August Week II Fiddle

Clara grew up playing music in the woods of southern Maine in a family of classical musicians. She fell in love with fiddle music when she came to Maine Fiddle Camp for the first time in 2013. Clara minored in music and started playing the lever harp while earning her master’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Southern Maine. She started playing for contra dances in 2016 with Jamie Oshima in their duo project Joy Compass. Clara currently tours with the Red Case Band (fiddle and harp) and the Gaslight Tinkers (fiddle) as well as other projects and solo. She teaches at camps and festivals and offers private lessons.

w: https://www.claraconstancemusic.com/
e: [email protected]

Words from Mitch Reed:
“I am a multi-instrumentalist, traditional music instructor, and storyteller. I was born in Bayou Vista, Louisiana, raised in Lafayette by musicians and storytellers from Mamou. At 15 I began playing the fiddle and studying traditional Cajun and Creole music. By 17 I toured as a cultural ambassador in Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs, and have continued to work with them since 1989.

During my career, I have played alongside Louisiana greats such as Canray Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin, Charles Neville, and George Porter. I have performed on four Grammy Nominated albums, and in 2009 I was awarded a Grammy with BeauSoleil for the album “Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival”. Over the years I have built an extensive repertoire and learned an old style of playing which is evident in my sound today.

After I retired from 11 years on the road as the bass player and second fiddler with BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, I moved from Louisiana to Maine with my wife and our family. These changes helped me continue passing on the unwritten tradition of Cajun and Creole fiddling and storytelling while exploring the connections between the musical traditions of Acadia and Acadiana.”

Mitch will be teaching either bass or fiddle during the week-long sessions in 2024

Elizabeth Anderson is the 2020 US National Scottish Fiddle Champion and the 2016 Perth All-Scotland Fiddle Champion.  Her stylish and vibrant fiddle playing has delighted audiences and dancers across the East Coast. As a duo with her brother Ben on cello, Elizabeth has played to full houses at iconic Boston venues The Burren and Club Passim, and has given popular performances and workshops as far away as France and Scotland.  A graduate of Berklee College of Music, she teaches string instruments as a middle school and private instructor.

Maine coast musician, Frank Ferrel is considered one of the seminal traditional New England and Maritime fiddlers. In fact, Boston Globe music critic, Scott Alarik called him, “One of the finest living masters of the genre.” his CD recording, Yankee Dreams, was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in their, “Select list of 25 examples of American folk music on record.” (more…)

Born into a musical family, Ed started playing fiddle at the age of 4, learning Suzuki method. His musical interests cover a wide spectrum from Bluegrass to Celtic and beyond and he has been a regular instructor for Maine Fiddle Camp since 2003. Howe has an extensive electronics background, and took an interest in the electric violin. He plays a 5-string NS Design electronic violin and is a featured artist on the NS design artist page. (more…)

Elaine Malkin has played the violin since the age of 5. She was part of the resurgence of contra dances in Maine in the early 70’s, having learned from Otto Soper and Dudley Laufman. She played New England contra dances until 2009, when she began an intensive study of Québécois fiddle with mainly Éric Favreau, but also with Lisa Ornstein, André Brunet, Yvon Mimeault, and Liette Remon. This music has completely captured her heart and she uses a traditional Québécois repertoire for contra dances, concerts, and other venues. Learning, teaching, and sharing this special music is her greatest joy.

Helen Newell grew up in Maine surrounded by the New England Folk scene. Her parents, Kaity and Carter Newell are founding members of Maine Fiddle Camp, and Helen has spent every year of her life at MFC, first as a camper and now as a staff member since 2018.

Helen graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2022, where she studied Western classical music, American roots, jazz, and traditional music from all over the world. She has an active performing life as a professional violinist—playing in orchestras, musicals, recording sessions, chamber groups, and folk bands.

An important aspect of Helen’s musical life is teaching. She currently teaches online violin lessons to students of all ages and abilities all over the US! Depending on her student’s goals, she likes to explore different genres, repertoire, and techniques such as improvisation, composing, and arranging. If you are looking for your next step in your musical journey, her teaching philosophy is to make playing the violin enjoyable and effortless, reduce tension, and find styles that make you love music even more!

Kaity teaches fiddle in Damariscotta and has played for dances for many years with The Maine Country Dance Orchestra, and with the band The Lady Bugs. A native of Great Britain, Kaity has brought many a fine tune from the British Isles to our local dances. Kaity also plays viola in the local community orchestra and has four children, all of whom play music and come to camp every year.
7 Creek Lane Damariscotta ME 044543 207-563-8440

Ed Pearlman is based in South Portland, enjoys many styles of fiddle music, and is best known for Scottish and Cape Breton fiddling, often working with his son Neil, daughter Lillie, and his wife, dancer Laura Scott. He has taught in-person workshops and private lessons since the 1980s, and since 2014, has run www.fiddle-online.com, an instructional fiddle website offering many styles and techniques. Ed co-led music and walking trips to Scotland for 14 summers, and now writes weekly posts about them on substack.com, as well as weekly posts about learning fiddle. Ed has worked closely with many top fiddlers, wrote for Fiddler magazine for several yeas, and was the music columnist for Scottish Life magazine for 24 years. He directed the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club 1981-99, and the Roaring Jelly open contra dance band for several years. With Neil on piano, Ed has toured widely and recorded 3 CDs (one with Lillie on fiddle). Together, they published a book of 150 original tunes called the “Pine Street Collection”. Ed invented the popular Finger Finder, a slide rule for violin fingering in all keys. Contact: [email protected]

John started his early musical life as a drummer, but by some miracle got hooked on traditional music in his teens.

John’s been teaching fiddle and harmonica at MF Camp since its start in the mid 90’s.  He’s been known to get a few silly skits going for the evening variety show. He teaches fiddle, guitar and harmonica privately and can be contacted at [email protected] 338-0296 (cell 213-3294).

Maggie Robinson has been teaching fiddle since 2003.  She began taking fiddle lessons the age of 10 and became concert mistress of her school orchestra during her senior year.   Many years later she discovered Contradancing and fell in love with the music  She took the violin out of the closet and began learning fiddle tunes. She completed a course in 2003 at the Hartt College of Music, Theater, & Dance on “Teaching Fiddling”.

Currently she is teaching at several locations in greater Portland, and also regularly calls for contra dances around the state.

A new England fiddler and folk singer, Lissa grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk music and dance community, where she cut her teeth as a musician at a very young age. She has continued to explore music throughout her life, leading to her graduation from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (2001). Her list of mentors includes Greg Boardman, Alasdair Fraser, David Kaynor, and Hankus Netsky. While embracing a diverse pallet of musical influences, she still stays true to her New England roots.
For more info on Lissa, check out her website at www.lissafiddle.com

Pam sings and plays several instruments in the folk trio, T-Acadie, is fiddler and singer for the Maine-based Cajun dance band, Jimmyjo & the Jumbol’Ayuhs, plays fiddle and mountain dulcimer in the contradance band, Scrod Pudding, and performs solo or with guitar player and caller Bill Olson. She is an accomplished tunesmith and has composed scores of tunes, from lively jigs and reels, to entrancing airs and beautiful waltzes.

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