Bengal's Corner

Get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey as Vermont celebrates Champlain in 2009.
2009 will mark the 400th anniversary of when French explorer Samuel de Champlain traveled by canoe up the Richelieu River and came upon a lake spanning 120 miles in length and 12 miles in width. The lake, called “Bitawbagok” by its early Abenaki inhabitants, was renamed by Samuel de Champlain when he visited the region in July 1609. Vermont will commemorate this historic event in 2009 with festivals, pageants, exhibits, performances and much more.

Bonjour à tous,

Ça semble tranquille à la SPDTQ ces jours-ci? C'est pour mieux vous préparer
les surprises et festival de l'été! Vous pouvez dès maintenant avoir un
apperçu du festival la Grande Rencontre au parc Lafontaine en visitant le
site internet: granderencontre. com.

*Fête Nationale*: cette année, nous serons à 3 endroits pour fêter la fête
des québécois! Le 23 juin, ça se passe au parc Lafontaine, à partir de
16h00; le 24 juin au parc Athéna à partir de 16h00 *et* en après-midi du 24
juin avec une participation de la SPDTQ dans la *parade officielle de la
fête Nationale*. Pour cette occasion, nous voulons monter un groupe d'au
moins 20 musiciens et musiciennes qui suivra le char de la SPDTQ en musique!
Nous prévoyons organiser des pratiques de musique les vendredi soir dans
notre local "par la porte d'en arrière". Un répertoire de quelques pièces
assez standart sera proposé bientôt. Préparez vos violons, accordéons,
percussions et flûte...la fanfare Trad s'en vient! Vous pouvez dès
maintenant me contacter pour en faire partie (Carmen).

Ce *vendredi trad* sera en musique et en gigue: atelier de musique de 19h00
à 20h30 et pratique de gigue ensuite. Eh! *les gigueurs et gigueuses* soyez
présents!

Atelier de violon avec *Lisa Ornstein*, le 21 juin, deux niveaux:
intermédiaire et avancé, répertoire de Louis Boudreault, la famille Verret
et la famille Corrigan, organisé par la SPDTQ, au 911 Jean-Talon Est. Info
et inscription auprès de Carmen ou Louise. Coût à venir selon le nombre
d'inscription.

Aussi, en juin, il y aura l'*assemblée générale des membres* de la SPDTQ et
une première rencontre des *bénévoles* de la Grande Rencontre *et* les 27,
28 et 29 juin: *Festival* *commémoratif* *hommage au patenteux Sinaï Boulay
et au violoneux William Tremblay* à Grosse-Roche en Gaspésie avec des
artistes issus de la Gaspésie: Sabin Jacques, Rachel Aucoin, André Bouchard,
Kattialine Painchaud, Jocelyn Bérubé, Yvon Mimeault, Genticorum et Gilles
Pitre au call, *organisé par la SPDTQ*! ouf! Il est possible de s'inscrire
comme bénévole pour cette activité aussi.

Bon printemps,

L'équipe de la SPDTQ
SPDTQ 911, rue Jean-Talon Est local 010 Montréal QC H2R 1V5 (514)273-0880

Hello, everyone!

Genticorum just launched their new album, La Bibournoise, and they will be performing the new tunes this May 14th, at the Lion D'Or. Don't miss it - it will be a nice evening with great music! Believe me... this is one of my favorite bands... ;)

Bengal.

Bonjour!

Québécois traditional fiddler, Claude Méthé, will tour New England:

5/17 Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT
7/19-26 Pinewoods Music Camp, Plymouth, MA
8/31 New World Festival, Randolph, VT

Benoit Pelletier Shoja

Chers Amis,

Please find below a list of Boston events you may wish to attend in May, and don't hesitate to contact me by replying to this email if you have questions, especially if you wish to attend the *Special Sneak Preview of Up the Yangtze* at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

UPCOMING MAY EVENTS

SPECIAL Free EVENT, May 19th at 7pm

Sneak Preview of UP THE YANGTZE at the MFA, with director Yung Chang in attendance. Presented at 7 pm, with Q&A session with the director following the screening. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Remis Auditorium.

In the biggest engineering endeavor since the Great Wall and the Grand Canal, the Three Gorges Dam project will be the largest hydroelectric power station in the world when complete. At the river's edge, Yu Shui says goodbye to her family and turns to face the future. From their small patch of land, her parents watch the young woman walk away, her belongings clutched in a plastic shopping bag. The gargantuan and hotly contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle provides the epic and unsettling backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic and disquieting feature documentary on life inside the twenty-first-century Chinese dream. Drawing inspiration from contemporary Asian cinema and post-war neo-realism, Chang crafts a
compassionate account of peasant life and a powerful documentary narrative of contemporary China.

Presented by the MFA in collaboration with the Québec Government Office and SODEC.
This is a limited seating, by invitation only, free event.
If you wish to attend please contact Catheline van den Branden ASAP: catheline.vandenbranden@mri.gouv.qc.ca

*******

*LECTURE, May 7th at 6:30 pm*

McGill Professor Karl Moore presents:
Post-Modern Leadership: How to Win in Today's Workplace

Presented by the McGill Alumni Association and the Consulate General of Canada.
Followed by a reception.

Karl Moore, recently identified as one of the world's great business thinkers, is among Canada's most quoted management experts and is a sought-after consultant by major corporations like Nokia, Shell, IBM and British Airways. In his current research on global leaders he has interviewed hundreds of CEOs and young business wannabes. Find out what he
has learned about how to lead effectively in today's organizations.

Cost: $20 USD (includes light refreshments), Cash bar.
Reserve your seat today! RSVP: Katie Price at event.registration@mcgill.ca or call(514) 398-7684 or
1-800-567-5175 x 7684


*******

LECTURE, May 8th at 6pm

David Hackett Fischer presents:
Champlain's Dream

Presented in the Abbey Room of the Boston Public Library.
David Hackett Fischer, from the Department of History at Brandeis University will speak in conjunction with the Library's exhibit:
Champlain's America: New England and New France, now running through May 31st.

Fore more information please visit: http://www.bpl.org


*****

LECTURE, May 14th at 6pm

Doctor Claire Quintal presents:
The Story of New England's Franco-Americans, at the French Library.

Presented in the Ballroom. Reception will follow.

In celebration of the city of Quebec's 400th anniversary (1608-2008), the FAB is pleased to welcome Dr. Claire Quintal , for a talk on New England's Franco-American story.

Dr. Quintal looks at why Canadians, both Quebecers and Acadians, immigrated to New England in such large numbers from the mid-nineteenth century onward and analyzes their integration in close to 200 cities throughout the region. She recounts how Franco-Americans struggled to remain true to the ideology of survivance and formed tightly knit communities, often called Little Canadas. Together, their language, traditions, religion, writings, and songs formed a subculture unique to New England. These cultural elements of the Franco-American identity help explain why they emigrated, how they made their homes in mill cities and towns, and the legacy they left behind.

Lecture in French and English: Members: Free / Non-members: $5. Seats are limited.
RSVP recommended. Please call: 617.912.0400

*****

FILMS, May 28-31st

THE MFA PRESENTS:
ALANIS OBOMSAWIN'S FILMS
"FIRST NATIONS ON FILM" SERIES
Please visit http://www.mfa.org for tickets


May 28th at 8 pm
Our Nationhood

Aboriginal filmmaker and artist Alanis Obomsawin chronicles the determination and tenacity of the Listuguj Micmac people to use and manage the natural resources of their traditional lands. Our Nationhood provides a contemporary perspective on the natives' ongoing struggle and ultimate success, culminating in the community receiving an award for Best Managed
River from the same government that denied their traditional rights.

MFA members, seniors, and students $8; general admission $9.

May 29th at 3:45 pm
Incident at Restigouche

A historical perspective on the raids of the Restigouche Reserve in June 11 and 20, 1981. Focusing on issue of salmon-fishing rights of the Micmac people and the Quebec Government's decision to restrict salmon fishing, the powerful film puts justice on trial. Spudwrench—Kahnawake Man (1997, 58 min.). Meet Randy Horne, high-steel worker from the Mohawk community of
Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis. Both a portrait of Horne and the generations of daring Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him, the film offers a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defense of sacred territory.

MFA members, seniors, and students $6; general admission $7

May 30th at 3pm
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance

On a hot July day in 1990, a historic confrontation propelled issues in Kanehsatake and the village of Oka, Quebec, into the international spotlight and the Canadian collective conscience. Director Obomsawin endured seventy-eight nerve-wracking days and nights filming the armed stand-off between the Mohawks, the Québec police, and the Canadian army. The result is
a portrait of the people behind the barricades, providing insight into the Mohawks' unyielding determination to protect their land.

MFA members, seniors, and students $6; general admission $7.

May 31st at 10:30 am
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises

Yvonne M'Sadoques rocks forward in her chair. She's lived in the Abenaki community of Odanak for more than a century, and has no shortage of stories to tell. Obomsawin's illustrious career comes full circle; having dedicated nearly four decades to chronicling the lives of Canada's First Nations, she returns to the village where she was raised to craft a lyric account of her
own people.

MFA members, seniors, and students $6; general admission $7

May 31st at 12:30 pm
Gene Boy Came Home

The harrowing and deeply moving story of Eugene "Gene Boy" (pronounced Genie Boy) Benedict, his two years of service in Vietnam, and his long journey home to Odanak. At a critical point in our history, celebrated filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin turns her camera on the ugliness of war through the eyes of one survivor. Her new documentary will resonate with all those who have been touched by war, and with anyone who has had to travel the painful path of healing that eventually leads home. Panel discussion with director follows screening. Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him, the film offers a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defense of sacred territory.

MFA members, seniors, and students $6; general admission $7

*******

If you've enjoyed this selection but wish to see more, please suscribe to our official newsletter, with all Québec-pertinent news and events at: www.quebec-boston.org

******


Best wishes,


Catheline H. van den Branden


Attachée aux affaires publiques, culturelles
Public & Cultural Affairs Attaché
Québec Government Office
One Boston Place, Ste 1920
201 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02108
tel: (617) 482-1193
fax: (617) 482-1195
email: catheline.vandenbranden@mri.gouv.qc.ca

Bonjour!

Check this event this Saturday... Kelli Trottier, from Kingston, ON, plays both
Celtic and French-Canadian folk music. She was a fiddler in Bowfire. She performs at the Barre Opera House, Barre, VT, on Sat., May 3, 2008.

Benoit Pelletier Shoja

Bonjour!

Quebecois traditional musician and dancer, Benoit Bourque, will perform at the Great New Bedford Summerfest (7/4-6), in the historic district of New Bedford, MA. Last Summerfest, he performed with Franco-American fiddler, Don Roy and his wife. Check out Bourque's next performances in USA:

5/18 Book Fair (Philadelphia, PA)
6/20 St. Albans, VT
7/4-6 Summerfest (New Bedford, MA)

Benoit Pelletier Shoja

Hello, all!

One of my favorite female voices in Quebecois Music nowadays will be performing in New England. Michèle Choinière' solo debut, Coeur Fragile, was well received and has attracted a lot of attention to the richness and creativity of her compositions.
Check her future performances:

6/20 Taylor Park, St.Albans, VT with Benoit Bourque
6/21 Franco-American Center, Manchester, NH
7/12 Vergennes, VT

Bengal.

Friday, May 2, 7:30 pm

From the shores of Nova Scotia, the seven musicians and step dancers comprising Grand Dérangement fuse Cajun and Irish rhythms with traditional Acadian music, rock and jazz to create their own unique sound. Named after the French phrase for the Acadian expulsion, Grand Dérangement also refers to the absolute frenzy this band can drive an audience to with its energetic and infectious music.

Chandler Box Office: 802-728-6464

Bonjour,

The Quebecois maritime traditional music group, Serre l'Écoute, will perform at the Kislak Center on Lake Como, PA for a music camp of the Folk Music Society of New York on 23-26 May 2008. They performed at the Mystic Sea Music Festival (Mystic, CT) last year. They are the only music group in the province of Quebec that specializes in maritime music. With visas in hand, they could perform at other gigs enroute to & from Lake Como, PA.

Benoit Pelletier Shoja

Bonjour!

Quebec traditional music group, Genticorum tours New England this summer.

5/23-25 Folk College @ Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA
7/15 Middlebury Festival on the Green, Middlebury, VT
8/01-03 Champlain Valley Folk Festival @ Ferrisburgh, VT
8/08-10 Festival La Grande Rencontre @ Montreal, QC
8/15-17 Ottawa Folk Festival @ Ottawa, ON
8/22-24 American Folk Festival @ Bangor, ME

Benoit Pelletier Shoja


P.S.: And they just launched a brand new, great as always, album! Check it out... Bengal.

Chers abonnés,

Voici la publicité pour le Concert-Bal du Mai de Mémoire et Racines le 16 mai prochain au Centre Bosco de St-Charles-Borromée. Vous êtes invités à participer en grand nombre à cet événement unique.


Gilles Pitre
Directeur

SOIRÉE HOMMAGE AUX CHANTEURS ET MUSICIENS DE SAINT-CÔME
Le vendredi 16 mai à 20 h au Centre Bosco

Mémoire et Racines est heureux d'annoncer la présentation d'un spectacle unique de musique et chansons traditionnelles. Dans le cadre son événement annuel du Bal du Mai, Mémoire et Racines a invité des chanteurs et musiciens de Saint-Côme pour présenter un spectacle traditionnel unique au Centre Bosco de Saint-Charles-Borromée à compter de 20 h le 16 mai prochain.

Plus de 30 musiciens et chanteurs sur scène
Pour cette soirée sans pareil, pas moins de 30 chanteurs et musiciens se succèderont sur la scène du Centre Bosco. Vous pourrez y entendre entre autres, La Giroflée, le groupe Légende (reconstitué pour l'occasion), Gaston Lepage, Serge Thériault et Martin Bordeleau d'Hommage aux Aînés, Jacques Larochelle, Roland Aumont, Valmont Coutu, Rogatien Venne, Simon et Éric Beaudry (Vent du Nord et Bottine Souriante), Audray Bordeleau et de nombreux autres. Le tout culminant en fin de soirée par un immense party de chansons à répondre avec tous les artistes sur scène.

Saint-Côme - Capitale québécoise de la chanson traditionnelle
C'est à cette occasion que Lanaudière : Mémoire et Racines attribuera le titre de Capitale québécoise de la chanson traditionnelle à la municipalité de Saint-Côme. Une délégation du conseil municipal de Saint-Côme ainsi que des aînés du village viendront sur place afin de recevoir cet honneur au nom de leurs concitoyens.

Comme plusieurs le savent déjà, cette petite municipalité de la Matawinie regorge d'un nombre impressionnant de chanteurs et chanteuses traditionnels. Cette concentration et la transmission orale de génération en génération qui en résulte est unique au Québec. Sans nécessairement faire une carrière professionnelle plusieurs de ces porteurs de tradition ont influencé et transmis leur répertoire à de nombreux artistes de St-Côme ou d'ailleurs, que l'on pense aux Frères Simon et Éric Beaudry, Yves Lambert, Hommage aux Aînés, Danielle Martineau ou La Bottine Souriante pour n'en nommer que quelques-uns.

Soirée au bénéfice du Festival Mémoire et Racines 2008
Cette soirée est une initiative de Lanaudière : Mémoire et Racines qui tient à chaque année le Concert–Bal du Mai. Il s'agit d'une soirée au bénéfice de la 14e édition du Festival Mémoire et Racines et tous les profits iront à cette cause. Le Festival 2008 se tiendra du 23 au 27 juillet prochain.

Une soirée unique, avec des chanteurs traditionnels hors-pairs !

Date : Vendredi 16 mai 2008 à 20 h
Salle : Centre St-Jean-Bosco, 249, Chemin du Golf, St-Charles-Borromée (Joliette)
Billets : 18 $ / régulier, 15 $ / membres de Mémoire et Racines, 60 ans et +, étudiants. Moitié prix pour les 13 à 18 ans et gratuit pour les 12 ans et moins.
Où acheter les billets :
À la Librairie René-Martin, 598, St-Viateur, Joliette,
Au bureau de LMR, 200, rue de Salaberry, Joliette
Au bureau d'information touristique de St-Côme (405-883-2730)
Infos : (450) 752-6798 ou 1 888 810-6798

Hello, everyone,

Keep your eyes opened for Pete du Pon is on tour with Amy MacDonald.

Pete du Pon’s talent for songwriting has reached the ears of soulful songstress, Amy Macdonald. Pete, a songwriter of true conviction, whose current EP, Lost, is top ten in the Amazon singles chart, will open for Amy at six gigs around Britain during May.

“I’m thrilled to be touring with Amy and supporting her at some of her UK gigs,” says the 27-year-old from Guildford. “Like her, I was, and still am, massively influenced by the music I heard when growing up.

“I spent hours listening to singer songwriters like James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Tracy Chapman, as well as bands like Counting Crows, Radiohead and Del Amitri. I can’t wait for this tour to start!”

Pete’s wistfully lyrical songs drive a stake through the heart of other artists’ less meaningful numbers, touching listeners with a depth of understanding lacking in many of today’s lighter pop tunes. A moody collection of acoustic folk numbers such as Lost, Tell Her and A Long Way Home amongst others reveal raw emotion rarely heard nowadays.

Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai’s former bassist currently on the road as bass maestro to Mark Ronson, has co-written songs with Pete, including Someone Like You which features in a new American film about basketball, called Ball Don’t Lie, starring rapper Ludacris and Rosanne Arquette.

“Pete’s voice is timeless,” says Stuart. “Many artists today are technically brilliant but haven’t lived life enough to achieve his depth of feeling. He sings with real conviction and a lot of artists fail to achieve this.”

A poignant session at Abbey Road studios confirmed this. Sitting where Lennon and McCartney produced one sublime record after another, Pete gave WorldSpace digital satellite radio network a run for their money with an impeccable performance of half a dozen numbers, including numbers from his debut EP, Lost, as well as a cover version of Greenday’s hit Basket Case which has received rave reviews in the States. The recordings have been beamed worldwide to thousands of listeners - an impressive debut for any troubadour today.

“At first I was ok. I really didn’t have time to think about the history of the place as I had a specific time slot in which to play my songs, be interviewed and more or less leave the building,” he remembers.

“Then I was told the broadcast would go out to more than 130 countries which made me gulp slightly. I realised what an awesome experience it was – sitting where Lennon and McCartney had recorded. I’d been pretty calm up until then!”

Pete has also worked with Rollo of Faithless and his writers, and has co-written songs with Jamiroquai guitarist, Si Katz. His other fans include Brian McFadden and various writers such as Julian Gallagher (U2, James Morrison) and Blair Mackichan (Lilly Allen, Will Young) while Paolo Nutini had more than a word or two of encouragement for him at one of his recent gigs at London’s The Water Rats.

Pete takes it all in his stride. He remembers the early days playing the standard Oasis covers in French bars for drunken English tourists during a year out for his Bristol university degree.

“I got paid 30 euros and as much beer as I could drink,” he recalls ruefully. “The theory was that if an English guy was playing, other English guys would turn up and drink all the beer. I did Radiohead covers before being drawn into playing crowd pleasers like Oasis’s Wonderwall. It was safer than being honest and playing your own stuff, but it got a bit tedious after a while.”

The Von Trapp family

Born in Canada to an English mother and a Dutch father his family settled in Guildford when Pete was only one year old.

“I have three sisters, one of which is a twin, and we were all musical. My sisters played piano and sang, Dad would play guitar and piano and sing, and at people’s houses we were often semi-pressurised to perform - we were known as the Von Trapp family.

“There was always music in every room in the house. I played the piano at six, and at nine picked up the saxophone as I was a big fan of Ray Charles but could only manage the theme tune from Agatha Christie’s Poirot.”

He started the guitar at 13 with his dad before an inspiring teacher “who stank of tobacco and would often drift off in lessons” took over, teaching him more traditional flamenco. “One day I bravely asked for something contemporary. The first song I learned was House of Rising Sun. Stairway to Heaven followed a month later and the list grew before I began to teach myself.”

Pete wrote his own first songs at 15, performing them in the quietness of his bedroom. Not until his first gig in France aged 21, playing to a mixture of pensive locals and British tourists, did they get an airing.

“I was offered a job as barman, turned it down and said I’d like to be their resident guitarist and was worryingly offered the slot without an audition! Before the first gig the bar owner assured us we’d have all the equipment we needed, which actually turned out to be one amp and half a mic stand, for the two of us share!”

“Using a combination of a broom handle and masking tape to hold the mic in place we played on as if we’d be doing it for years and we loved it although it probably sounded awful.”

From performing three nights a week with a friend in various bars in the centre of Grenoble, France, gigs followed elsewhere in the country, including Meribel where the different crowds would demand more covers – “up tempo stuff that the drinkers could sway to”. After seven months of feeling like a glorified karaoke machine, the then 22-year-old Pete returned to Britain to finish his degree and take on a variety of jobs to finance time spent writing his own songs.

After a short spell of work experience at Universal Records in the synchronisation team, filing other songwriter’s names, his demo cd was picked up by publisher John Woolf who got him to re - record the rough bedroom versions of Pete’s demos in various studios, as well as writing, recording new songs and hanging out with writers such as Jacob Schulze in Sweden, Arthur Baker and Rollo from Faithless.

“Through Rollo’s own record label under Universal I worked with him and his writers on some material. At first, writing with other people was a bit of a culture shock. Even now I’m still learning to talk about what I’m feeling to other writers, but bit by bit it’s getting easier!”

As Pete continues to make waves he has been touted as the next big thing in 2008 by numerous national papers. His soft voice already conquered me, but judge for yourself... throughout May, Pete opens for Amy Macdonald at the following venues:

Friday 16 May: Leeds University Stylus
Monday 19 May: Norwich UEA
Tuesday 20 May: London Shepherds Bush Empire
Thursday 22 May: Manchester Academy
Friday 23 May: Glasgow Academy
Saturday 24 May: Glasgow Academy

Don't miss it, I'm sure you will enjoy yourself!

Bengal.

Information à faire circuler pour une bonne cause....
... Celle de la musique traditionnelle québécoise sur la scène provinciale, nationale et internationale!

Un évènement à ne pas manquer!!!!!!!!

Violon Trad Quebec

Avec l'équipe:
André Brunet, président
Éric Beaudry, vice-président

Merci Beaucoup!!!


André Brunet

(450) 588-0918
camp@ViolonTradQuebec.com

(click to enlarge)

This is the press release (click to enlarge).




Lyrical(ly) Living History 2.0 will bring De Temps Antan, a French-Canadian folkloric musical trio, and Benoit Bourque, a French-Canadian dancer and musician, to Genesee County for a series of community events. This project, co-organized by Professors Matthew Hilton-Watson and Anjili Babbar, will serve Flint-area residents and students, faculty and staff from several elementary schools within the GISD service area. On Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at 6 P.M., a workshop conducted by Benoit Bourque and a performance by De Temps Antan at the Broome Center in Flint is open to the public.

Benoit Bourque and De Temps Antan’s music is a rich blend of traditional French-Canadian and Acadian songs and original compositions by the artists. Their sets intersperse instrumental folkloric pieces with French-Canadian response songs - all driven by the energetic beat of French-Canadian podorythmie, the foot percussion heard in traditional music from Québec.

In their twenties and thirties, the members of De Temps Antan offer a fresh and vibrant perspective on the music of their ancestors and on the joie de vivre that has come to define the music of their province.

This project is made possible with the assistance of the Ruth Mott Foundation and the GISD. Additional support was provided by the Québec Delegation Chicago, the Hilton-Watson family, the Department of English at The University of Michigan-Flint, and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at The University of Michigan-Flint.

For further information, please call 810.610.4874.
Contact: Matthew Hilton-Watson.

A SURE CURE FOR CABIN FEVER
By John Guay for Bengal's Corner

This wonderful little weekend festival comes near the end of February in the very small town of St-Bernard de Michaudville, Québec, Canada. It has the feel of large house party or family celebration.

By American festival standards there are not a lot of events on the schedule – concerts Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, a jam (both instrumental and song) on Saturday afternoon and a dance on Sunday afternoon. But this is totally offset by the quality and intensity of both the performers and the spectators – indeed often times you can’t tell the difference without a program.

Each year Michel Riopel comes up with a quality line up. This year’s concerts included: Hommage aux Aines, Le Vent du Nord, Les Tireux d’Roches, La famille Lamoureux, L’Attisee, Commeres, Louis-Simon and Daniel Lemieux, and Tu M’en Diras Tant!, among others.

The workshops happened during the day while the concerts started around 7:30 PM and lasted past midnight; and if you stayed for the sessions afterward, it would indeed be a long night! The audience all joined in on the songs and danced in the aisles for the tunes! Friday night’s concerts usually feature the unique music and songs of one of the region’s families. It was within the family setting that traditional music flourished.

My wife and I, amateur musicians who love Quebecois music, had a wonderful time playing with the pros at the Saturday afternoon jam. In between the tune medleys they passed a mic around and someone would lead a song. It was cold outside, and the wind blowing off the St. Lawrence River would rattle the windows, but inside it was great!

We are also dancers – so Sunday’s dance was a must. The music by Louis-Simon and Daniel Lemieux and the caller, Erick Tarte, were first rate. Parents brought their children to learn the Traditional dances and that’s great. There were also a number of dancers over sixty and seventy, but in between, several generations are missing. (This problem for traditional music and dance is much the same in the States.) This is the weakest part of the program – but those who danced were enthusiastic, if not always experienced, and we had a good time!

This was our second festival and we will return next year – reserving seats ahead of time would be good as they sold out the Friday night concert for the first time. If you’ve been to summer festivals, like Old Songs and NEFFA in the States or Memoire et Racines and Le Grande Rencontre in Québec, this festival is quite different. There are no amenities on site or in the town. Meals and lodging are in other adjoining very small villages. MacDonald’s and Holiday Inns are 30 miles away, over wind swept and snow drifted country roads. The festival’s MySpace site does list places to stay.

We don’t speak French, but that has not been a problem. The locals are very helpful, friendly and delighted to share their Traditions.

The simple program, the physical isolation due to winter conditions and the small town setting might seem like negatives but, in my opinion, they contribute to the intensity and quality of this festival, and surely helped shape the traditional Quebecois music and dance that Chantez-Vous Bien Chez Nous and the people of St. Bernardde Michaudville proudly celebrates.



John Guay is part of the Two Bits String Band.

The 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards gala takes place on Saturday, December 1 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Québec (Hull). The event begins at 7:00 pm (local time).

The hosts for the upcoming 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards are CBC’s one-and-only Shelagh Rogers and Québec trad stepdancer-caller-musician Benoit Bourque, a former CFMA winner himself. They’ll be providing gala-goers with an entertaining and bilingual presentation of the night’s events, which includes the awards themselves plus live performances by Ron Hynes, Vishten, Ian Tamblyn, Florent Vollant, Galitcha, Sylvia Tyson, The Duhks and T. Nile. Visit the Gala page for how to reserve your tickets now!

For more information, contact:
Canadian Museum of Civilization => 819-776-7000 / 1-800-555-5621
Ottawa Folklore Centre => 1-800-385-3655

Hello, cats!

This is another local (California) event that can't be missed! For the jazz lovers and anyone else that appreciates good music, Charmaine Clamor will be joined by the finest Filipino jazz artists from all over the world. Dec 7-9 at Catalina Bar & Grill. This is a great way to start the holidays!

For tickets and info: JazzPhil or 323.512.5543

Bengal.