Wow!
Hello everyone! Time flies when you're busy! It has been a while for me
since I last wrote an update, but now that I have a brief moment, I can
tell you what has been happening the last two months.
After a
busy Easter season, it stayed busy for me with three choir concerts,
many church services, celebrating Norway's national holiday May 17th,
playing an occasional wedding here and there on the
island of Osterøy in Norway, and writing out notation, chord charts and
string parts for Calvin Vollrath's 20th album release weekend in
Morinville, Alberta, Canada from May 24th to 26th! Then it was on the
plane back to Canada to play this special weekend with Calvin, two
different bands (a dance band called Country Swing for Friday night and a
stage band for the Saturday night release party with Les Vincent,
Clinton Pelletier, Patti Lamoureux, Mark Sullivan, Daniel Gervais, and
Jeremy Rusu). What a treat to play for an historic occasion for Alberta
and Canadian music. I know Calvin has been posting clips of his Saturday
night show on Facebook, so if you get a chance, check them out. He is
one terrific fiddler and a gifted composer of fiddle tunes. You will not
be disappointed! And if I do say so, the band did a great job last
Saturday night as well!
If that was not enough, Calvin had a
chance to bring in one of Canada's most recognized names in fiddle music
today; Natalie MacMaster! She came from Eastern Canada with her piano
accompanist Mac Morin, drafted Mark Sullivan to come play rhythm guitar
for her, and had many people listen and dance to her music throughout
the weekend. I ended up getting some dancing in on the Friday night with
Natalie fiddling up a storm, and I must say she has a fine beat! And Mac Morin is one fabulous step dancer as well! In
short, fun times were had by all!
Now that I'm back in Norway,
my next public concert is with the two adult choirs I'm conducting on
Sunday, June 16th at Haus Lutheran Church on the island of Osterøy.
Bergen's Bjørgvin blandakor (mixed choir) and the Unneland Community
Choir (Unnelandskoret) will sing at 7:30 P.M. Central European Daylight
Time that evening. Tickets are available from the Osterøy Lutheran
Church Office in Lonevåg or by calling +47-56 19 22 80 during normal
business hours Monday to Friday. I will also appear as a soloist for the
opening of an art gallery exhibit on Sunday, August 4th at Hosanger
Lutheran Church. I then return to Canada for one month Monday August 5th
of performances, a recording session and fiddle contests as a house
accompanist. More details will be coming in the weeks ahead.
Until next time, keep looking in the events section for updated shows
and appearances in the coming weeks and months. Until next time, see you
down the musical trail!
Musically yours, Trent
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