Traditional Music Ensembles and Workshops
Directors: Anthony Rissesco, fiddle
and Jennifer Publicover, flutes
with Guest Artists
Sunday afternoons, Sept. 17/23 - June 2/24
Workshops, rehearsals, and sessions 1:45-3:15pm
Cape Breton tune workshop with David Greenberg, May 2023
The Trad Ensemble offers instrumentalists from ages 13 to adult the opportunity to learn a wide variety of tunes from various cultures - Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian, Balkan, Breton, Galician/Asturian, Klezmer, Cape Breton, Old Time, and more. The class also features many guest instructors from the Halifax traditional music scene and beyond. This has included David Greenberg (Cape Breton), Mohammad Sahraei (Iranian), Gina Burgess (klezmer), Cathy Ann MacPhee (Gaelic song), Kirsty Money (Swedish nyckelharpa), Adrianne Greenbaum (klezmer), Ralsgård & Tullberg (Sweden), Wendy MacIsaac (Cape Breton), Jeremy Finney (Irish), Ellen Gibling and Alys Howe (harp), Saeed Foroughi (Persian), Darren McMullen (of Còig), Adam Leblanc (Acadian), Chris Norman (Scottish etc.), Kevin Crawford (Irish, of Lúnasa), Skip Holmes (Old Time), and more.
Tunes with Ellen Gibling, Spring 2022
If you are comfortable getting around on your instrument, curious to explore, and willing to learn by ear, you will enjoy our friendly group. Learning by ear is the best way to capture the style and energy of roots music. We provide recordings and sheet music for practice at home. We engage in session playing and take favourite tunes to the concert and online video stage as a trad band, building aural and arranging skills along the way.
We are programming classes and series of classes based on different musical traditions under the guidance of our expert instructors: Irish, Scottish / Cape Breton, Klezmer, Scandinavian, Old Time, Contra Dance, Iberian and Central/South American, Francophone, and more.