With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share a vibrant energy onstage with a blending of voices that can only come from decades of friendship alongside dedicated practice. The ensemble shifts effortlessly between drastically different styles of music, drawing their audience along on a journey that spans continents and centuries, illuminating and expanding on the profound power and variation of the human voice.

There’s another, crucial dimension to Windborne that guides and roots their artistry. They are adherents to folk music’s longtime alliance with social activism, labor and civil rights, and other movements that champion the oppressed, the poor, and the disenfranchised. Their songs burst with lyrics that, while penned decades or centuries ago, still ring true in modern times, and Windborne’s dynamic harmonies breathe new life into these songs.

4 On Stage

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Joe Newberry comes from a family of singers and dancers. He took up the guitar and banjo as a boy and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers. April Verch grew up listening to her Dad’s country band play for dances in the Ottawa Valley. She started step dancing at age three and fiddling at age six. In a Newberry & Verch show, delighted audiences see first-hand the roots of their music, their love of performing, and their strong musical connection. Original songs join timeless classics. Stories warm the heart, and give audiences a chance to understand where the music comes from. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun.

Whether it is the power of two voices lifted in harmony, or the sound of traditional tunes calling people to get up and move, these two masters of tradition put on an unforgettable show.

PLUS, annual “Holiday Cheer Tour”

Each year the duo sets out in a modern day sleigh (with four-wheel drive) to perform their eagerly anticipated holiday tour. Original songs join timeless hymns. Stories warm the heart and give a twinkle to the eye. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun at the holidays, and all year long. Make your holiday concert list, and check it twice… Newberry and Verch are coming to town!

2 On Stage

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April and Cody combine their unique backgrounds from Verch’s native Ottawa Valley and Walters’ heartland roots in Kansas. April was the first woman to win both the Canadian Grand Masters and Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. She was one of six Canadian fiddlers featured in the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Together, Verch and Walters are exemplary tradition-bearing performers: never forgetting the roots of the music, that connection to the people out there in the audience or on the dance floor, to the community sparked by a good song.

2 On Stage

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He has been nominated for numerous OPUS and ADISQ awards and participated in the ADISQ-winning CD, La Traverse Miraculeuse with La Nef and Les Charbonniers de l’enfer. He has won OPUS awards for Creation of the Year (Leave Her, Johnny), Album of the Year (Skye Consort & Emma Björling) and Youth Production of the Year (Le chat et le gondolier, La Nef).

Seán is also ideally suited for youth and family audience performances, outreach and educational programming, and singing workshops. 

Solo

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“Karan Casey’s latest album is revelatory. She’s always been a singer of songs that tell a story and show their muscle … This is a strikingly three-dimensional work that stands the test of intensive and repeated listening … A vivid and dazzling snapshot of Casey invincible, at the height of her powers.” —Siobhan Long, Irish Times

3 on Stage

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In a world where almost everyone appears to have their public image and hashtags in order, Barbra’s latest album (2023) Imposter Syndrome, explores instead an identity still in flux. Equal parts playful and sombre, these songs flip unapologetically between genres, tempos, and production styles in search of what it means to be a flawed human with big dreams, bigger feelings, and a verifiably awkward social presence.

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Also Available — Barbra Lica: Songs with Orchestra, featuring repertoire from some of Barbra’s most popular works arranged for chamber orchestra, accompanied by her 4-pc rhythm section (available with the Toronto Chamber-Pop Orchestra or in collaboration with local chamber orchestras).

16 on stage

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