Jean Redpath
“To call Jean Redpath a Scottish folk singer is like calling Michelangelo an Italian interior decorator.”
Edinburgh Evening News
This year's concert welcomes back the incomparable Jean Redpath, the preeminent interpreter of the songs of Robert Burns. Born in Edinburgh and raised in the Kingdom of Fife, Jean arrived in the United States in 1961 with eleven dollars in her pocket. Four months later, she was sharing quarters in Greenwich Village with such legends of the '60s folk revival as Rambling Jack Elliot and Bob Dylan. Since 1962 she has toured extensively throughout the USA and Canada, across Australia, and has presented programs in South America and Hong Kong. She is known to millions of Americans through her many appearances on Robert J. Lurtsema's Morning Pro Musica from WGBH in Boston, and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.
Jean has received many honors for her work, including honorary doctorates from the University of Stirling and St Andrews University, and from the Royal Scottish Academy of Drama and Art. She starred for many years in our Burns Night Concerts at Sanders Theatre, often with Alasdair Fraser. Recently she has also been exploring contemporary Scottish songs, and thus theme of “Burns and Beyond.”
Jacqueline Schwab
In the words of documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, “Jacqueline Schwab brings more feeling and intensity to music than anyone I know.” Jacqueline's improvisational piano playing draws on classical, traditional folk and contemporary roots. The New England Folk Almanac wrote that she plays with “the . . . spirit of Keith Jarrett and the touch of George Winston..” Jacqueline has been heard on eleven of Burns' documentaries, including “The Civil War,” “Baseball,” and “Mark Twain.” She has performed music from Burns' “Lewis and Clark” series for President Clinton at the White House and has also performed presidential music at the Smithsonian.
Jacqueline has recorded and performed with many traditional musicians, including a long-standing partnership with her English dance music quartet Bare Necessities, as well as with Scottish fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Laura Risk and Jean Redpath. She performs traditional music from Scotland and the Shetland Islands with cellist Reinmar Seidler, where both alternate playing lead (traditionally played by the fiddle) and accompaniment. She has three solo recordings: Mad Robin, Down Came an Angel and Mark Twain's America. Jacqueline's latest recording with Ken Burns is music for his upcoming documentary on World War II.
Reinmar Seidler
Well known as a classical and Baroque cellist, Reinmar Seidler is at the forefront of a new generation of string players who delight in a wide variety of styles. The Boston Globe called him “A player of flamboyant technique and substantial personality,” and others have praised his “gorgeous cello...” (Boston Phoenix) that “had the audience holding its breath” (WCLV radio Cleveland). Reinmar is featured with Jay Ungar, Matt Glaser, and Jacqueline Schwab on three of Ken Burns' PBS documentaries, including his upcoming series on WWII. He has long experience of playing for Renaissance and Baroque dance, and can be heard with the dance band Renaissonics on a CD of Italian and French Renaissance dances.
Reinmar performs Scottish and Cape Breton dance music across the US as a member of the Cleveland-based sextet Scarborough Fayre (along with David Greenberg on fiddle and Chris Norman on flute). This versatile cellist has appeared in concert and on recordings of classical chamber music, Turkish and Hungarian village dance music, and contemporary tango. With pianist Jacqueline Schwab he presents duo programs based on an eclectic mix of Scottish airs and dance tunes. Scott Alarik of The Boston Globe praises the duo: “Their sound exists where art music and tradition intermingle; their treatments of Scottish fiddle tunes are . . . rippling with compositional intelligence.”
Mike MacNintch
Known as The Piping Guru, or The Nintch here in the Northeast, Mike is the Pipe Master of the Manchester, CT, Pipeband and a cohort of the Antipypr. His pipeband performs at many festivals, and Mike himself is in high demand as a solo piper. His recent CD The Chanter's Song emphasizes the Scottish smallpipes (the "sociable bagpipe”) and is a treasured favorite of the Piobreacht Society. Its "sweet, full, earthy tone" is eminently and repeatedly listenable. Mike is also a favorite piper at Pinewoods Camp, where his duties include playing for dancing and piping around the camp at 7:15 AM to rouse everyone for another grand day of music, dancing, and fun.
Anne Hooper
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Anne Hooper, Music Director and fiddle, is a graduate of The Mannes College of Music in New York City, and she is equally at home in the classical and Scottish styles. Between 1971 and 1980, she played with orchestras in Salzburg and Munich. She currently performs with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic. She also plays with the Scottish Country Dance Band, Tullochgorum, and is in high demand as a musician for balls and dance parties. She has twice before served as Music Director for our annual concerts and for the Scottish dance sessions at Pinewoods Camp. In recognition of her dynamic and authentic Scottish fiddle style, she won the U.S. National Open Scottish Fiddle Championship in 1993 and 1998. |
Highland Dance Boston
Founded by Robert McOwen and Karen Campbell Mahoney in 2002, Highland Dance Boston is a performing company that specializes in the traditional and contemporary dances of Scotland. The company includes competitive highland dancers, teachers of Scottish dance, and musicians. Their repertoire includes many exciting choreographies of traditional highland and step dances, as well as original choreographed pieces. The group has performances at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA), the New Hampshire Highland Games, the Gaelic Roots festival, Burns Nights in various cities, and they recently performed at the Opening Ceremonies of the World Curling Championships in Lowell, MA. Whether performing traditional dances or their own inventive explorations in the Scottish style, they are a treat for the eyes-and (when hard shoe is involved) the ears!
RSCDS Boston Branch Demonstration Team
The Scottish Country Dance Demonstration Team of the Boston Branch dances at various celebrations, festivals, town fairs, and private events around the New England area. The group performs each year at the New Hampshire Highland Games, the New England Folk Festival, the Boston Celtic Music Festival, and at the RSCDS November concert. It creates original medleys of traditional dances, choreographed for maximum energy, elegance, and audience appeal.
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