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SPRING IS HERE, AND SO IS OUR JAMBOREE!
Once again, Branch #1 of the BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Association is planning a fun-filled Jamboree – for more information read on! If you still have questions you may Email pgfiddlers@gmail.com or phone (250) 565-1025. Everyone is Welcome!
Ice-Cream Social Family Dance on Friday, May 2 – a really fun way to kick off the weekend, 
from 7 – 10 pm at Trinity United Church, 3555 – 5th Ave (5th and Union St behind Spruceland Save-On). Registrants and children under 18 with parents are free, while others will pay $10 – tickets available at the door or e-transfer by clicking the red tab for ‘Dance’. Live music by members of the fiddle club and maybe even some of the instructors! Be sure to come down for some couple and group old-time dances, have a break to create a sundae, and have a whole lot of fun!
Workshops, Sat – Sun May 3 and 4th – Register by clicking the red ‘Workshop’ tab for the Registration Form. Each group will have about 10 hours of instruction over two days, and there may be a large group activity on Sunday afternoon. Cost for the weekend is $200, with payment options on the Registration Form. Lunches and snacks and the dance are included, and plan early, as those who sign up by Tuesday, April 22 will receive a free concert ticket as well! Workshops location: Knox Performance Centre, 1448 – 5th Ave downstairs. From 8:30 – 9 am Saturday you will check-in, tune your instrument, grab a coffee and find your class, so you are ready to start at 9.
Concert Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 pm – This is always an exciting event, and it draws many out 
from the community. Cost is $35 ($20 for kids 12 and under and free to any Registrants who have signed up and paid by April 22). It will be held at the Knox Performance Centre upstairs, 1448 – 5th Ave. It’s sure to be a great concert as the six Instructors show us their best stuff! Mark Sullivan will be the headliner – Mark has won the Canadian Grand Masters fiddle competition three times and the Canadian Open Fiddle Contest three times, and is hailed as one of Canada’s finest fiddlers, “captivating audiences with his masterful technique and deep-rooted connection to tradition.” His traditional, inspiring fiddle tunes and compositions are sure to get the toes tapping! www.marksullivan.ca/mark-sullivan-canadian-fiddler
WORKSHOP CLASSES:
BEGINNER FIDDLE CLASS
For Beginner Fiddle you will need to be able to tune your own instrument and play 3 – 4 simple tunes. Three qualified instructors will take turns teaching this class so that each beginner is able to benefit from individual styles.
INTERMEDIATE, INTERMED-ADVANCED, and ADVANCED FIDDLE CLASSES –
Instructors Mark Sullivan, Leslie-Jean MacMillan and Anita Mamela will teach these three classes by rotating. The rotation of instructors will give everyone an opportunity to experience various teaching techniques and tips from all three. You will be able to change classes if you find you are not well-suited to the class you signed up for. As well, if one class is overloaded while another has only a few participants we may ask for some to change. We’ll be sure to end up with some group jamming!
FIDDLE – MARK SULLIVAN (Abbotsford)
What can we say? Mark brings a wealth of experience, variety, creativity and teaching expertise, and is sure to provide some interesting and fun classes!
FIDDLE – ANITA MAMELA (Quesnel)
Anita has been playing fiddle since she was seven, travelling to contests around BC while growing up in Prince George and being part of many jams at the Sintich Hall. She has a Bachelor of Music from UVic and an MEd in Curriculum Development.
Anita has taught music individually and in schools – Band, Jazz Band, Choir, Musical Theatre and Strings – from Grade 7 to High School level for 31 years (8 in Mackenzie and 25 in Quesnel). To change it up, she has been teaching Drama and Planning at Correlieu Secondary in Quesnel the last two years.
She has taken numerous groups to participate in MusicFest Canada (the Nationals), was twice awarded the $10,000 CARAS Grant for her school, and had the Quesnel Junior School Band make Top Ten in the CBC Music Class Competition.
Anita has played at the Canadian Grand Masters’ Competition twice. Since then, she has supported her own fiddle students to compete. She taught at the first BC Fiddle ‘Treat, and is passionate about continuing this camp at Gavin Lake. She currently leads an adult fiddle group in Quesnel. She is very excited to be part of the Prince George Club events.
FIDDLE – LESLIE-JEAN MacMILLAN (Smithers)
Leslie-Jean (LJ) is the founder and Musical Director of the Valley Youth Fiddlers. She began the group in 1996 with the simple goal of keeping a few young violinists engaged. Today, it has grown into a vibrant ensemble of 75 musicians of all ages that has toured across the province—along with instruments, sound systems, and plenty of candy.
With over 30 years of teaching experience, LJ has collaborated with many of Canada’s finest fiddlers, including Jaron Freeman-Fox, JJ Guy, Jerry Holland, Lea Kirstein, Daniel Lapp, JP Loyer, Oliver Schroer, Emilyn Stam, James Stephens, and Gordon Stobbe.
Deeply committed to community, she has facilitated jams, dances, and camps, and currently serves as Artistic Director of the Northwest Fiddle Camp in Smithers. Her passion continues to inspire new generations of musicians.
GUITAR CLASS – TONY LUKASHUK (Reid Lake)
Tony has been playing guitar since he was 14, and especially enjoys folk and country. He has played in rock and country bands in his earlier years, and more recently plays with the Elks Elastic Band and Old-Time Fiddlers, and has last fall done an Oktoberfest with Sound of the North and a few music festivals with Mama’s Dream. Tony enjoys all kinds of guitar playing and singing, but excels in Travis/Chet Atkins finger-picking and flat picking styles.
In the Guitar Class all levels of expertise are welcome; you will need your own guitar and a capo if you have one. Classes will be geared to what participants would like to learn, and some techniques you may expect to work on are:
- Stringing and choosing Guitars
- Strumming techniques
- Basic finger style for Folk, Travis and Melodic styles
- Notes on guitar E strings
- The important use of Capos
- Styles of music and associate chords
- Chord turn-arounds for developing smooth chord changes
- Chord lead-in notes
- Hammer-on, bend and pull-off notes
- Open to all questions.
CLAWHAMMER BANJO CLASS – SHANE SMITH (Prince George)
Please join Prince George banjo enthusiast Shane Smith for an introduction to clawhammer banjo. The workshop includes two days of hands-on learning in a group setting, with approximately ten hours of total workshop time divided between Saturday and Sunday. The workshop is best suited to students that have some experience with playing banjo – but want to focus on improving clawhammer ability. Must supply own banjo, and ideally can play 2-3 songs on it. Some things we’ll cover:
- Tuning your instrument, and review of common clawhammer tunings
- Basic clawhammer right-hand techniques
- Clawhammer tone and getting the best from your instrument
- Playing in a group setting
- Learning a simple clawhammer tune, or two
- Assortment of amusing banjo jokes