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Ed Pearlman has taught and performed fiddle throughout the USA and in Canada and Scotland, working with all levels and ages for 40 years.  For advanced students and in performance, he has specialized in Scottish fiddle music but has experience in various styles.

Primary Instructor, Ed Pearlman

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Irish

James Kelly, a native of Ireland, is one of the greatest Irish traditional fiddlers alive today. His father John was a renowned fiddle and concertina player from County Clare. James has toured the world, hosted an Irish TV show, and was a member of the legendary bands "Patrick Street" and "Planxty."

Irish fiddler Liz Knowles played for Riverdance, soloed on the soundtrack for the film Michael Collins and with such orchestras as the New York Pops and the Cincinnati Pops. She has performed as a member of Cherish the Ladies, String Sisters, Celtic Legends, and Open the Door for Three.

Québécois

Claude Méthé – Self-taught, Claude has made a lasting mark as a fiddler and singer on Québec’s vibrant trad scene as a member of such pivotal groups as Le Rêve du Diable, Manigance, Dentdelion, Ni Sarpe Ni Branche, and Entourloupe.

Eric Favreau performs with the Québecois dance band Tidal Wave. He has recorded two solo albums, and three albums with the band Entourloupe, taught at many camps and events, and teaches traditional fiddle and the history of traditional music.

Klezmer

Cookie Segelstein – Founder and director of Veretski Pass, and fiddler with many top klezmer bands.  She has taught workshops at universities and festivals round the world, and at klezmer music camps in North America and Europe.  Cookie was featured in ABC’s documentary, “A Sacred Noise,” and in “Everything’s Fine” starring Robert DeNiro.

Steven Greenman – Steven leads klezmer music master classes internationally, has worked with some of the world’s leading klezmer ensembles, is a founding member of Cleveland’s East European ensemble Harmonia, and has been a guest soloist with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, performing his own arrangements of gypsy and klezmer music.

Old-time

Rachel Baiman has worked in Nashville and toured widely as a singer and multi-instrumentalist.  About her duo of 5-string fiddles, Ten String Symphony, NPR’s All Songs Considered said, “They do things with fiddles you wouldn’t expect.”

Jazz +

Tim Kliphuis – Award-winning Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis has created a brand new style that embraces classical, gypsy jazz and folk. His trio has toured Europe.  Kliphuis is in demand at festivals, competitions and conservatoires. He wrote the best-selling book “Gypsy Jazz Violin” and teaches improvisation at the Amsterdam Conservatoire and his own summer school, Grappelli-Django Camp.

Paul Anastasio – Paul has played bluegrass,  old  time  fiddling, western swing, country, traditional jazz, swing and bebop.  After studying jazz violin with the pioneering Joe Venuti, Paul spent many years working in the bands of Merle Haggard, Asleep at the Wheel, Larry Gatlin, Loretta Lynn and many others. He has also studied with a number of great Mexican fiddlers.

Jeremy Kittel is an American fiddler, violinist, and composer drawing from traditional roots, jazz, Celtic, Classical, electronic, and more.  Kittel performs with his own band, spent 5 years with Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet, and has worked with such artists as Aoife O’Donovan, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Mark O’Connor and Mike Marshall.

Scottish

Alasdair White grew up on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. A Gaelic speaker, he toured with the Battlefield Band and can be heard on 8 of their albums, plus a solo album of his own.

Alistair McCulloch hails from Ayr in Scotland and is one of the country's best known fiddle performers, teachers and composers with many appearances on radio and television. Alistair is fiddle instructor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Jennifer Wrigley – Hailing from Orkney, Jennifer has played masterful (and mischievous!) traditional and original music all her life with her twin sister Hazel on guitar at age 8.  After years of touring, the Wrigley Sisters created ‘The Reel’ in the center of Orkney: a music school, cafe & bar, shop, and venue.  Jennifer has written and arranged over 200 tunes for fiddlers and orchestras.

Mike Vass – One of the most creative forces on the Scottish music scene today, Mike has played fiddle in duos and bands such as Malinky, composes, produces and collaborates with many of the leading Scots and Gaelic tradition bearers, delivering multi-media performances, overseeing critically acclaimed recordings, and scoring for prestigious ensembles.

Sarah-Jane Summers A tradition-bearer of the old Highland style of fiddling, she was taught by the late, great Donald Riddell (1908-1992), who learnt his fiddling from a relative of hers, Alexander Grant of Battangorm (1856-1942). Now based in Norway, she is also expert in Norwegian traditional music and improvisation.

Shetland

Jenna Reid – A member of Blazin’ Fiddles and the innovative fiddle quartet Rant, Jenna is one of Shetland’s (and Scotland’s) finest fiddlers and teachers, having played with Filska, Deaf Shepherd, Dochas, The Unusual Suspects and The Finlay MacDonald Band, as well as film and the Transatlantic Sessions.

Kevin Henderson draws on the rich fiddle music

tradition of his native Shetland and his experience with leading bands including Boys of the Lough, Fiddlers Bid, Session A9 and Nordic Fiddlers Bloc to create an expressive and adventurously individual musical style.

Cape Breton

Andrea Beaton grew up in a musical family in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  Her father, Kinnon, and her mother, Betty, are well known as fiddler and pianist.  She has made 6 solo CDs and published 2 books of tunes. Andrea tours and teaches widely.

Troy MacGillivray – Troy is a fiddler,

pianist and stepdancer from Nova Scotia.  He has played many times at Celtic Connections Festival and been featured at the East Coast Music Awards, Celtic Colours International Festival in Cape Breton, and the Edinburgh Fiddle Festival.

Scandinavian

Olav Mjelva – Olav comes from Røros in the

Sør-Trøndelag region of Norway.  He began playing the fiddle at age seven and some years later started playing the Hardanger fiddle.  He is a founding member of Norwegian/ Swedish ensemble SVER, The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, and his own duo.

Guest Instructors

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