Special Events - Concerts and Workshops

All events at Debbie and Gary’s house, 138 Chimo Dr, Kanata

We ask that only those fully vaccinated (3 doses minimum) attend. All attendees must wear a mask at all times. There will be breaks, but no communal drinks and snacks table. Please bring your own beverage/snack. 

Attendance at each event will be limited to provide proper spacing.

House Concerts and Workshops: $25 donation per person. Payment in advance by e-transfer to Debbie or Gary is very much appreciated. The musicians receive 100% of the funds.

Reserve your house concert and workshop spots by contacting Debbie at watsonworks@rogers.com or Gary at gary.palmer@unb.ca

House Concerts

Fiddle Workshops

Workshops are subject to change based on registrations. 

Private Lessons 

By  appointment directly with Dara or Adam.

Dara: darathefiddler@gmail.com

Adam: through his Facebook page facebook.com/AdamYoungPiano

Dara Smith-MacDonald

Dara has been playing the fiddle for over 20 years with a style that is strong, lively and traditional. Dara has played for concerts, ceilidhs, and dances throughout Cape Breton, mainland Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and the United States. She has performed for the Antigonish Highland Games, the Acoustic Roots Festival, KitchenFest and Celtic Colours. For the past 15 years, she has been teaching fiddle to students at St. Ann’s Gaelic College, as well as to many students in her home and around the world via Skype. Dara is a musical director and a board member of the Cape Breton Fiddlers Association. She has recorded two albums with Adam Young as well as a solo album. And she appears as a guest artist on several other albums. I hear there might be another album with Adam in the works! Stay tuned. More info about Dara and Adam here: https://thelakesessions.com/

Adam Young

For the past two decades, Adam Young has been bringing his particular style of Cape Breton piano accompaniment to audiences around the world. Deeply rooted within the fiddle and bagpipe music tradition of the Island’s Scottish settlers, the Cape Breton piano style has evolved over the past century, while still maintaining that unique “Cape Breton” sound. He still plays regularly at concerts, ceilidhs, square dances and sessions throughout Cape Breton, and has showcased his talents across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, while touring with the likes of Colin Grant, Còig, Dara Smith-MacDonald, Anita MacDonald, and Jennifer Roland. Adam can be heard on recordings with Dara Smith-MacDonald and Colin Grant, Cape Breton Lyrics & Laughter, Eric Angus Whyte, Jason MacDonald, Marilyn MacDonald-MacKinnon, and the Scottish/Austrian fiddle and bagpipe duo Jamie MacDonald and Christian Gamauf. For his new album, Yearbook, each tune was recorded in both a “modern” style and a “traditional” style for the double album project. Musicians from five countries on three continents were involved in this landmark project.