From festival stages and concert halls to raucous August nights at fiddle camp, the Flyers are here to make sure New England music has a seat at the table as a distinct and vital American tradition. All residents of the great state of Maine, Katie McNally (fiddle), Emily Troll (accordion), Benjamin Foss (guitar), and Neil Pearlman (piano) cut their teeth playing for contra dances and learning from the greats. Individually, they’ve toured the world playing Irish, Scottish, and Quebecois music and they bring this wellspring of knowledge and technical prowess to the American music that was born from these traditions.

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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.

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Polky stands out for its distinctive elements, including the mesmerizing traditional vocals and incorporation of the ‘suka,’ an ancient lap fiddle reconstructed from historical paintings. Marta Solek, an accomplished suka virtuoso, has performed alongside esteemed Polish artists like Same Suki, Maria Pomianowska, and Nikola Kołodziejczyk. Furthermore, the lead vocalist, Ewelina Ferenc, earned the prestigious title of Traditional Singer of The Year at the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Through their performances, Polky introduces Polish culture to North American audiences, embodying the role of cultural ambassadors for Polish modern traditions.

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The band has received critical acclaim from NPR’s “Shuffle,” SWR2 in Germany, All About Jazz, Jazz Weekly, and Cleveland Magazine. From the specific dialects, stories and songs of Italy’s pre-industrial past spring Alla Boara’s dynamic and touching performances that inspire listeners of any heritage to treasure their ancestral roots and to revel in our shared humanity, which is as surprising, playful, mournful and tender as the songs themselves.

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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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The release of their second album, Ode & Ballade, released in 2024 has sent them touring the globe once again across North America and Scandinavia, selling out venues and making new friends and fans wherever they go. This acclaimed album comprises stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, and groovy dance tunes. CBC Music, Robert Rowat gave this advice: “If you’re lucky enough to have a cottage to escape to when the warm weather hits, take this album with you.” And Leslie Barcza wrote: “I think it speaks for itself, the musicianship, the powerful invocation of times gone by. The whole CD is magical like that, sometimes in Swedish sometimes French, sometimes English.”

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Since its formation in 2005, Kongero has toured the world (Europe, North America, and Asia) and released five studio albums. Their music has been sampled, appeared in movie productions, and recorded on a Naxos gold compilation album. In 2021, bandleader Emma Björling was named a “folk Hero” with the Swedish Folk Music Awards.

Kongero are also highly sought-after for their skillful workshops and outreach activities encompassing traditional Swedish vocal music and vocal harmonies. They’ve also released two song books with some of their most appreciated workshop material.

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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).

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