Donna was recently appointed a Creative Teaching Partner in fiddling by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. This allows Donna to bring her Fiddling Demystified for Strings program into Massachusetts schools through the Council's Creative Schools Program. Massachusetts music educators and school districts can contact Donna for more information about her innovative string program for elementary through high school students.
March 28-29 Festival of French-Canadian Music with Chanterelle and The Beaudoin Legacy at the Blackstone River Theatre, Cumberland RI. With quadrille and contra dancing on Friday night, fiddling, French songs and stepdancing workshops Saturday afternoon and a Saturday evening Soirée Concert with more than a dozen people in two bands. More . . .
2008 Summer Camps . . . Fiddle & Strings for Old Songs in Voorheesville NY - July 7-11, July 14-18. First week for ages 6-18, second for novice-intermediate adults. Classes in fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass, arranging, theory with Donna Hébert, Jane Rothfield, George Wilson and Max Cohen. Fiddling Demystified for Strings - July 28- Aug. 1 - Old Songs, Voorheesville NY. For intermediate-advanced fiddlers, violinists, violists, cellists and string teachers. Donna Hébert - fiddle, teaching methods; Renata Bratt, cellist - fiddle for cello, lesson planning. Max Cohen, guitar, theory, arranging.
New releases . . . Donna's latest releases include the Fiddling Demystified for Strings encyclopedia of fiddling with two 60-minute lesson CDs, the companion Fiddlejam CD with all tunes played in jam session style, and her Fiddling with a French Accent DVD, marked with a January 12 Amherst, MA workshop in Franco-American fiddling.
Fiddling in the Schools . . . Donna Hébert and Groovemama are working with string teachers in Massachusetts to introduce fiddling into the string curriculum from elementary through high school levels using Donna's extensive fiddling curriculum materials.
ASTA Conference/Southwest Tour with Groovemama . . . Donna has been asked to present Franco-American and French-Canadian fiddle repertoire and teaching methods at the American String Teachers' National Conference Feb. 28-March 1 in Albuquerque. Groovemama members Jane Rothfield and Max Cohen are joining her for a tour of dances, concerts and workshops in Phoenix, Tucson and Albuquerque.
Beaudoin Legacy named to American Masterpiece Roster . . . The Beaudoin Legacy, 11-member group documenting, presenting and preserving the music of Vermont's Beaudon family, has been named to the NEA's American Masterpiece Roster by the Vermont Arts Council. This will allow Vermont venues who apply to receive a 50% fee subsidy from the Council. Look for The Beaudoin Legacy and Chanterelle at the Blackstone River Theater March 28-29 for a Friday night dance, Saturday afternoon workshops and a Saturday evening Grand Soirée.
Fiddling events with Donna through August 2008 . . .
About Donna
"Donna is an outstanding performer and world class teacher. I consider her at the forefront of the developing field of fiddle pedagogy." Dr. Alan Jabbour, Dir. (ret)., American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
"Donna gets it all right . . . I suspect that the general level of fiddle knowledge and playing will take a major uptick soon after [Fiddling Demystified] is published, just as other great music books such as Earl Scruggs’ original banjo book, O’Neill‘s great Irish fiddling reference, and the infamous jazz Real Book influenced the course of musicians’ lives and work." String wizard Darol Anger in his foreword to Fiddling Demystified
"Donna and her colleagues changed the way my students and I think about fiddling! They helped us to feel confident enough to turn our music over, close our eyes and play independently. I even started playing Mozart the following day in a different style - much lighter and more at ease! " Jane Ezbicki - 2006 Massachusetts ASTA chapter president, Fine Arts Director & H.S. Orchestra Conductor, Wayland MA Schools.
