Boston Scottish Fiddle Club Instructors

     Not all great fiddlers are good teachers. Not all good teachers are great fiddle players. Here in the Boston area we are lucky in having many great fiddlers who are also great teachers and the Club has access to them all. There are also many talented Scottish/Cape Breton-style fiddlers from Scotland, Cape Breton, and other parts of this country and Canada who are passing through and/or performing locally, and who, when available, will teach at one of our meetings.

     Some of our past and present teachers include:

 Two-time winner of the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championships, Anne Hooper has performed frequently for dance events of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society since her introduction to Scottish Country dancing in 1984. Anne served as Music Director of several RSCDS Boston Branch concerts and at Pinewoods Camp. She has performed with the dance band, Tullochgorum, for many years - both in the U.S. and Scotland. Under her other guise as a classical violinist, Anne Played for nine years with the Camerata Academica of Salzburg and the Sinfonieorchester Graunke of Munich and is an active member of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic. She is on the faculty at The Rivers Music School, The New School of Music, and Lexington Schools.

Ed Pearlman plays with heart and an unusual depth of knowledge about Scottish and Cape Breton music.  He is a full-time fiddler and teacher living in the Portland, Maine area.  His band, Highland Soles, with wife Laura Scott and 3 kids, offers a contemporary take on traditional Scottish and Cape Breton dance and music, and his new CD, On the Edge, features the innovative piano playing of his son Neil.  Ed directed the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club for 18 years, building it from about 15 to nearly 200 members, and creating events such as the 15-year annual Scottish Fiddle Rally, spotlighting each year a different soloists from Scotland and Cape Breton with dancers and Fiddle Club members.  A CD of Rally highlights is on Greentrax Records.  The Fiddle Rally pioneered, for the general public, the connection between the fiddling of Scotland and Cape Breton.  Ed also created and directed for 7 years the Celtic Festival at the Hatch Shell, featuring top Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton artists, and led the Fiddle Club on two performing tours to Cape Breton.  Since the mid 90s, Ed has written the music column for Scottish Life magazine.  Ed's Portland America Distributing was for 11 years the US distributor for recordings from Scotland, Atlantic Canada, and selected titles from Ireland, Brittany and Wales; this distribution has continued under a new owner since 2003.  Ed has taught many camps, including Blazin-in-Beauly in Scotland, Ohio Scottish Arts School since 1995, Pinewoods, Maine Fiddle Camp, Ashokan, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp.  Ed created the music committee and music books for the RSCDS Boston Branch, and has played other styles as well, including contra dances (he ran Roaring Jelly for a few years and currently runs a monthly contra dance in Portland), and a swing jazz band.

Barbara McOwen gained her B.A. in Music from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1971, and concurrently began her Scottish fiddle career as a dance and concert musician, band leader, music arranger, teacher, and researcher/collector of Scottish music books. After moving to Boston in 1979, she founded her current band Tullochgorum which has performed all over America, Canada, and Scotland. Barbara co-founded three community Scottish music organizations, in Boston, New Hampshire and New York City, the annual Boston Branch RSCDS concerts, the New Hampshire Highland Games, Stockton Folk Dance Camp, and the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle Camp. She is experienced in teaching all ages, all levels, and many instruments, and has developed a course for teaching Scottish fiddle from the beginner through advanced levels. She has taught Scottish music courses throughout North America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, including the Ceilidh Trail School of Celtic Music in Cape Breton. Barbara currently teaches private Scottish fiddle lessons full-time at home and at the New Hampshire School of Scottish Arts and is a member and performer at the Gaelic Club, which brings her into regular contact with the traditional Cape Breton music scene in the Boston area.

Kimberley Fraser, a 23 year old native of Sydney Mines, has been step dancing ever since she can remember. She started studying traditional Cape Breton fiddling at age six and at age nine she began taking lessons in Cape Breton piano accompaniment. Though she is still in her early 20s, Kimberley’s career is already a distinguished one. She has traveled the world, from Victoria to Afghanistan, bringing Cape Breton music with her wherever she goes. Kimberley now enjoys teaching fiddle, step dancing, and piano privately at home as well as at various workshops. Kimberley has been a featured performer in Spirit of the Island at the Louisbourg Playhouse in 1998, 1999, and 2000. During the 2000 Celtic Colours International Festival, She released her debut CD entitled, Heart Behind the Bow. In 2002, Kimberley appeared in Cape Breton singer Aselin Debison's TV Special Sweet is the Melody which aired on CBC in Canada and PBS in the United States.

Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May, 1955, Clackmannan, Scotland) is a Scottish fiddler. Fraser operates Culburnie Records, and is also one of the leading artists featured on the label. He has founded three summer fiddling programs - the fiddle camp in California (founded in 1984), a week-long course on the Isle of Skye (founded in 1987) and the more recent in California (founded in 2006). Adept in various Scottish idioms, in recent years he has helped to reconstruct and revive the Scottish tradition of dance music played on violin. Alasdair has achieved international recognition as a lead performer, record company artist and teacher of the rich violin tradition of his native Scotland. Famous for his expressive touch, open personality and deep understanding of the music from Scotland, Alasdair is always in great demand as a soloist and for concerts with different groups. He has worked with the singer Jean Redpath and the guitar player Tony McManus and has collaborated with very different groups that go from the Master Chorale of Los Angeles, the Waterboys or the Chieftains . He has also shared performance as a soloist at the Lincoln Centre in New York with the classical violin player Itzhak Perlman. He represented Scotland internationally in performances sponsored by the British Council. 

Andrea Beaton, one of Cape Breton's most promising young fiddlers, comes by her music honestly. Listen to her play, the power of her bow, the drive and swing of her timing, the crispness of her attack. She's making a name for herself in dance halls, concerts, ceilidhs, and festivals. Like the compelling tradition she represents, her reputation is growing, spreading beyond the island. She's the youngest of generations of Beaton musicians. Her father, Kinnon, is one of today's most influential Cape Breton fiddlers, and you can hear some of his timing in Andrea's playing. Her mother, Betty Beaton, is one of the great piano accompanists of her generation, contributing to that remarkable Beaton timing. Her paternal grandfather, Donald Angus Beaton, was one of the strongest and most popular players of his generation, and you can hear some of his power in her playing. Her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Beaton, is a strongly rhythmic piano player, with a great love of the music.  Andrea often comes to the Boston area to play at dances or for a concert, and occasionally teaches for the Club.

 Cynthia MacLeod, from her home base in tiny Prince Edward Island, Canada, has built an international reputation founded in raw talent, nurtured by boundless energy, and polished to a gleaming finish by a touring schedule that has taken her across Canada, through New England, and as far away as Japan. Audiences far and wide have thrilled as this tiny dynamo takes the stage for whirlwind performances that garner spring-loaded standing ovations everywhere she performs. Just as remarkable is the acceptance and respect accorded Cynthia by her peers. In a part of the world known for dazzlingly talented fiddlers, fellow musicians have awarded her more than a dozen Music PEI awards, including multiple awards as Roots/Traditional Artist of the Year and Instrumental Artist of the Year. She has also twice been chosen by audiences as Entertainer of the Year. And all this before she's 25 years old.

A rising star, Laura Cortese boasts an energetic performance of driving fiddle, vocals, and stepdance with an original blend of Celtic music and contemporary influence. Laura's dynamic fiddling, flashing footwork and expressive vocals offer a distinct blend of traditional styling and innovative artistry. After college, Cortese traveled from coast to coast, from Nashville to Montreal, performing and partying with musicians at the forefront of the burgeoning folk scene. Laura was the 1998 New England Scottish fiddle champion, and currently performs solo as well as with the Boston-based group Halali, The Jolly Bankers and with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble.  She has shared the stage with other Celtic greats including Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, Teada, John Whelan, Cathie Ryan, Aoife Clancy & Robbie O'Connell. In January, she was a key organizer of the first ever Boston Celtic Music Festival.   

 Roger Treat was first inspired by the fiddlers he heard as a child while summering in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Though a Vermont native, his focus still remains rooted in the traditional dance music of Cape Breton. He is largely influenced by the styles of Buddy MacMaster, Jerry Holland, and others he grew up listening to. Roger is known for his driving style, and is heard throughout the New England area mainly playing Contra dances and ceilidhs. Many know him as a Cape Breton-style fiddler who plays regularly at the Monday night contra dance in Nelson, as well as many other dance halls throughout the region. It’s not hard to notice, between tunes, his friendly manner and engaging laughter. He has been a member of Childsplay since 1993. Roger’s love for the fiddle also led him to pursue the art of bowmaking. He studied bowmaking at the University of New Hampshire as well as Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In Winter 2000/2001 Fiddler Magazine featured Roger’s bowmaking; now, after a decade of experience, he is well respected in the field.  

Raised in a small town in Maine and now living in Vermont, Lissa Schneckenburger grew up with music. She began playing fiddle at the age of six, inspired by her mother's interest in folk music and a family friend who was a professional violinist. Soon she was studying with influential Maine fiddler Greg Boardman and sitting in with the Maine Country Dance Orchestra. By the time she was in high school she was playing concerts on her own, specializing in the sprightly New England dance tunes that combine influences from the British Isles and Quebec with homegrown twists that have been evolving since Colonial days. Another of her major influences was the diverse musical community that she found at fiddle camps, where she had a chance to play with and learn from a wide variety of musicians including noted Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. In 2001 she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in contemporary improvisation, and since then has been performing around the US and internationally for a growing audience of enthusiastic listeners. She has recorded seven CDs, (four solo and three with various groups). Recently she has been closely studying the roots of the Downeast traditional music that she first heard as a young girl.

Emerald Rae grew up in a very musical household, with both her parents professional musicians, so her knowledge of the life of a musician was firmly instilled at a young age; and she was encouraged to sing, dance and play music. After picking up the fiddle at the age of seven, Emerald's insatiable interest in the music of Scotland and Cape Breton landed her in many popular fiddle camps. She was a regular at the Ceilidh Trail School of Celtic Music in Inverness, Cape Breton; Gaelic Roots at Boston College and Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. She studied privately with Barbara McOwen of the popular Scottish Country Dance band Tullochgorum (then the leader of the NH Strathspey and Reel Society) for eight years before beginning her stint at Berklee, where she has studied jazz, classical, blues, and klezmer. Besides having an effervescent stage personae and a flair for writing tunes, Emerald is U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion (2004), and graduate of Berklee College of Music (2006); she is pursuing a Masters Thesis in Early Scottish Fiddle Sources through the University of Glasgow after spending a year researching in Scotland. Emerald was also frequently asked to run well-known sessions in Glasgow, perform with the popular ceilidh band Canterach, and formed a duo with Glasgow-based Irish fiddler Christina Smith called "The Tinky Bairns".

A native of Oregon, Hanneke Cassel started playing classical violin when she was 8-years old. She met Portland-based fiddler Carol Ann Wheeler when she was 10 at an Texas-style fiddle contest. She soon quit classical, started taking fiddle lessons with Carol Ann, and began competing in contests throughout the Northwest. In 1991, Hanneke entered the Columbia-Pacific Scottish Fiddle Contest in Portland. She won the Jr. contest and went on a year later to capture the U.S. National Scottish Jr. Championship in New Hampshire. With this honor came a scholarship to study on the Isle of Skye, Scotland with the renowned Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and Cape Breton master Buddy MacMaster. These two quickly became her fiddle heroes and continue to inspire her music to this day. Hanneke set off for Boston in 1996 to attend Berklee College of Music on a string scholarship. She is the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and has performed and taught across the U.S., Scotland, Sweden, China, New Zealand, France, England, and Austria., She graduated in 2000 and continues to be an active member of the Boston music scene, playing with the Cathie Ryan Band, and the  Boston-based fiddle bands Childsplay and Halali.  She has made guest appearances with Cherish the Ladies, Alasdair Fraser, Matt Glaser and the Wayfaring Strangers, Ensemble Galilei, Aine Minogue, and Joey McIntyre (from New Kids on the Block). Her fiddling has graced the stages of Boston’s Symphony Hall (opening for Judy Collins), Mountain Stage, The Plaza Hotel, Lincoln Center, the Boston Hatch Shell, and the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

Jerry Holland (born February 23, 1955) is a noted fiddler who lives on the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States to Canadian parents. During his childhood, Jerry was exposed to the music of the large Cape Breton expatriate community in Boston. He began to play the fiddle and step-dance at the age of five, and played at his first square dance at the age of six. He made his television debut in 1962 on the Canadian program Don Messer's Jubilee. By the time he wa 10 years old, he was playing regularly at dances in the Boston area. Jerry's family made annual summer trips to Cape Breton, and Jerry moved there permanently in 1975. In his early 20s, Jerry performed with the Cape Breton Symphony, a group of fiddlers that included Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald, Angus Chisholm, Joe Cormier, Wilfred Gillis and John Donald Cameron. The group appeared regularly on CBC television on The John Allan Cameron Show and other programs. From playing with these much older and more experienced musicians, Jerry gained an appreciation for the traditional style of Cape Breton fiddle music , as well as a repertoire of over a thousand fiddle tunes. Jerry released his first, self-titled album in 1976. It was his second album, Master Cape Breton Fiddler (1972, re-released on CD in 2001), that made his reputation as a ground-breaking musician. Accompanied by Dave MacIsaac on guitar and Hilda Chiasson on piano, Jerry pioneered a new, more modern sound for Cape Breton music on this album, while still remaining firmly within the Cape Breton tradition. Jerry has released 10 albums, and has appeared as a guest musician on over 25 more. He has also published two popular collections of fiddle tunes: Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes and Jerry Holland's Second Collection of Fiddle Tunes, both edited by Paul Cranford . He is also noted as a composer of fiddle tunes, most famously "Brenda Stubbert's Reel" (named for his friend and fellow Cape Breton fiddler Brenda Stubbert ) and "My Cape Breton Home".

Calum Pasqua, a violinist/piper, but also plays lots of other similar instruments. Loves dark Delta blues. Attended Florida State University and Aaron Copland School of Music. Studied and play classical of course but through travelling has found a love for folk music of all kinds. Callum is a professional Scottish Fiddler and Highland Bagpiper. Busy fella currently, conducting two quality, fun youth orchestras in NY. Lots of fun to work with young people, doing everything from Corelli sonatas to tracks of Led zepplin. Also works with South Shore Symphony, Tallahassee Orchestra and North Florida Orchestra. Check out www.myspace.com/calumpasqua.