When Larry first started researching dances in Western Pennsylvania, every single caller he knew was a fiddler. If you're a fiddler, or a budding dance caller, you'll want to know about this track at Fiddle Tunes.

This special workshop for dance callers will focus on calling square dances and community dances. It is geared towards both intermediate and beginning callers, though the level will be somewhat dependent on who shows up. Intermediate callers will have the opportunity to improve their skills and broaden their repertoires and newer callers will be able to learn to call from scratch. All sessions feature calling to live music  with live dancers. The class will meet every day from 9 a.m. - noon and each session will build on the previous one, so plan to come all week.

(Participants work it out at Fiddle Tunes 2011.  Photo by Roz Powell)

July 1-8, 2012
The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes
Suzy Thompson, Artistic Director

REGISTER TODAY!
Call: 800.733.3608

Artistic Director Suzy Thompson has assembled fiddle virtuosos and standard bearers of the old-time tradition to help you explore a wide variety of fiddle styles, including Old Time, Irish, New England, Quebecois, Cajun, Bluegrass, and others, with an emphasis on the oral tradition of close observation and personal experimentation. 

Daily workshops offer coaching in fiddle, guitar, banjo, piano, singing, string bass, mandolin, and social dance.  Evenings will feature intimate showcase concerts and social dancing, and plenty of jamming opportunities with faculty and festival participants, often lasting deep into the night.

Click HERE for info about the 2012 Fiddle Tunes faculty/artists!

The schedule features day-long opportunities for playing, informal jamming, an assortment of band labs, and the popular participants' concert.  The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes also includes main stage performances at McCurdy Pavilion, including a “Fourth at the Fort” matinee, a Cajun dance on Friday night, and a culminating show on the final Saturday.  Performance schedule to be determined.

Early bird tuition is $555 until June 29 - after that date tuition goes up to $655. There is a $100 deposit required to register for this workshop, or $50 if you're applying for a scholarship.

To sign up for a dormitory room and/or a meal plan please contact Fort Worden State Park. Click here to access their online reservation system.

(Lisa Ornstein & Dan Compton)

Join Centrum favorites Lisa Ornstein and Dan Compton for a concert, contra dance, and Québecois fiddle workshop, on Saturday, December 3 at 1:30 p.m. at the Rosewind Common House (375 Woodland Ave., Port Townsend).  Visit Lisa and Dan online, or call (360) 379-0275 for more information and reservations.  

Fiddle virtuoso Lisa Ornstein is an outstanding interpreter of the traditional music of French Canada and Appalachia, blending compelling and inventive playing with impeccable tune choice. Lisa has taught, concertized, and toured extensively in North America and Europe with some of Quebec's finest musicians, and recorded for both Smithsonian Folkways and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Multi-instrumentalist Dan Compton is a veteran of the Pacific Northwest folk music scene. With a strong background in classical guitar and traditional Irish fiddle, Dan melds both worlds in exploring what the guitar can do in traditional music. Equally adept with a flatpick or fingerstyle, he uses an array of textures and a sophisticated sense of harmony to take traditional music new places.

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 - Port Townsend
Fiddle and Guitar Workshops at Rosewind Common House
Price: $20 for one; $30 for two
Québecois fiddle workshop at 1:30, guitar accompaniment workshop at 1:30, old-time fiddle workshop at 2:45. E-mail Lisa at lisa.ornstein@hotmail.com to register.  The Rosewind Common House is at 375 Woodland Ave., Port Townsend, WA.

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 - Port Angeles, WA
Contra Dance at the Black Diamond Hall
8 pm
Price: $6
Come join us for a rousing community dance at Port Angeles's real-live dance hall, 1942 Black Diamond Rd, Port Angeles.  Erran Sharpe will call the dance.

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 - Port Townsend
Concert at Rosewind Common House
12:00 noon
Price: $12-20 suggested donation
The Rosewind Common House is at 375 Woodland Ave., Port Townsend, WA.

Our good friend, Bertrand Déraspe, is one of the great fiddlers from the last bastion of traditional Acadian culture, the Magdalen Islands. He visited the Northwest in 2011 and attended the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes to great success. He wasn't able to bring his recordings last summer, but now he's sent us a stash of recordings.

Albums cost $20 each, and that includes shipping. You can pay with PayPal or check. Make checks out to Hearth Music and mail to: Devon Leger, 14879 6th Ave NE, Shoreline, WA 98155. All money goes straight to Bertrand.

LISTEN AND LEARN MORE:  http://www.lafamilleleger.com/blog.html

The Recordings:

Mes Racines Bertrand Déraspe  2006
This is the first of Bertrand's solo fiddling CD's and definitely the one to start your collection. What you get is just Bertrand on fiddle and feet and Alain Turbide on piano, exactly as they appeared at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes last summer 2011 and with many of the tunes that they taught, including "Pu yèque sur le pu yinque" and "Cé fret su'l picassou". There are also some of Bertrand's beautiful waltzes. Bertrand channels tunes from the Magdalen Islands as well as Cape Breton in this recording. A must-have for any fiddle fan.

Vent Arrière: Bertrand Déraspe, Patrice Déraspe, Carole Painchaud  2003
This is the cd that started it all for us at La Famille Léger and especially the first track: "Reel à Célestin à Jos". The track starts off with the sound of the ancient Toc à Toc motor of the maritime fishermen and Bertrand dives in with his fiddle, never missing a beat and keeping the motor going feverishly to the end. It took our breath away and we wanted to hear more of this great "madelinot" fiddler. Vent arrière means tale wind in French and there definitely is a strong wind driving this collection of songs and tunes.

“We mourn the passing of Paul David Smith (pictured, with Jimmy McCown, from Fiddle Tunes 2011), master Kentucky fiddler and Southern gentleman, who was on the Fiddle Tunes faculty several times, including this past summer. He had a wonderful storehouse of old-time Kentucky tunes which he loved to share, and he also loved playing the tunes of Arthur Smith.   Like all true Southern gentlemen, he treated everyone with the utmost courtesy regardless of the setting, or of how he might be feeling himself.  We knew that he was not in good health; that's one reason his brothers, Gary and Jerry, came with him to Fiddle Tunes.  Being around the three brothers was a joy; they were always ready to party!  From Fiddle Tunes, they embarked on a road trip and you knew they were going to have a wonderful time just laughing, cracking jokes and enjoying their time together in that way that only siblings do.

In his gentle way, I think Paul was preparing to go - using his last months to share music and good times with as many people as possible, and to spend time with his brothers.  I'm glad that Fiddle Tunes provided an opportunity for him to do both things and I know he really enjoyed being with us.  During his last summer, he taught at three different music camps (Swannanoa, Augusta, and Fiddle Tunes), went on that road trip with his brothers, and jammed at Clifftop, where he did a master class.  A few weeks later, he passed peacefully, at home, surrounded by family.

People sometimes talk to me with suggestions about possible Fiddle Tunes faculty.  Sometimes they urge me to have more young people on faculty, and I do strive for some kind of balance.  But I will say that I value the old folks in a different way than the young hotshots.  They are our connection with the roots of the music - a link in a chain that goes back farther than we know.  Paul David Smith was a shining link in that chain.”

Suzy Thompson, Artistic Director

The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes

 
(pictured: Participants at the 2011 Festival of Amercian Fiddle Tunes.  Photo by Jackson Scott Studios)

Make plans now to attend the 2012 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, taking place from July 1 through July 8 at Fort Worden State Park.

The 2012 festival will feature master class instruction and mainstage performances at McCurdy Pavilion, in addition to the myriad opportunities for spontaneous jamming with festival faculty and participants.

Stay tuned to the Centrum website, Facebook, and Twitter pages for news and information about the 2012 festival, as well as the announcement about the 2012 faculty lineup.  In the meantime, save the date, and we'll see you in July at Centrum!