Sunday December 6th, 2009: Urban Mermaid & Beneath the Ice - Two groups, many traditions

$20/18/10 with valid student ID

URBAN MERMAID, a quartet of singers and players devoted to playing songs from several world traditions (Gaelic, Turkish, Albanian, Georgian, French and English) with a special fondness for the traditional and contemporary musics of their home country, Canada.

October Browne plays guitar, mandolin, cittern, bodhran and fiddle. She has 3 CDs of her own and is in the process of recording the fourth. She also appears on compilations with artists ranging from George Michael to Bruce Cockburn. A former member of bands Morgaine Le Fay (with Jamie Snider, Pat O'Gorman and Andy Stochansky), and LOKA (with Loretto Reid, Anne Lederman and Kelly Hood), she was also Musical Director, guitarist and lead singer for the international touring show The Magic of Ireland for 4 years. In 2006 her composition Waterford girls was chosen as the first track on the Borealis Records release Six strings North of the Border. This year she was given a CIUT radio Lenny Breau Porcupine Award for Quetzel, her most recent CD of guitar instrumentals.

Anne Lederman is a fiddler, singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Manitoba. She is strongly rooted in several musical traditions - Celtic, Métis and French-Canadian, Klezmer and Balkan and has recently been exploring African violin traditions. A former member of bands Muddy York, The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Siykha, and LOKA, she has also worked with such artists as Harry Hibbs, Don Freed, Holly Cole, Theresa Tova and Garnet Rogers, among others. Currently, she performs with her own group Fiddlesong, Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalimba, HAWP, and her new fiddle trio Eh?!. She has appeared on over 40 recordings and has released four CDs of her own: Not a Mark in This World, 7 Cats, Come From Every Way and Fiddlesong. Anne also composes for theatre, most recently, Roseneath Theatre's Spirit Horse. Her own play, Spirit of the Narrows, about Métis fiddlers' tradition, was featured at the Blyth Theatre Festival in 2004 and 2005.

Brenna MacCrimmon has gained international recognition as a singer and interpreter of Turkish folk music. Based in Istanbul for 5 years she toured throughout Turkey performing traditional and experimental music. Now back in Canada she continues to tour throughout North America and Europe. She has recorded with numerous artistis including Rom clarinetist Selim Sesler & alt Turk-psyche-folk rockers Baba Zula. She also shared the screen with these musicians in Fatih Akin's documentary of the Istanbul music scene, Crossing the Bridge. Her first CD with Selim Sesler, Karsilama, was nominated for a Juno award in 1998. Her recently released album Kulak Misafiri, is receiving critical acclaim at home and abroad.

Laurel MacDonald is a singer and composer originally from Nova Scotia. She has released three CDs and performed across North America, touring with her own ensemble as well as with Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond, fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, songwriter Mary Knickle, and the Toronto-based band 3 Our Tour. She is currently a member of the Toronto vocal ensemble Darbazi, dedicated to the performance of music from the Republic of Georgia, and she recently also performed with countertenor Daniel Taylor in the Toronto dance production Breaking Ground. Laurel's compositions have appeared in film, television and dance productions throughout the world, and in 2003 she received a Gemini Award for her work on the score for the film The Year of the Lion. In 2007 she created choral arrangements and acted as project coordinator for qui, a 29-voice, multi-lingual sound installation for the Royal Ontario Museum. She is also an emerging video artist, exhibiting at Luminato in 2009, and presenting VideoVoce, a solo performance project integrating her live vocals with signal processing and video projections, at the Summerworks Theatre Festival in 2009.

BENEATH THE ICE, a new Toronto based folk trio formed in April 2009, is pushing the boundaries of traditional music through their exciting and time-bending arrangements of both traditional and original tunes.

Katie Avery (fiddle) is studying music at the University of Toronto. In addition to her classical music endeavors, Katie also frequents the folk scene and plays with her family band “Relative Harmony”.

Emilyn Stam (piano, fiddle) is an accomplished composer, teacher, and performer originally from Smithers, BC. A former protégée of the renowned Canadian fiddler, Oliver Schroer, Emilyn has recently moved to Toronto and is making herself known in the folk scene as a brilliant collaborator and accompanist.

Helena Frecker (guitar, bouzouki) is a medical resident at the University of Toronto. When she's not in the hospital, Helena is usually playing music in various forms with any free moment she has.

Adrian Rigopulos (upright bass) is studying bass performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music. A little known fact is that he is also a closet Morris dancer!

For this concert only we are offering a half price ticket to all with valid student ID cards - only $10.