The Celtic Fiddle Festival Celebrate Their 20th Anniversary

UXBRIDGE, U.K. - April 27, 2013 - PRLog -- The group Celtic Fiddle Festival are celebrating their 20th anniversary with tours on both sides of the Atlantic accompanied by the release of their new CD, “Live in Brittany” by Loftus Music. They will tour the UK during May & June followed by the USA in October. The album will be available from the 20th May 2013.

The Celtic Fiddle Festival start their UK tour in Scotland on May 29th 2013 and will take in Ayr and Dunfermline before moving on to include shows in Otley, Ormskirk, Westmoreland, York, Milton Keynes, Great Yarmouth, Ivybridge, Stroud, Guildford, Southampton, Stamford, Bury St Edmunds, Hereford, and Buxton.

The group Celtic Fiddle Festival celebrates the violin in all its globe-trotting variations. Fiddlers Kevin Burke (Ireland), Christian Lemaître (Brittany, France) and André Brunet (Quebec, Canada) showcase a fascinating juxtaposition of international and individual styles.

Along with acclaimed guitarist Nicolas Quémener from Brittany, the quartet combines their talents, musical traditions, and spontaneous humour which in turn enables them to present shows of dazzling energy and subtle grace. These traditional masters showcase their regional repertoires and together conjure an experience of breathtaking performances.

For the three fiddlers this will be their third CD together but for Nicolas “Live in Brittany” will be his first recording with the group. The album “Live in Brittany,” their sixth album, was produced during January 2013 when the group visited France for a series of recorded performances. The album was made in the town of Guéméne-sur-Scorff.

In its earliest days, twenty years ago, the line up included, as well as Kevin & Christian, the exhilarating Scottish fiddler Johnny Cunningham and ace guitarist John McGann from Massachusetts. Sadly, the two Johns are no longer with us having passed away as a result of both parties suffering sudden and tragic illnesses.

For a brief time it appeared as if the Celtic Fiddle Festival would no longer continue but morale was soon restored. Both Kevin and Christian embraced the addition of André Brunet’s energetic Quebec fiddling and, most recently, Nicolas Quémener's warm and imaginative accompaniments have brought a rich musical confidence to the group.

The inspiration behind the formation of the Celtic Fiddle Festival has proven to be an innovative and enduring concept – to highlight the unique qualities of the three distinct fiddle traditions while at the same time showing the strength and power that can be generated when they come together.  

The Celtic Fiddle Festival’s combination of music, musicianship and love for their respective traditions is once again exciting audiences worldwide as will be heard during this anniversary year both in concert and with the release of “Live in Brittany” from Loftus Music.