The accompaniment program for guitar, keyboard, and other chordal instruments at Winter School 2024.
Register NowWinter School is a rare opportunity to learn from some of the best players and the most creative instructors of Celtic music, while spending time in community with fellow musicians and music appreciators.
Learn MoreLearn MoreWinter School is an opportunity to learn tunes from some of the best players and the most inspiring instructors of Celtic music, spending time in community with fellow musicians and music appreciators, and just have fun!
The accompaniment program is open to all instruments who play chords and is run concurrently with the smallpipes and fiddle programs, giving players of all instruments a chance to learn from each other and to play together.
Students are responsible for bringing their own instruments. Keyboardy-instrument-playing attendees will join together to create one class, and strummy/plucky-instrument-playing attendees will break into two classes. If you aren’t sure if you or your instrument fit into these categories, please contact Cayley@CelticArts.org
Students arrive on Saturday morning, February 10th, after breakfast. The schedule will include group classes each day, sessions, evening ceilidhs, and a few fun extras. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn pipe tunes direct from our piping instructors, attend the instructor concert, have the option to be part of our no-stress participant performance night, and more! Classes end on Tuesday, February 13th at noon. Registration for this program also includes one complimentary ticket to the Masters of Scottish Arts concert in Edmonds on Friday, February 9th.
Prices for the Accompaniment Program include tuition, housing, and meals:
The early part of Eric’s career was spent cutting his teeth as a mandolinist in the rich local folk and roots music scene in Boston MA. Later Eric attended Berklee College of Music where he studied under world renowned mandolinist & guitarist John McGann, as well as gaining a practical knowledge of music in many styles. His education continued post Berklee and he soon found a gateway into the realm of traditional music through playing for contra dances, a native form of New England folk dance derived primarily from a combination of English, Scottish, Irish and Acadian traditions. Eric found himself quickly in demand as a DADGAD guitar accompanist for musicians playing traditional music, finding a particular niche in the Scottish & Cape Breton realm. Now well established he maintains an active touring schedule, supplemented by recording sessions and a variety of teaching endeavors. In addition to Eric’s current projects some of his touring credits include celtic supergroup The Outside Track, hodge podge folk band The Dave Rowe Trio, up and coming Scottish fiddler Katie McNally, New England contra dance band Matching Orange, folk-pop outfit Pesky J. Nixon and renowned Cape Breton fiddlers Andrea Beaton & Wendy MacIsaac.
Ross is a founding member of Gaelic supergroup, Daimh, based in the Scottish Highlands. Beyond Daimh’s busy schedule, Ross has chalked up recording and touring credits with artists such as Julie Fowlis, Bonnie Prince Billy, Muireann Nic Aomhlaoibh, Karan Casey, Finlay MacDonald and the inimitable Vallely brothers from Armagh. Time at home is spent heavily involved in teaching the joys of traditional Scottish music to young people in the area through the Feisean movement and volunteering with the local Coastguard Search and Rescue team.
Raised in Lanark, Nova Scotia, his musical prowess can be attributed to an especially rare combination of commitment and bloodline. By the age of six, Troy was already impressing audiences with his step dancing skills. By 13 he was teaching piano at the renowned Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Anne’s, Cape Breton. He has completed grade seven of the Toronto Conservatory of Music for classical piano, has spent four years in a stringed orchestra and has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in music from St. Francis Xavier University.