"The Dear Companion", Lissa Schneckenburger & Bethany Waickman

"The Dear Companion", performed by Lissa Schneckenburger (www.lissafiddle.com) and Bethany Waickman in concert at the Institute of Musical Traditions (www.imtfolk.org), Rockville, Maryland, USA on October 10, 2012.

Fiddler and singer Lissa Schneckenburger is a winsome, sweet-voiced singer who brings new life to old ballads and a skillful, dynamic fiddler who captures the driving rhythm and carefree joy of dance tunes old and new.

Raised in a small town in Maine and now living in Vermont, Lissa grew up with music. She began playing fiddle at the age of six, inspired by her mother's interest in folk music and a family friend who was a professional violinist. Soon she was studying with influential Maine fiddler Greg Boardman and sitting in with the Maine Country Dance Orchestra. By the time she was in high school she was playing concerts on her own, specializing in the sprightly New England dance tunes that combine influences from the British Isles and Quebec with homegrown twists that have been evolving since Colonial days.

Another of her major influences was the diverse musical community that she found at fiddle camps, where she had a chance to play with and learn from a wide variety of musicians including noted Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. In 2001 she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in contemporary improvisation, and since then has been performing around the US and internationally for a growing audience of enthusiastic listeners. She has recorded eight CDs, (five solo and three with various groups).

Sound: Dave Eisner, Dave Richardson, Jim Ralph

Camera: Dick Tufts, Jim Ralph, Ralph Lillie

Editing: Ralph Lillie

© 2012, Institute of Musical Traditions

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  Music

[tdbsnr]

One old English folkie thinks that is superb.

[Vicky Hill]

Wow that is pretty!!

[Christopher Brooks]

Lovely vocal.