car hugging the twisty curves of the Cabot Trail. "Where was the fire at?" Dunn quizzed herself afterwards, practically pulling herself over for speeding, but no one seemed to mind the headlong rush. Creignish native Wills took her turn next, shy about speaking but visibly moved by Chapman's contribution to her life. "He brought music alive in my life, he's more than a teacher," she said. "Thank you for believing in me," she said to Chapman, beaming in the front row with his wife Gert. As for Wills's playing, her seasoned skills deliver a high sweet tone, but with a tough edge that mirrors life in a hillside village on Cape Breton's windswept western shore. "How about a round of applause for girl power?" roared Wendy MacIsaac, noting the bill's feminine bent. (Although to be fair, Chapman's students also included MacIsaac's cousin Ashley, Glenn Graham and Rodney MacDonald.) "Maybe we should have called the show 36C or something." "Then some of us would have to leave," laughed Dunn. Wendy MacIsaac recalled driving to lessons in Antigonish with Ashley in the back of uncle Angus's truck - "like the Clampetts" - before playing a mixed set that displayed her poetic approach to slow airs and sharp attack on strathspeys and reels. This time it was MacMaster's turn to dance, in a black cocktail dress with an artfully shredded hemline, no less. Lt. Governor Myra Freeman handled the door prize draw at intermission - or recess, as Chapman called it - noting that as an educator herself, there is no greater satisfaction than seeing your students become successful at what you've taught them. Case in point, Antigonish's Kendra MacGillivray, both a player and a teacher, whose buoyant sound has lit up rooms from Tokyo to Barbados. She remarked that Chapman encouraged her to discover the music of her own grandfather, noted fiddler Hugh A. MacDonald, while playing with a touch that's genteel, but lacking nothing in momentum. Mabou's Mairi Rankin played a mix of Scottish and Cape Breton tunes with a keen, yearning sound marked by sly sliding notes and a gentle vibrato. Achingly dirty on a slow air learned from Cameron Chisholm or down and dirty on a John Campbell Strathspey, Rankin showed how her time spent touring with Beolach has honed her crowd-pleasing style. The closing slot belonged to Troy fiddler MacMaster, arguably the brightest light among Chapman's angels, starting with a dramatic air that spoke of folk music traditions beyond Cape Breton island, then morphing into a strathspey that was pure Ceilidh Trail with no two passages alike. Building in speed and intensity over Dave MacIsaac's arpeggios, MacMaster's notes began flying even more freely off the neck of her violin, until she felt the need to stand up and make it a full-body experience. So lost in the music was she, she forgot to mention that one of the reels she'd played was one she'd written for Chapman. "Play it again!" came from the audience, so the jaunty tune got a second airing. Things really got emotional during a presentation to Chapman by the Cape Breton Fiddlers' Association in honour of his contribution to the music. "I told Buddy MacMaster that my head was going to swell up something awful with all this attention," said the unassuming teacher. "But Buddy told me, 'Don't worry, it'll be back to normal in the morning.' "I've learned as much or more from them as I've taught them," he said, indicating towards his former students. Later that night, back in St. Ann's, Wendy MacIsaac, Mairi Rankin and Natalie MacMaster closed down the Festival Club at the Gaelic College with a no-holds-barred set that saw the trio playfully bounce variations off each other while pianist Mac Morin. guitarist Fred Lavery and drummer Cheryl Smith held down the rhythm, grinning madly at the manic interplay. It's clear they worked very hard at their lessons, but they didn't forget how to play after school. |
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October
2003 REMEMBERING MICHAEL ARDENNE (1946-2003) The music industry grieves with the untimely passing of Michael Ardenne. Michael's contribution to the music industry still echoes throughout the province and continues to shape current industry practices. His work as a focused effective facilitator and leader ensured growth for both our music and the music industry in Atlantic Canada. Born in Kingston Ontario, Michael was the son of Louise (Porter), Seabright, and the late John Ardenne. At age three, Michael moved to Nova Scotia and he grew up in Seabright. Developing a great love for the sea, Michael became an avid sailor and through time, he found a great passion for the arts. In 1988, Michael teamed up with Brookes Diamond to form Bamcor Ltd. Bamcor quickly became a full service entertainment agency with expertise in event management, artist management and promotion. Michael and Brookes eventually parted and Michael formed Ardenne Ventures Ltd. In 1992, Ardenne Ventures Ltd. became Ardenne International Inc. Ardenne International became a diverse entertainment company for both the music industry and the corporate community. The organization extended itself in many disciplines including event coordination, artist management, and record label. His first client, Joan Kennedy, went on to international status under his leadership. Within a very short length of time, Michael found himself representing the East Coast on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. With Joan's success, Michael added Trina and Annick Gagnon to his roster. Even though Michael's work in the music industry eventually evolved to event planning, he continued to work with musicians Kendra MacGillivray, Chris Taylor and The Funkin' Flames. In 1997, Michael became the President of the Board of Director for the Music Industry Association of Nova Scotia (MIANS). Under his leadership, MIANS was given a substantial grant for the development of the Association and its membership. The very first Executive Director, Tanya Wolstenholme, was hired and together she and Michael implemented an office infrastructure. During his tenure, MIANS completed the 1999 industry survey that has become the foundation for MIANS new Music Sector Strategy, a document that is currently being reviewed by the provincial government. Michael was presented with the MIANS' Promoter of the Year Award in 1998, as well as the Award for Event Coordinator of the Year in both 1998 and 1999. He showed his incredible skill as an event coordinator with his assembly of BOMA '97, Festival by the Lake for the 1997 World Canoe Championships, 8th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology, Nova Scotia/Massachusetts Economic Summit, Fiddles of the World and the 14th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers. He is survived by his beloved wife, Nancy Ardenne; sister, Margaret, Seabright; brother, Timothy, Coquitlam, B.C.; niece, Arianna; nephews, Sabastian and Alexander, all of Coquitlam, B.C. Donations may be made to St. Margaret's Bay Junior Sailing Club or MIANS. On-line condolences to: www.rawalker.ca or to info@mians.ca BACK TO TOP |
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August
16, 2003 Hank Snow Tribute embraces hall of famers Baker, Bowers, Elliott, MacDonald new inductees Mark Roberts - The Halifax Herald Winnifred MacDonald, the widow of 2003 Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Hugh MacDonald, accepted the honour Thursday on behalf of her late husband. With her is her granddaughter, musician Kendra MacGillivray.
"For me, it's the
absolute icing on the cake because it's from my home, my very own Queens
County," she said of the hall's location in Liverpool. Also inducted into the hall
of fame were Carl Elliott, Hugh MacDonald and Eric Bowers. |
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August
13, 2003 Over 400 performers will take part in Pictou's annual Hector Festival, running Wednesday to Sunday at the deCoste Centre. Halifax Herald Pictou was the landing site
for the first wave of Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia and the festival
celebrates the region's Celtic music and heritage and the accomplishments
of the early pioneers. |
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June
17, 2003 Lineup Announced for 2003 Celtic Colours International Festival For Immediate Release For nine days in October, Cape Breton will be alive with music and visitors as the seventh annual Celtic Colours International Festival takes over the island. From October 10-18, Celtic Colours will present hundreds of local and International artists in 44 concerts scheduled in 33 Island communities. Venues range from an 18th Century reconstructed French Chapel to state of the art performance facilities and community halls. What the venues have in common is the prominent place each holds in the community it serves. The Celtic culture of music, dance and story telling lives on in these communities and provides the foundation for a celebration of living culture that is the Celtic Colours International Festival. The Festival opens Friday, October 10 with a Gala Concert at Centre 200 in Sydney featuring Spain¹s Carlos Núñez, who was such a hit at last year's Festival; the sensational Irish band, Lúnasa; Cape Breton's award-winning Natalie MacMaster; the Cape Breton Fiddlers¹ Association and this year's Artists in Residence strings-master, Dave MacIsaac and one of Scotland¹s foremost Gaelic singers, Mairi MacInnes. As has become the custom, Celtic Colours will wrap up with the World's Biggest Square Dance in Baddeck. This closing concert, scheduled for October 18, presents local dance traditions with music provided by some of our finest dance players in an environment that also showcases a variety of international performers. Other featured performers for Celtic Colours 2003 include: Singer/songwriter Tommy Sands and the Kane Sisters, from Ireland; Bachué, Margaret Bennett, Karine Polwart, Donnie Murdo MacLeod, Mary Ann Kennedy, and Anna Massie from Scotland; Flook from England; Tim O¹Brien, John Doyle, Dirk Powell and Christine Balfa, Ferintosh, and Bohola from the US; Welsh singer Siân James; and Pipeline from Germany. Canadian artists featured
this year include the Barra MacNeils, the McDades (Alberta), J.P. Cormier,
Buddy MacMaster, Beòlach, Gordie Sampson, Mary Jane Lamond, the Men of
the Deeps, A Crowd of Bold Sharemen (Nfld), Dave Gunning, Cynthia MacLeod
(PEI), Cape Breton Chamber Orchestra, Cape Breton Chorale, David
Greenberg, Scott Macmillan, Jennifer Roland, John Allan Cameron, Wendy
MacIsaac, Jackie Dunn MacIsaac, Winnie Chafe, Cape Breton
Fiddlers'Association, Buddy MacDonald and John Ferguson, Wally MacAulay,
Cyril MacPhee, Glenn Graham, Kimberley Fraser, Triskele, Kendra
MacGillivray, Jerry Holland, Kinnon & Betty Lou Beaton, Carl MacKenzie,
Brenda Stubbert, The Celtic Colours International Festival schedule is available at www.celtic-colours.com. Tickets go on sale July 14 through Select-A-Seat and can also be purchased online through the Celtic Colours International Festival website. For tickets phone 1-888-355-7744. For Festival information phone 1-877-285-2321. For accommodations phone 1-800-565-0000. The Celtic Colours International Festival greatly appreciates the financial contributions of Nova Scotia's Department of Tourism and Culture, the Canadian government through ECBC/ACOA, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Cape Breton Credit Unions and media sponsors CBC Maritimes and the Cape Breton Post. |
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June
13, 2003 Lahey installed as Antigonish bishop Newfoundland native accepts his golden staff in solemn ceremony By Mary Ellen MacIntyre - Halifax Herald Antigonish - The installation of the eighth Roman Catholic bishop in the Diocese of Antigonish was marked Thursday by trumpets, fiddles, bagpipes and a seemingly endless procession of white-robed priests and bishops wearing mitres. "The Bishop of Antigonish wishes to take possession of his see," Deacon Leo Penny announced from the altar of St. Ninian's Cathedral. Bishop Raymond Lahey prepared to walk down the aisle of the venerated old church near St. Francis Xavier University. "Let him come forward," intoned Archbishop Terrance Prendergast, metropolitan of Halifax. To the strains of MacCrimmon's March, Bishop Lahey walked toward the altar and accepted his golden staff. He was followed by a 24-man honour guard of fourth-degree Knights of Columbus in capes lined with crimson, gold, white and purple, and feathered hats, and swords held at their chests. After the reading of the Papal Bull, or apostolic letter announcing his appointment, Bishop Lahey was led to the bishop's chair by archbishops Prendergast and Luigi Ventura, the apostolic Pronunci. The ritual is a key part of the ancient ceremony. Bishop Lacey, 62, a Newfoundland native, has had a long and varied career within the church. A longtime professor of theology at Memorial University in St. John's, Nfld., he is a graduate of St. Paul's University seminary in Ottawa, the Gregorian University in Rome and Cambridge in England. For the past 18 years, he has served as bishop for the Diocese of St. George's on the west coast of Newfoundland. Pope John Paul II appointed him to the Diocese of Antigonish this spring. Colin Campbell, bishop emeritus of the diocese who retired last October, took part in a procession that included close to 50 bishops from across Canada and well over 100 priests. Although the day began as grey and drizzly, sunlight eventually began to stream through the stained glass windows during the solemn ceremony. It glanced off the bowed heads of aging priests and the golden wood of the pews in the old stone building. During Bishop Lahey's preparation of the eucharist, the most solemn moment in the mass, violinists Kendra MacGillivray and John Pellerin played a haunting lament while Margaret MacGregor MacDonald chilled the spine with a soaring rendition of Where He Leads Me I Will Follow, sung in Gaelic. Lt.-Gov. Myra Freeman and her husband attended the ceremony, as did a number of political and religious leaders. Former senator Allan J. Mac-Eachen sat with Senator Al Graham and his son, Liberal Leader Danny Graham. A dinner at the university's Millennium Centre was planned to further celebrate Bishop Lahey's installation. The Bishop of Antigonish also serves as the chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University. |
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May 9,
2003
Fiddler, Pianist Siblings Host Workshop Halifax Daily News Award-winning Celtic fiddler Kendra MacGillivray and her piano-playing brother, Troy, are sharing some of their musical secrets. The MacGillivrays are holding a fiddle and piano workshop at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, 6199 Chebucto Rd., Halifax, on Saturday, May 17, at 3 p.m. Fiddlers will learn a few new tunes, while pianists will learn the accompanying chords - then all will team up to try them out. Participants should have some experience playing, and have at least a basic knowledge of reading music. cost for the workshop is $50. Call the conservatory at 423-6995 to reserve a spot. |
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February
14, 2003 Duds that rock: Stars plan to suit themselves when it comes to dressing up for East Coast Music Awards By Bill Spurr - Halifax Herald There are women of whom you ask not "What will you wear to the ECMAs?" but rather "Who are you wearing?" Women who know that Cavalli is not dinner but a designer. Mia Rankin is such a woman. The wife and manager of Jimmy Rankin won't know until the last minute if she and her husband will actually attend Sunday's awards show at the Metro Centre in Halifax. But if they do, Mia will be wrapped in a Rifat Ozbek blouse and pink Roberto Cavalli pants with a leopard pattern, purchased in New York. "You see a lot of people in the music industry wearing his stuff, like Lenny Kravitz," she said. "You'll often see him wearing some outrageous Cavalli stuff." For Rankin, the most difficult accessory to select for an awards show is shoes "because these evenings mean a lot of standing and walking." "I do a lot of our shopping in New York and sometimes at Biscuit (on Argyle Street) as well, because Wendy Friedman has a lot of really cool funky stuff. That's a really good place to go to get stuff for the ECMAs." Although she does most of the
clothes shopping for the couple, Mia describes her husband as having a very
good sense of style. At the other end of the
fashion spectrum, ECMA nominee Amelia Curran, who wouldn't know Prada from
Pravda, has no idea what to put on for Sunday's awards ceremony.
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Before
the Newfoundland fog completely clouds my brain, and the damage from the
kick of several Black Horses becomes permanent, it's a good time to
reflect on some of the sights and sounds of last weekend's East Coast
Music Awards and Conference in St. John's.
Old
adages die hard. But if there's one thing that the Celtic Colours tribute
to fiddle teacher Stan Chapman proves, it's that whoever wrote "those
who can, do; those who can't, teach" was an idiot.
Bridgewater - Canadian
country music icon Carol Baker tearfully accepted a place in the Nova
Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame on Thursday evening on behalf of her
parents, family and friends from her hometown of Port Medway.