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Fiddling Tent - PerformanceS

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The VSG Fiddling Tent showcases traditional and modern music from the Scottish tradition, including Cape Breton, Shetland, and related styles. In addition to fun and engaging performances, the Fiddling Tent is also a welcoming location for workshops on traditional fiddling and a fiddling competition sanctioned by SFIRE, the North American association for Scottish Fiddling. Some of the VA Scottish Games fiddling competition winners have gone on to win the US National Scottish Fiddling Competition!

2023 FIDDLE TENT SCHEDULE

Saturday

09:30 AM Fiddling Workshop with Elke Baker11:00 AM Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club12:00 PM Closed for Opening Ceremonies12:30 PM Seán Heely & Abbie Palmer01:45 PM Elke Baker and Ken Kolodner03:00 PM The Devil's Tailors04:15 PM Elke Baker and Ken Kolodner

Sunday

09:00 AM Fiddling Competition – On-site Registration10:00 AM Fiddling Competition – Performances12:15 PM Fiddling Competition – Awards Ceremony01:00 PM Tweedsyde02:15 PM Glencoe Lads - Seán Heely & Colin McGlynn03:30 PM Elke Baker and Susan Brandt

Elke Baker

Elke frequently plays solo at concerts and festivals and occasionally for dances. She also plays in a number of bands. As a soloist, she has played at a great range of venues including the Kennedy Center, Hawaii Academy of Arts, Institute of Musical Traditions, Maryland Early Music Festival, Cambridge Concert Series, and the legendary Eagle Tavern in New York. Elke also plays with a wide range of talented collaborators and accompanists for concerts, festivals, and private events. Elke has played with Robin Bullock, Alasdair Fraser, Hesperus, Muriel Johnstone, Seamus Kennedy, Ken Kolodner, Zan MacLeod, Chris Norman, Sue Richards, Terry Traub, Larry Unger, and many others. Visit her website for more information.

The Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club

Made up of musicians at all levels, all walks of life, and playing many instruments (though mostly fiddle), the Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club is a great place to learn about and share the traditional fiddle music of Scotland. For nearly 30 years, the club has met once a month from October to May, enjoying a workshop taught by Music Director Elke Baker, followed by a potluck dinner and a jam session. The club performs locally at several events each year, and the Virginia Scottish Games is pleased to be one of these. The club also puts on Scottish Country Dances and dance demonstrations with the Northern Virginia branch of the RSCDS. Many of the other musicians you will hear in the Fiddle Tent are members!

Seán Heely

Champion fiddler and singer Seán Heely is one of the most creatively versatile and captivating young artists of his generation. He is a U.S National Scottish Fiddle Champion as well as an award-winning Irish Fiddler, singer, and harpist in the folk and Gaelic traditions of Scotland and Ireland. Seán holds a degree from University of South Carolina in Classical Violin Performance and was a 2019 Artist in Residence at Strathmore Music Center in Maryland. An educator in demand, Seán is an Adjunct Instructor at American University, he has also been on the faculty at several summer camps such as Acadia Traditional School of Music and Arts, Boxwood Music Festival, Upper Potomac Fiddle Retreat, and Fiddle Hell Festival. He has performed in Scotland, Ireland, South America, Germany and at prestigious venues in the U.S such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and Strathmore Music Center. Visit his webpage for more information.

Elke Baker & Ken Kolodner

Ken Kolodner (hammered dulcimer, fiddle, hammered mbira) and National Scottish Fiddle Champion Elke Baker’s (fiddle, viola) approach to traditional music reflects both a deep respect for the tradition and a healthy spirit of creativity, as they effortlessly combine tremendous precision and musicality with a mastery of the improvisational freedom essential to traditional music. Hailing from the Baltimore area, National Scottish Fiddle Champion Elke Baker (fiddle and viola) and Ken Kolodner (hammered dulcimer, hammered mbira and fiddle) are widely known as masters of their instruments. For more information check out their webpage.

Devils Tailors

Named for one of the most famous reels in the fiddler’s repertoire, “The De’il Amang the Tailors,” the band was conceived as a high energy Scottish Celtic band, heavy on pipes and fiddle, with a repertoire of tunes and songs spanning four centuries.
The Devil’s Tailors has played at the National Tartan Day Festival in Alexandria, VA, the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt, MD, Celebrate Fairfax!, the Virginia Scottish Games, the Southern Maryland Celtic Festival, at Burns suppers for the alumni clubs of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, at John Strongbow’s Tavern in Alexandria, VA, and Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater, MD. Visit their website for more information.

TWEEDSYDE

Tweedsyde presents early Scottish music on period instruments and sung in English, Scots, and Gaelic. Peter Walker performs on pipes, fiddle, harp and vocals with Jim Stimson on lutes, bandora, guitar and viola da gamba. Visit their Facebook Page for more infomstion.

Glencoe Lads

There is a keen magic when Glencoe Lads take to the stage in their kilts and fiddles. National Champion Fiddlers Seán Heely and Colin McGlynn perform lively dance music from Scotland, Cape Breton, and Ireland to modern day tunes in the American tradition. From elegant, haunting slow airs, mighty pipe marches, and the wild strathspeys and reels. The duo also is multi-instrumental featuring: Gaelic song, mandocello, Celtic harp, and shruti box! The Glencoe Lads have a charismatic stage presence and an unforgettably electrifying collaboration that is sure to get every toe tapping! They have performed at such venues as The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C, Alasdair Fraser’s Fiddle camp in the Isle of Skye, Scotland, Virginia Scottish Games, The Acadia Trad School of Music and Arts in Bar Harbor, ME, and The Niel Gow Festival in Dunkeld Scotland.

History of Scottish Fiddling

Since its introduction to Scotland at the end of the seventeenth century the violin – often under the name given to older bowed instruments, namely "fiddle" – has been central to the music of Scotland, from the Scandinavian-influenced Orkney and Shetland islands, through the wild dances and mournful airs of the Gaelic Highlands, to the ballrooms and performance halls of the cities, through the Scots lowlands and borders. The music composed for fiddle ranges from the simple anonymous folk tune to the refined compositions of one of Scotland ’s great 18th and 19th century composers, through the modern syncopated influences of today’s musicians. Scottish Fiddling is thus a living tradition, steeped in the past, existing in the present, and anticipating the future. It draws influences from, and influences in return, song from the other great instrumental traditions of Scotland, such as harp and bagpipe. Scottish fiddle music is also unique in the Scottish arts in how it was influenced by Continental music traditions, and how its sounds and rhythms have formed much of the foundation of the fiddle music of the New World. The Scottish Fiddling Tent represents all aspects of this living tradition, from the judge’s instruction, where style points are discussed, to the fiddle competition, where today’s fiddlers are encouraged to achieve their highest potential, to the many concerts and performances showcasing this area’s rich and deep pool of talent on the Scottish fiddle and the instruments that accompany it.
Contact
P.O. Box 1338 Alexandria VA 22313 US
FESTIVAL Address
5089 Old Tavern RoadThe Plains, VA 20198
Hours
Labor Day Weekend Saturday & Sunday9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
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