UPCOMING EVENTS:


Oct 26 Sun

Bound for Glory live radio show, Cornell Univ, Ithaca NY 8:30-11pm, also on WVBR.





Alizé is a trio based in Ithaca, New York, whose focus is the traditional music of Brittany (the Celtic region of France) and Central France. They have just released their first CD, Le Canard perdu.


Alizé’s members are:

  1. BulletGordon Bonnet on flutes, recorder, percussion and vocals

  2. BulletLaurie Hart on fiddle, French hurdy gurdy (vielle à roue) and Swedish keyed fiddle (nyckelharpa)

  3. BulletJulia Lapp on guitar, percussion and vocals 


From driving dance tunes and sweet Breton airs, to songs in French poignant or humorous, Alizé brings the centuries-old traditions of France to life, occasionally tossing an Irish reel or Spanish waltz into the mix.  Alizé is available to play concerts, for French or couple dancing, and to lead music and dance workshops.



WORKSHOPS:

As a trio:

  1. BulletTunes from Brittany and How to Arrange Them

  2. BulletTunes from Central France

  3. BulletEasy Breton Dances


Gordon can also lead:

  1. BulletBalkan Rhythms, beginning and intermediate


Laurie can also lead:

  1. BulletFiddle workshops in many different styles and all levels

  2. BulletSizzling Minor Tunes

  3. BulletMaking the Transition from Classical Violin to fiddle

  4. BulletDemonstration of French Hurdy Gurdy and Scandinavian Understring Instruments


Julia can also lead:

  1. BulletIntro to DADGAD Guitar

  2. BulletGuitar Rhythms for Accompaniment styles



Band Biographies:


 

Gordon Bonnet is a wind player and singer from Trumansburg, New York.  Born in Louisiana of French and Acadian heritage, he has played concert flute for thirty years, and received classical training in Seattle, Washington.  He has always had an interest in diverse styles of folk music, and was part of the Celtic quartet Tarradiddle from 1983 to 1992.  He was the flutist and lead vocalist on Tarradiddle's 1989 recording By Roses Circled Round, and performed with that group at the Seattle Folklife Festival five years in a row.  In addition, he has given private instruction in classical flute and Celtic penny-whistle.  Since moving to New York, he has expanded his repertoire into Balkan and French music, and has incorporated the recorder, Irish (wooden) flute, and penny-whistle into his performances.  He has performed locally as part of the quartet Shepherd's Pie, playing songs and tunes from the Celtic lands and Eastern Europe.  His latest project is learning the bagpipes!



Julia Lapp started playing violin in Corning NY as a child.  Since then she’s had a variety of musical incarnations. In Fairbanks, Alaska, she played fiddle with the contra dance band Celtic Confusion, and travelled the state with a Cajun band called Rouxbaboo.  In Portland, Oregon, she focussed her attention on her first love, guitar, and played electric guitar and bass with the all-female rock band June Cleavage, as well as Euro-folk with the Selkies.  While in Portland she discovered the music of Brittany, and on returning to Ithaca was thrilled to find musical soul-mates in Gordon and Laurie.  Her latest project is learning the accordion!



Laurie Hart specializes in Celtic, Québécois, Scandinavian, French and American dance music, and she also plays Swedish nyckelharpa and Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. She has performed since 1986 at contradances, concerts, festivals and dance weekends across the U.S. and Canada. Her fourth and latest recording is Cobbler's Dream / Le Rève du cordonnier, with Québec guitarist Paul Marchand.  Laurie collected tunes in Québec in the 1990s, and wrote a book about the fiddle and accordion tradition, Danse ce soir!, published by Mel Bay.  She was the recipient of a 2002 Fulbright Award to study the music and dance of Norway and Sweden, and wrote extensively about Norwegian music for Fiddler Magazine.  Laurie attended Eastman School of Music as a violin major, and began teaching fiddle in 1990. She is now in demand as a fiddle teacher for children and adults, and has taught at Ashokan Northern Week and at Suzuki institutes around the Northeast.  Her latest project is learning the French hurdy gurdy!


Laurie Hart’s site

 

Click the triangles below the photos to hear audio excerpts from Alizé’s new CD.  Enjoy!!

Workshop descriptions for Alizé at Folk College 2007:


Easy Breton Tunes -- In this workshop, we'll learn some simple tunes from Brittany, the northwesternmost corner of France.  We'll look at how to play the tunes authentically using "tiling," the Breton form of call-and-response playing.  All instruments are welcome.  Handouts will be provided, and sheet music will be available for all the tunes we work on.

Balkan Tunes -- In this workshop we'll work on some unique and beautiful tunes from Bulgaria and Macedonia.  You'll learn how to count asymmetrical rhythms, beginning with 7/8 and 11/8, and (time allowing) will tackle one in a combination rhythm (22/16 or 25/16).  Don't let the numbers scare you, though -- it's easier than it sounds!  All instruments are welcome.  Handouts will be provided, and sheet music will be available for all the tunes we work on.

Easy Scandinavian Tunes: all melody instruments, advanced beginner.  We'll learn a dance tune or two from Sweden by ear, and talk a little about instrumentation, rhythm and harmonizing in the Scandinavian gammaldans tradition (waltz, hambo, schottish, polka).  

French Canadian Tunes: all melody instruments, intermediate.  We'll learn a tune or two from Québec by ear, and talk about ornamentation and the bouncy, syncopated style.  According to the interests of the group, we can learn 32-bar reels or jigs you can use for contra dances, or Québec's quirky "crooked" tunes, which have unusual phrase lengths.

Classical Violinists become Folk Fiddlers: for violinists and other classical musicians.  This is a transformation Laurie went through in the 1980s.  Her hands-on presentation will cover which elements of classical training to keep, which elements to get beyond, what to develop instead, and what there is to gain from entry into the fiddling world.

Try a Nyckelharpa:  open to all.  Laurie will bring along 2 or 3 nyckelharpas, give a short demo and lesson, and then let everyone make some noise!  Nyckelharpa is a bowed string instrument indigenous to Sweden, about the size of a guitar and held across the lap.  The left hand fingers change the pitch by pressing wooden keys.


Event organizers and sound technicians click here for Alizé’s technical requirements.




For bookings:

Branle de chevaux

Joli mois de mai (song)

Gavottes des montagnes

Suite Plinn

Mari-Louiz (song)

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