Troy MacGillivray, NS
Friday, July 14th (5 min)
Saturday, July 15th (Main Featured Performer) & Saturday workshop
Troy MacGillivray is from Lanark, a small community on the north-eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Troy’s commitment to music has spanned 30 years and includes both practical and academic accomplishments – most recently an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick in Ireland. From as young as six years old, Troy was impressing audiences step dancing and soon after, fiddle and piano skills. His first teaching gig was at 13 years old at the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s, Cape Breton. His roots-centered approach comes from a family of proud Scottish heritage where fiddle playing and Gaelic traditions runs in the bloodline.
In 2012, Troy was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for contributions to culture in Canada. Troy’s strong career has brought him around the world playing and teaching from the North Pole to Afghanistan. His solo recordings have received numerous nominations and awards from East Coast Music Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards most notably a 2007 East Coast Music Award for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year by a Group/Duo with Shane Cook and a 2008 East Coast Music Award for Instrumental Recording of the Year.
ARTIST VIDEO
www.troymacgillivray.com
Bb Sisters
with Mark Allen (piano)
Friday, July 14th, 2023
The Bb Sisters (Kimberley Holmes, NS & Sherryl Fitzpatrick, ON) make a return to the stage!!
With driving Quebecois jigs and reels, traditional Cape Breton and Irish tunes, Bluegrass, soulful slow airs, this duo will certainly take you on a rich journey through the diverse repertoire of the Ottawa Valley, Maritimes, Quebec as well as exploring their original music. This unique duo will highlight their ability to switch from fiddle to piano as well as incorporating their beautiful blends of harmonies.
The year 2011/2012 was quite a year for this duo from their debut CD, “Versatility” which was nominated for a 2012 East Coast Music Award for Roots/Traditional Group of the Year, were nominated for a Galaxie Rising Star Award, won the duet class at the 2011 Maritime Fiddle Festival, were featured performers at the Ottawa Folk Festival opening for Steve Earle, were featured performers for the Music Niagara Festival and were afforded the opportunity to tour the Eastern US having stops in Maine and New Hampshire.
Fresh off of the success of their debut cd, “Versatility”, the Bb Sisters recorded their 2nd cd entitled “In Cahoots” released January 2013. This new cd will continue to feature their strong individual and harmony playing, their masterful arrangements and compositions as well as showcasing Skip Holmes on acoustic guitar, mandolin and 5 string banjo. Accompanying them on percussion is Zack Smith from the Nova Scotia band “Pogey” as well as Gaston Nolet on button accordion. This new cd continues to reflect their strong roots in traditional music from Québecois, Irish, Cape Breton and Old-Tyme.
ARTIST VIDEO
Chad Wolfe with FOTR Board
Friday, July 14, 2023,
Saturday dance & fiddle workshop
Chad Wolfe is a Canadian open stepdance champion, dance choreographer and award-winning fiddler who has performed across Canada and abroad. He was a principal dancer in the Mirvish production, The Needfire and toured with Memories of a Don Messer Jubilee. He has performed with Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy, Ashley MacIsaac, and The Great Canadian Fiddle Show.
Chad has dedicated his career to preserving these time-honoured Canadian traditions not only through performing, but also teaching. The Chad Wolfe Studio of Fiddle & Stepdance has been in operation since 1996. He has also taught at fiddle camps and workshops from Halifax to Yellowknife.
FOTR VIDEO
www.chadwolfestudio.com
Sherryl Fitzpatrick
with Bb Sisters & FOTR Board
Friday, July 14th
Sherryl is an Ottawa native and East Coast Music Award nominee who is a highly skilled and sought-after traditional fiddle teacher and piano accompanist. Entering her 38th year of teaching, this prolific composer and recording artist combines traditional Quebecois, Celtic, Classical, Jazz and Old time music, giving her students a solid musical foundation. She is the founder and director of her own music school in Ottawa, “Sherryl Fitzpatrick’s School of Music”.
In May 2021, Sherryl launched a Canadian musical heritage project called, “Fiddles on the Rideau”. This organization was founded to promote and preserve Canadian fiddle music and to raise awareness and financial aid for local mental health organizations. She is passionate about using music to cultivate relationships, bring joy to people’s lives and to continue with her philanthropy initiatives.
Alex Kusturok, AB
Friday, July 14th (5 min)
Saturday, July 15th (Main Featured Performer) & Saturday Workshop
Alex Kusturok is an international touring and recording artist from Winnipeg, MB who received his early start by following his mother Patti to Old time dances around Manitoba where he was enriched with the Métis fiddle from a very young age. By age 7, the passion for the music became apparent and today Alex makes his living as a performer and educator.
Alex has many career highlights some of which include 3rd place in the 2022 Canadian Grand Masters Competition held in Winnipeg, MB, Featured performer at Celtic Colours International Festival as well as being part of the Métis Delegation that travelled to Rome in 2022 to share Métis music with Pope Francis. He is an 8-time Manitoba Métis champion, 5-time Manitoba Champion, 2-time British Columbia Fiddle Champion, among many others.
Alex continues to be high in demand as a performer, and educator across Canada. Alex has a blend of styles in his music. He is greatly influenced by the Quebecois and Cape Breton fiddle styles; however, the Métis style remains at the forefront of his playing.
Alex has released four Independent Albums, “Groove” (2009), “For Old Times Sake” (2014), “Almost live” (2017) and “Phoenix” (2020). In Alex’s show you can count on a display of culture through music and dance, stories of his upbringing, and an energy that he hopes will touch your heart and move you.
ARTIST VIDEO
www.alexkusturok.com
Gail Gavan – MC and performer Friday, July 14th &
Saturday, July 15th, 2023, & Saturday vocal workshop
Gail Gavan’s childhood and early teen years reverberated with the sounds of various genres of music in the famous Shamrock Lounge at the well-known Gavan’s Hotel in Quyon, Quebec. Her musical education also included Irish, logging and Ottawa Valley songs taught to her by her father.
Gail has performed at almost every fair in the Ottawa Valley. She has also opened for many Nashville starts like George Jones, Tom. T. Hall, Merle Haggard and Charlie Pride. With the Ryan Brothers and Louis Schryer, she has opened for Pam Tillis, Gene Watson, Sammy Kershaw, Marty Stuart and Lorrie Morgan, amoung others.
In 1994, Gail was voted Entertainer of the Year by the Ottawa Valley Music Association.
Gail has also hosted “Gail Gavan and Friends” on CHRO Pembroke and co-produced and wrote the theme song for another TV show, “Fred’s Place”, based on her uncle Fred’s famous hotel in Chapeau, Quebec. It aired nationally, winning an Independent Producer’s Award in Jasper, Alberta. This led to her becoming the co-host for CBC’s “Cottage Country” which had 1/2 million viewers nationally each week!
Gail was inducted into the Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
ARTIST VIDEO
www.gailgavan.com
Mark Allen (piano)
with FOTR Board & Bb Sisters
Friday, July 14, 2023
Mark Allen is a musician who has performed and composed music for community and professional theatre productions as well as for heritage music events. He was recently appointed a member of the North Bay Musicians Hall of Recognition for his contributions to the Arts in over the years as a music director and co-composer that were unique to the area. He continues to be involved with theatre groups in Ottawa and has more recently developed a love for accompanying at fiddle events.
Kimberley Holmes
Friday, July 14th with the Bb Sisters
Saturday, July 15th (piano) for Troy and Alex & Saturday piano workshop
Kimberley Holmes, a native of Carrolls Corner, Nova Scotia is an East Coast Music Award nominee and one of Canada‘s premier piano accompanists in the traditional style of fiddling. She has won many awards for fiddling, both in solo and group classes. She is the host accompanist and past Artistic Director of the Maritime Fiddle Festival. She has toured and recorded with numerous artists such as Graham Townsend, Calvin Vollrath and Richard Wood to name a few and is part of the groups, Bb Sisters and Tipsy 3.
Kimberley has been a member of the Fall River School of Performing Arts staff since 2005, teaching both fiddle and piano to ages four to adult. She also teaches at home and is also an instructor at many fiddle camps in North America.
In 2019, Kimberley was inducted into the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame and is a member of the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association. Kimberley is chairman for the 2023 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition to be held in Truro, NS Aug 26, 2023.
ARTIST VIDEO
Lessons with Kimberley
Kimberley’s Favourite Website
Nicole Bouvier with FOTR Board
Friday, July 14, 2023
Nicole Bouvier is a communications professional and musician. A native of Cornwall, ON, she graduated from Carleton University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies. She began her musical journey at the age of 7 years with classical violin lessons and Highland dancing followed in due time. It was during this time that she discovered a love of fiddle music primarily the Cape Breton Style due in large part to the recordings of Natalie MacMaster and the tutelage of Glengarry fiddler, Ashley MacLeod.
Nicole aspires to use her communication skills to raise awareness about the things she is passionate about like mental health and fiddle music.
