THE O’SCHRAVES are heading down the road to see if we can find some spring….there certainly isn’t any here on the old farm! We are playing at the Strawhouse Gallery in McKellar near Parry Sound on May 9th, then we’ll be pumpin’ out the chunes at the Toronto Country Dancers Contradance in Toronto on the 11th, followed by a house concert at the Romalis Home in Toronto on May 12th. All the details follow. Also a reminder below about the impending Brian Pickell Band concerts in Central and Southern Ontario, April 25-28 (STOP THE PRESSES – the Paris show is almost sold out, so get your tickets soon!). As well, while Julie and Pat are with the BP Band in Yellowknife May 2-5,  Benoit and Zach will be free to play up a storm for an AlgomaTrad Dance in Desbarats on May 3, with Dan Gorno on hand to rally the masses of dancers.  Oh, and we keep forgetting to tell you that we are on Facebook, why don’t you friend us (what a verb….) so we can brag about how many friends we have (well, ok, we’re no Lady Gaga…..) Here’s the scoop on the gigs:

Friday, May 3 – AlgomaTrad Dance – Johnson Township Community Centre Hall, 1 Cameron Dr., Desbarats. Dan Gorno is your trusty caller and Zach and Benoit will be blastin’ out the tunes. $10 at the door, $5 students, 10 and under free.

Thursday, May 9 – Strawhouse Gallery, Lakeside Drive and Centre Road, McKellar (near Parry Sound). Info at 705-389-9847 or visit www.strawhousegallery.ca 

Saturday, May 11, 7:30pm  - Toronto Country Dancers Contradance at the Barnabas Church Hall, Southeast corner of Hampton Ave & Danforth Ave., Across from the Carrot Common. More info at http://ieee.uwaterloo.ca/~tcd/schedule.htm

Sunday, May 12, 7PM – in concert  – The Romalis home (Bathurst –St. Clair area, Toronto)  To reserve a space, please send an email to shellyromalis@rogers.com Tickets: $15; $10 students, at the door (please reserve)

Members of The O’Schraves will be available for workshops in piano, fiddle, tin whistle or flute, and/or guitar during the afternoon of May 12. Please contact Pat and Julie at music@algomatrad.ca,  if you are interested. Cost of any workshop is $20, $10 if 6 or more attend a workshop.

The O’Schraves

“The O’Schraves” (The O’Gorman/Schryer/Lefebvre Family) brings you entertainment that is joyous, skillful, inspiring, and fun.  Two of Canada’s finest traditional musicians, Julie Schryer, on piano, and Pat O’Gorman, on bagpipes and Irish flute and tin whistle, are more than ably assisted by the younger and cuter members of the family, Benoit Schryer Lefebvre, 18, (2011 and 2012 winner of the 18 and under Pembroke Fiddle Contest) on fiddle, tin whistle and vocals; Zach Schryer Lefebvre, 22, on guitar, cello, tin whistle, piano and vocals;  and Áine Schryer O’Gorman, 10, (2012 winner of the 9 and under Pembroke Fiddle Contest) on fiddle, stepdancing, tin whistle, and vocals. The O’Schraves  play captivating traditional Canadian, Irish, and Scottish music mixed with new compositions written by modern tune composers Brian Pickell, Claude Méthé, Shane Cook and members of the family, as well as original and traditional songs and even a stepdance or two for good measure.

HERE’S THE REMINDER ABOUT THE BRIAN PICKELL BAND SHOWS, APRIL 25-28:

The Brian Pickell Band

 Thursday April 25th, 7:30 PM- EDGAR STUDIO PRESENTS – 925 Rest Acres Rd. @HWY 403, Paris, ON Tickets $20 at the door, $18 in advance, 12 and under, $10. Call (519) 754-2439, johne@calendarclub.ca

Saturday, April 27th, 7:30 pm – MAPLEVIEW HOUSE CONCERTS – RSVP only $20 – Mapleview (mapleviewstudio@yahoo.ca) is a private home in rural Grey County about mid-way between Orangeville and Owen Sound a couple of km off Hwy10
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mapleview-HouseConcerts/385028364849032>

Sunday April 28^th, 7:30- TRANZAC CLUB – 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto; $20 / $18 for members Tranzac or Flying Cloud www.tranzac.org (416) 923-8137

 The band will also be in Yellowknife, NWT doing concerts and workshops on the following weekend May 3-5, if you happen to know anyone up there.

AND DON’T FORGET THE aLGOMAtRAD aLGOMAtRIVIA FUN(D)RAISER, FRIDAY, APRIL 19. Email us if you want in on the fun, we are up to 8 tables at this moment. We’ve got some sponsorship from The Steam Whistle Brewing Company…check out the photo of the Steam Whistle truck making a delivery of a couple of cases of beer to the O’Schrave Ranch.  Tim, the Northern Ontario Steam Whistle Rep, left the truck at the bottom of the driveway and trundled the cases up the driveway with a handtruck. Can’t imagine what the neighbours think….!

SteamWhistle truck and Tim

Steam Whistle Visits the O’Schraves

This year, we are welcoming back fantastic Canadian fiddler Pierre Schryer, who hasn’t been here for a number of years, as well as Cape Breton fiddler Dan MacDonald, an excellent instructor and performer who last graced us at the camp as an instructor in 2009. Mark Roberts and Andrea Cooper, (with their handsome son Fenton) will be on hand for flute and whistle instruction and to give a hand to all the banjo madness that happens around camp. Also, returning from last year is the fabulous and mayhem-causing duo Sheesham and Lotus, as well as the ever-amazing James Stephens, fun-and-fabulous foot stepper Sheila Graziano, our very own dangerous Dan Gorno, the oh-so-talented bassist Joe Phillips, and cellist, violist and all round awesome string chopper Lea Kirstein.  New this year is our good friend and fabulous guitar player and singer, Andy Hillhouse (btw, Andy and Joe perform regularly with Pierre, so not only do we get wonderful individuals, we also present to you a very cool band!) Paul McClelland has once again kindly offered to give instruction to our handful of bagpipers. You can see photos and read all about our teaching team by clicking here. Stay tuned, as there are a few more staff members to add to the website as we confirm some details.

BTW, we have had LOTS of new inquiries about AlgomaTrad this year, so if you want to make sure you have a spot at camp, you had better sign up RIGHT NOW.

Also, for those of you in South/Central Ontario, here are a couple of concerts that you might be interested in!

BRIAN PICKELL BAND ON TOUR IN APRIL

The Brian Pickell Band

Brian, Shane, James, Julie and Pat can be found on the road from April 25 to April 28, info below. The band will also be in Yellowknife doing concerts and workshops on the following weekend May 1-3, if you happen to know anyone up there.

Thursday April 25th, 7:30 PM- EDGAR STUDIO PRESENTS – 925 Rest Acres Rd. @HWY 403, Paris, ON
Tickets $20 at the door, $18 in advance, 12 and under, $10. Call (519) 754-2439, johne@calendarclub.ca

Saturday, April 27th, 7:30 pm – MAPLEVIEW HOUSE CONCERTS – RSVP only $20 – Mapleview (mapleviewstudio@yahoo.ca) is a private home in rural Grey County about mid-way between Orangeville and Owen Sound a couple of km off Hwy10
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mapleview-HouseConcerts/385028364849032>

Sunday April 28^th, 7:30- TRANZAC CLUB – 292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto
$20 / $18 for members Tranzac or Flying Cloud www.tranzac.org (416) 923-8137

THE O’SCHRAVES ON TOUR –

The O’Schraves

The O’Schraves (O’Gorman-Schryer-Lefebvre Family to some of you) will be doing their own swing through the same region at the beginning of May. Here are the details so far.

Thursday, May 9 – Strawhouse Gallery, Lakeside Drive and Centre Road, McKerrow (near Parry Sound). Info at 705-389-9847 or visit www.strawhousegallery.ca

Saturday, May 11, 7:30pm – Toronto Country Dancers Contradance, Barnabas Church Hall, Southeast corner of Hampton Ave & Danforth Ave. Across from the Carrot Common. More info at http://ieee.uwaterloo.ca/~tcd/schedule.htm

Sunday, May 12 – 7pm House Concert and Daytime Workshops -  at the Romalis home (Bathurst –St. Clair area, Toronto) To reserve a space or inquire about workshops, please send an email to shellyromalis@rogers.com or music@algomatrad.ca Tickets: $15; $10 students, at the door (please reserve)

Andy Hillhouse

Andy Hillhouse is perhaps best known as the founder and manager of the Celtic funk band Mad Pudding, who toured festivals and folk clubs in North America and Europe through the 1990s. Since 2000 he has toured with several of Canada’s most respected and exciting acoustic musicians, including innovative west coast fiddler Zav Huscroft, champion Canadian fiddler Pierre Schryer, and The McDades, with whom he has garnered a JUNO and two Canadian Folk Music Awards. As a guitarist in Irish traditional music he has accompanied master musicians Paddy Keenan, Maeve Donnelly and Patrick Ourceau. Andy is a former member of the JUNO nominated vocal ensemble, musica intima, and former music director of Vancouver’s Universal Gospel Choir and the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach Choir. He is currently completing his PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, and was recently hired as Artistic Director for the Harrison Festival of the Arts in BC.

Dan MacDonald

Dan MacDonald is from a family of musicians from the small village of Ironville, Cape Breton and began playing fiddle at a very early age. His fiddle education came mostly from his father, Lloyd MacDonald, who is a well-known and respected Cape Breton fiddler, and from the surrounding musical culture of Cape Breton Island. Cape Breton Fiddler’s Association practices in Baddeck, the Gaelic Maud in St. Ann’s, playing for dances in Glencoe and playing for Highland dance and Cape Breton stepdance groups formed the basis for his music. The big Cape Breton concerts: Big Pond, Cheticamp, Highland Village day, Broad Cove and many others were the backdrop of his childhood.  In the late 1980′s, MacDonald, and his family formed Scumalash, a traditional Cape Breton band, with whom he toured throughout the United Kingdom between 1988 and 1992, culminating in the release of a self-titled album. Scumalash recently returned from a reunion tour of England.

In 2001 MacDonald moved to Bowling Green, Ohio where he began playing with a traditional Irish group, Toraigh. Toraigh toured the Celtic festivals of the Midwest, including the Cincinnati Celtic Festival, Dayton Celtic Festival, and the Newport Irish Festival. During this time period MacDonald was also able to compete twice in the Midwest Fleadh (regional Irish Music competition) in the senior fiddle and ceilidh band competitions with a band involving some of Detroit’s foremost Irish musicians, placing second in both categories.

MacDonald moved to Toronto in 2003, where he became a co-host at the Irish music session at Dora Keogh Irish pub and later became a member of the traditional Irish group, Spraoi. Spraoi has played to sold out audiences at the Tranzac, Hugh’s Room and the Brampton Folk Festival. In 2006, MacDonald became music director of The Magic of Ireland, an Irish dance and music show, with which he toured the UK, Canada, the USA and Europe.

 In recent years, MacDonald has been a mainstay at the Irish music session at Dora Keogh and Ceili Cottage Irish pub in Toronto as well as producing an Irish/Scottish dance and music show called “Brogue”, which plays at folk clubs and festivals and theatres all over Ontario and the United States.  In addition, MacDonald still tours with his brothers Paul and Shawn and his father Lloyd, playing at several festivals and school performances in Ireland over the last two years and most recently playing several shows for the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton.  MacDonald’s newest project is North Atlantic Drift, a Toronto based trio including himself on fiddle, Brian Taheny on guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle and Ross Griffiths on Scottish pipes, Irish pipes and whistle. This group features the blending of Scottish, Irish and Cape Breton in many different combinations of instruments, having released a self titled CD and performing at festivals and other events in Ontario and the United States.

 The AlgomaTrad AlgomaTrivia Fun(d)-raiser is a night of friendship and friendly competition with the goal of raising money for the AlgomaTrad Family Music and Dance Camp.  We hope you will join us to make it a success!

Here’s how it works:

Buy a table for $150.00 and then split the cost by selling spots at your table to your friends.  A table can hold a maximum of 10 people who will compete as a team in an Algoma Region trivia challenge.  Teams will be asked to write the answers to Algoma-themed trivia questions… lots of local arcane trivia about places, people and things from along the North Shore, St. Joseph Island, and the Sault.  The questions will be delivered in rounds, team answers will be recorded in writing on a response sheet and scored; the scores will be tallied between each round so you can see how your team is doing as the evening progresses.    The winning team will have the highest score over all the rounds.

Prizes:

The winning team gets bragging rights and their names engraved on a special AlgomaTrad AlgomaTrivia trophy, which they can keep in their possession until the next trivia challenge.  Door prizes will be awarded throughout the evening.

Food and Drink: 

Each table will receive two pizzas and a veggie tray to share halfway through the evening.  There will be a cash bar stocked with wine, beer, juice, pop and popcorn. OH, and this just in, we are getting some sponsorship from the Steam Whistle Brewing Company….Pat says YAY!

Where:  Bar River Hall, 14 Lapish Rd, Downtown Bar River

When:  Friday, April 19^th

Time:  Doors open at 6:30pm.  Trivia game begins at 7:30pm.

Cost:  $150.00/table.

To join in the fun:

Before April 5^th, contact Barb Willoughby at 705 248 1564, or email punchbug150@yahoo.com, to buy a table.  If you want to play, but don’t want to buy a table, contact us and we will make it happen.

To add to the fundraising value of this event, there will also be a silent auction and a 50/50 draw.  Donations to the silent auction are greatly appreciated.  Drop-off or pick-up of these items can be arranged through Michelle  (246-0684), Barb (248-1564), or Joyce (246 1423).

Pat pondering the next AlgomaTrad AlgomaTrivia question….

Lea Kirstein

Lea Kirstein (www.leakirstein.com) is a violin, viola, cello and bass player based in Toronto, Ontario. She holds a BMus specializing in music education and classical viola performance from the University of Victoria. Her teachers include: Joanna Hood (Lafayette Quartet, Sir Paul McCartney), Janos Sandor, Darol Anger, Natalie Haas, Jeremy Kittel and more.

She showcases her diverse range of playing styles in several new music groups: 6-pc R&B band Reenie and the Goodfellas, Counterpoint orchestra, and as a freelance artist in the Toronto music scene. She has toured the US and Canada as the violist of the Boston-based Folk Arts Quartet, folk chamber ensemble based out of Berklee College of Music. She has recorded with JUNO award winner Oliver Schroer and JUNO nominee Teresa Doyle, on CDs and music videos with several independent rock bands, and electric cello with the Hypatia Creative Women’s Jazz Orchestra. Her workshop for accompanying traditional Celtic music, called “Chops and Grooves for Bowed Strings” was nominated Best Of at the Vancouver CelticFest 2012.

Her passion for new music and education was combined in the Victoria portion of the National Youth Fiddle Project, the “Twisted String”, which she co-led. It is the innovative pedagogical and performance brainchild of fiddler and composer Oliver Schroer. With the Twisted String, Lea has performed on National CBC Radio Broadcasts, in folk festivals, clubs, and stages in Toronto and Vancouver, and led educational workshops in Arts Schools in Toronto. She has even been spotted instigating a “Random Act of Violins” or two in the Toronto subways!

With her classical roots and love for eclectic new music, Lea is convinced that on string instruments, anything is possible.

Andrea Cooper and Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts’ long and varied musical career has included extensive touring and recording, and playing more instruments than you can imagine with The Clayfoot Strutters, The Sevens, The Red Clay Ramblers, Childsplay and Touchstone. He’s played for Broadway shows, movie soundtracks, festival crowds, contra dancers, theaters and small house concerts. Andrea Cooper’s music has brought her from Eek Alaska to Altamont NY. She was playing Irish flute with her 5-string banjo beside her when Mark first laid eyes on her (with his Irish flute and 5-string banjo in tow). Since that moment they have doubled the fun, playing two flutes, twin penny whistles, and double banjos from Vancouver to Cotuit. Mark and  Andrea  have taught together at Pinewoods camp and have performed regularly with the Pacific Northwest’s favorites, The Noodles. They have been part of the AlgomaTrad Staff in previous years, including offering their time as volunteers in 2012. We are happy to have them and their charming son, Fenton, back this year!

Mark Roberts plays traditional music on the flute, tin whistle, 5-string banjo and bouzouki and has had a long and varied career in music. He toured and recorded with the seminal band Touchstone, played the banjo with the Red Clay Ramblers on Broadway in the show Fool Moon, his flute and pennywhistle can be heard in the Jon Sayles film The Secret of Roan Innish, and he’s brought his whistle on tour with Don Henley.

Swananoa Gathering, Augusta Heritage and The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes are some of the music camps at which Mark has taught. He’s performed on and produced many recordings, including The Gloup, a flute CD with guitarist Dan Compton, and Dyad’s first seminal recording.

Andrea Cooper can pinpoint the moment: It was 18 years ago when she unwittingly found herself spending an evening at the Tranzac in Toronto captivated by beautiful Irish music, particularly the flute, which she later learned was played by none other than Pat O’Gorman! Since then, her music has taken her to places as far as Eek, Alaska and San Juan Island, where she taught a beginning tin whistle class at the Friday Harbor Irish Music Camp for 4 years in a row. While living in Vancouver she co-hosted the session at the Irish Heather, a piece of it captured on the CBC recording “In the Heather”.

Somewhere along the way (most likely inspired by her mum), she also started frailing the 5-string banjo. In Seattle she taught clawhammer banjo to adults and at an after-school kids’ stringband class. She has earned a Music Together certificate, a program to teach music and movement to 0 to 5-year-olds with their caregivers.

Mark, Andrea and Fenton live in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.

Joe Phillips

Joseph Phillips (or Joe as we know him!) has been Principal Double Bassist with Orchestra London since 2007, a position he has also held with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Toronto.

Joe’s musical interests span a wide range of styles. He plays regularly with violinist Mayumi Seiler in her Via Salzburg Chamber Music series. This, and recent engagements such as concerts with the Art of Time Ensemble and the Sweet Water Music Festival have given Joe the opportunity to play with some of the best chamber musicians in Canada. He performs with cabaret-pop songwriter Sarah Slean, cabaret singer Patricia O’Callaghan, folk-country songwriter Jenny Whiteley, Andrew Downing’s chamber-jazz group Arts & Letters and a really cool Balkan-gypsy-tango trio that still doesn’t have a name.

As a double bassist and guitarist, Joe has contributed to many recordings, including Juno-nominated albums by the Pierre Schryer Band, with whom he tours regularly, Joey Wright and The Wailin’ Jennys. Joe has written symphony orchestra arrangements for a number of Canadian artists, including blues diva Rita Chiarelli, and songwriter Ian Tamblyn.

A Toronto native, Joe studied double bass at the University of Toronto with the renowned virtuoso Joel Quarrington. When not playing or stuck on the 401 somewhere, Joe spends time at his home in London with his partner Sylvie, and enjoys playing with their children Eloïse and Rémi, as well as cooking and reading.

Pierre Schryer

Pierre is one of Canada’s leading traditional fiddlers. JUNO nominee, Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, and celebrated performer and producer. He was immersed from an early age in the Franco-Ontarian traditions of his heritage, through multiple fiddle competitions along with his triplet brothers. The Schryer Triplets recorded 2 albums and appeared several times on the “Tommy Hunter Show.”

As a solo performer Pierre has received numerous titles and awards including Canadian Open Fiddle Champion, Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Champion, Violoneux Championnat, and North American Irish Fiddle Champion. Over the last 15 years, Pierre has released six solo recordings on his own label, New Canadian Records, including “Blue Drag”, which was honoured with a nomination at the 2004 JUNO Awards for best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year, and “Mélange”, which was nominated at the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Instrumental Solo Album of the Year.

Pierre has shared the stage with many colleagues in the traditional music scene including Natalie McMaster, members of Leahy,  the Barra MacNeils, Ashley MacIssac, Liz Carroll, Matapat, Club Carrefour, La Bottine Souriante, Altan, Old Blind Dogs, Chieftains, Jane Bunnet, and others. He has performed with numerous symphony orchestras across Canada with his acclaimed Symphony Pops show.

Pierre is the creator and artistic director of the “Canadian Celtic Celebration”, a three-day festival presented in Thunder Bay, Ontario each June. A native of Northern Ontario, Pierre is proud to continue planting roots in the north with his wife, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra’s renowned trumpeter Merrie Klazek, and their lovely children, Kyran and Tamsyn.

Photo credit: Guillaume Morin

The O’Schraves, that’s the O’Gorman/Schryer/Lefebvre family, will be performing at a St. Patrick’s Day supper/concert fundraiser for the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 374, at the Legion Hall in Richards Landing on Saturday, March 16.  We’ll have some new steps from Áine and a couple of new songs from the Irish traditional repertoire as well as the usual rollicking sets of tunes from across the Celtic world. The Legion has designed a wonderful Irish menu: Potato/Leek Soup, Roast Beef in Stout, Colcannon, Mixed Root Veg,  and Apple Cake. Irish beer and whiskey will be available at the bar. Bar opens at 5:30pm. Tickets are $35 and are available at the Legion, Ambeault’s and Kents Corners.

Here is a poster for the event, click on it to download a printable PDF version.