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Singer and multi-instrumentalist Duncan Cameron was born into a family where ancient ballads and storytelling were a natural part of life. His Scottish father Stewart Cameron was a fine traditional singer, and both Duncan and his sister Moira followed his example from an early age. Duncan has contributed his singing, his many instrumental abilities, and his composing and arranging skills to numerous group projects over the years, but he also loves to bring these talents to bear as a solo performer. His open minded vision of music includes elements of narrative and dance; English and French; new and ancient. These strong roots and extended branches are what make his music engaging and fresh.
Laura Risk and Nicholas Williams have been consistently praised for their subtle musicianship, their synergy, and their dynamic approach to traditional Scottish and Québécois music. Their duo concert features traditional songs and tunes, as well as original compositions, played on the fiddle, blackwood flute, accordion, and piano.
Date: Saturday, March 30th 2019, at 8:00pm. (doors open 7:30 pm)
Location: Rosemount Hall, 41 Rosemount Ave. in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighborhood
Tickets: $22 in advance, $25 at the door. HST included.
Laura Risk & Nicholas Williams
Laura Risk & Nicholas Williams
Originally from California, Laura Risk grew up in the thriving San Francisco Scottish fiddle scene, learning her craft from master fiddler Alasdair Fraser. She has toured extensively with groups such as Cordelia's Dad, Triptych, and Greenfire, and is in demand as a teacher of Scottish and Québécois fiddle styles at camps and schools across North America.
"Laura Risk's fiddle is a revelation and achingly beautiful." - Ken Burns, Grammywinning filmmaker
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Williams plays wooden flutes, piano accordion, and piano. Originally from Ottawa, Nicholas studied world music, composition, and improvisation at York University in Toronto. Since then, his passion for the musical traditions of Québec, Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia have led him to perform and teach across North America and the UK as a member of the groups Genticorum, Crowfoot, the Alex Kehler & Nicholas Williams Duo.
Duncan Cameron
Duncan Cameron
At the age of six, Duncan Cameron decided to learn an instrument, but wanted to play something that neither his sister nor his father (who were both multi-instrumentalists) played. More than anything, it was the fiddle in Scottish, Irish and Appalachian music that piqued his interest, so that is what he chose to learn.
When Duncan was ten years old, The Cameron Family moved to Sudbury, Ontario, where they began performing together. He also learned to play many of the instruments his father played including mandolin, dulcimer, concertina, guitar, banjo and harmonica. Duncan attended high school in French, and his interest in French Canadian music grew.
In his early twenties he began playing with various local groups doing traditional music in pubs and festivals. He added tin whistle, bouzouki and bodhrán to his list of instruments.
In 2000 Duncan recorded his first solo album, The Whistling Thief, combining influences from Celtic, funk, latin, and pop music. Its arrangements in particular impressed Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle champion Pierre Schryer who then asked Duncan to join his band. For many years they toured together in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. In 2003 they recorded Blue Drag which was nominated for a Juno Award.
More opportunities with theatre and Irish dance shows allowed Duncan to travel extensively in Europe and North America. In fact it seemed that living in Toronto was no longer necessary for his career. Seeking new experiences, he decided to move to Newfoundland in 2009. Within a year he began playing with one of Canada's most well known Celtic groups, The Irish Descendants.
"Unsurpassed! … He could pick up a stick of wood in the forest and make music." — Lorne Brown, founder of The Ballad Project and editor of The Canadian Folk Music Bulletin
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