Fiddle-icious Traditions to be held at L-A Senior College weekend of April 12

LEWISTON — Don Roy, Maine’s dean of Franco-American fiddling and 2018 National Heritage Fellow, has created a weekend event for participants to explore many facets of traditional fiddle music.

Fiddle-icious Traditions will take place the April 12 to 14, and be held at the Lewiston Auburn College of USM. There is a registration fee.
The weekend starts with a chance to meet, mingle, and jam with the instructors, many classes and panel discussions are offered, along with a contra dance on Saturday night and concert finale on Sunday afternoon. Classes will be offered in step dancing, rhythm instrumet accompaniment, Cape Breton piano style, calling contra dances, the history of traditional music, caring for stringed instruments, and much more. Although the word “fiddle” is part of the name, all traditional contra dance instruments are welcome.
Fiddle-icious Traditions is part of Fiddle-icious, Maine’s Largest Fiddle Orchestra, founded by Don Roy and friends in 2000. Since that time, it has grown into a 140-plus member, all-volunteer run, non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status. Fiddle-icious records an annual CD, performs concerts every fall throughout Maine, and will perform at the Stirling Bridge Festival in Scotland in 2020.
“The love of the music is what got me started and continues to inspire me today,” Don said. “That, and the desire to pass it on – to keep fiddle music a living thing.”
Fiddle-icious Traditions offers new opportunities to learn and to share traditional music. Traditions will equip participants with the tools and enthusiasm to create local musical experiences such as group instruction for children, bringing music to elders and disabled people, establishing open playing opportunities for musicians wanting to improve or share their gifts, and using music to inform and celebrate ethnic heritage in Maine.
To register, visit Fiddle-icious Traditions at fiddleicioustraditions.com.