We are delighted to announce that Brandon Vance will be coming back again to NW Scottish Fiddlers in November! Brandon has taught workshops in person for us, as well as last year on Zoom. This workshop also be on Zoom will start at 2 PM (Pacific Time), on Sunday, November 14th (yep, the 2nd Sunday of the month, vs. our usual 3rd Sunday of the month).
***UPDATE: This just in! In this workshop, Brandon will be covering various types of “shuffles” and bowing. He’ll discuss how they apply to jigs, reels, and even strathspeys! There will also be a 3 page handout!! And of course, sheet music or dots, as we like to say, for tunes that are covered or introduced.***
And a few things about Brandon (to be brief is really difficult!): He’s an internationally acclaimed Scottish fiddler and a classical violinist! He was the youngest fiddler to win the U.S. National Open Scottish Fiddling Championship, in 1999 and in 2001. He has performed and taught internationally, for major events like the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy, and was a featured soloist at the 2017 Scottish Royal National Mod in Fort William.
On the classical violin side of his life, he has a B.M. and M.M. in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a member of Chamber Orchestra Northwest Sinfonietta, and a baroque ensemble, Pacific Musicworks.
Here’s a wonderful video showing Brandon’s versatility and talent. Brandon starts with playing baroque Scottish music in this competition known as the 2021 Scottish Performing Arts Classic. (Be sure to watch the entire video- in the second set and beyond, he’s on fiddle!) Spoiler alert: he won the competition!
To learn more about Brandon, visit his website!
This will be a free workshop. Please note we’ll have a virtual tip jar for Brandon, as we continue to support musicians in this challenging time where live performances are just beginning to come back. We will also have sheet music after the workshop, audio and video recordings.
Please write to Marcia Thumma if you suspect that you’re not on our mailing list, and you’ll be included in the Saturday email, which holds the key to the workshop – our zoom link!