Neil Murray Stage
2011 festival schedule

 

	Sunday		Sunday
10:00	Rosemary and Keith Lawton	1:30	Chelsea Parsons
10:30	Jenna Maloney	2:00	Michael Scheeler Breen
11:00	Ellen Power	2:30	Fiona Shea
11:30	Valerie Hewson	3:00	Russells in the Corner
12:00	Peter Green	3:30	Keely and Katrina Boland
12:30	William Corbett and Sarah Harris	4:00	Matilda Goldie
1:00	Step Fiddlers	4:30	Murphy's Reel

Rosemary and Keith Lawton
Rosemary Lawton is 16 years old and a student at Gonzaga High School. She has been studying violin since she was seven. Her current teacher is Christina Smith. She studies voice with Ronalda Hutton. She is a member of the STEP fiddlers and the Celtic Fiddlers. She has attended the Young Folk at the Hall workshops as well as Vinland Music Camp.

Keith Lawton is 15-years old and will be a student at Gonzaga High School in the Fall. He has been studying guitar with Jean Hewson since he was 7. He is a member of the STEP fiddlers where he accompanies them on guitar. He has attended several Young Folk at the Hall workshops as well as Vinland Music Camp.

Emily Andrews
Emily has performed at school functions, musicals, charity events and family gatherings since she was big enough to hold a microphone. A favorite on Rogers Cable (Newfoundland), Out of the Fog, in January 2008 she was selected to audition for David Foster's Ovation Star Search and at age 14 was chosen as the youngest of 101 contestants throughout Atlantic Canada. She placed 1st in Shamrock City's Open Mic for Young Musicians as well as O'Reilly's Open Mic and appeared at The Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival in 2009 and 2010. In August, 2008 she produced her first demo and in August, 2010 produced her 2nd. Emily is currently in pre-production for a debut CD of original material.

Jenna Maloney
Jenna (8) has been performing since she was 18 months old. She enjoys various genres of music, including NL/Irish, pop, rock, opera, and musical theatre. Jenna played Cosette in "Our Divas Do Christmas on Broadway"2009. She has performed on the Neil Murray Stage at the 2010 NL Folk Festival, participated in the Young Folk at the Hall workshops and concerts, Shamrock City's Open Mic for Young Musicians, and the Kiwanis Music Festival. She has appeared on Rogers Out of the Fog, CBC Radio's On the Go, and Irish Country Music Radio. Jenna is currently taking piano, voice, violin, and guitar lessons, and enjoys playing the mandolin and accordion. She also takes ballet and jazz dance lessons.

Peter Green
Peter Green is a 17 year old from Victoria, CBN. He has been playing guitar and singing for 10 years now. Along the way he has picked up other instruments such as bass, mandolin, banjo and drums. He plays many types of music ranging from rock, to county, to Irish. He currently plays in two bands, Revolution and The Pros and Cons. It's been a few years since he's played on the Neil Murray Stage, but he's very happy to be back.

Hayleigh McGrath
Hayleigh McGrath is a fourteen year old girl from Branch. She started singing at the young age of eight years old. Hayleigh can be heard singing a wide variety of music from Traditional Newfoundland songs to Pop or Country. Hayleigh sings at local community concerts, Young Folk at the Hall, School concerts and is a regular at the Cape St. Mary's Performance Series. She is also a member of the Fatima Academy Accordion Group. Hayleigh attends the Kiwanis Music Festival in Carbonear and has been very successful at this Festival and was asked back to sing at the Grand Concert at the end of the festival in March 2009 and April 2011. Hayleigh is very involved with her school choir.

Valerie Hewson
Valerie has been studying violin since the age of 5 through the Suzuki method under the expert teaching of Christina Smith and Jennifer Johnson. At the age of 9 she began piano lessons with her sister Jean Hewson and eventually added guitar to those lessons. She is a member of the STEP Fiddlers as well as the Young Virtuosi Concerto ensemble and has been travelling and performing with these groups for several years. Valerie sang with Gonzaga High School Chamber and Girls Choirs and often accompanied the choirs on violin or guitar. She was a cast member of the Gonzaga 2009 production of Damn Yankees.

William Corbett and Sarah Harris
William Corbett and Sarah Harris have been playing traditional music together for several years now at parties, concerts and festivals. They also participate in their school concert and jazz bands and both are members of the NYSO junior youth orchestra – Sarah on violin and William on cello. Both Sarah and William participate in the Young Folk at the Hall workshop and concert and this year were featured at a Young Folk 10th Anniversary performance at the LSPU Hall. They have also performed at the Hearts for Haiti concert, and on Out of the Fog. For the past three years William and Sarah have performed at the NL Folk Festival on the Neil Murray Stage, filling the tent with their enthusiastic following.

The STEP Fiddlers
The STEP Fiddlers were founded in 1982 by Christina Smith, to give young Newfoundlanders an opportunity to learn their own traditional music. These young virtuosi specialise in the traditional dance music of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the repertoires of renowned fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit. Sponsored by the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John's, the group currently has 16 members aged 11 to 19, who play fiddle, bodhran, cello, and guitar. From 2008-2010 they have played at the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, and the Canadian Folk Music Awards. They currently perform for cruise ships arriving in St. John's Harbour. They have two CDs: Galing for a Storm and Fiddling in the Fog, the latter released in 2010.

Ellen Power
Now 17, Ellen Power has been singing all her life. She has performed at the Burin folk festival and at this festival several times over the last thirteen years. She has performed at the March Hare and was recently one of the performers in a demonstration workshop for the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) World Conference. Ellen is a regular participant in the FAC's Young Folk At the Hall workshops. She is a member of the chamber and treble choirs at her school, St. Bonaventure's College. Ellen's dad, Pius Power Jr., and her grandfather, Pius Power Sr., were well-known traditional singers from Placentia Bay. She hopes that someday she will pass on her songs to her children and grandchildren.

Chelsea Parsons

My name is Chelsea Parsons from Portugal Cove-St. Philip's.  This is my fourth time performing at the Folk Festival and it's always a highlight of my summer performances.  I started playing and performing at age 8 at such events as dessert parties, community festivals and concerts.  I have been participating in the Young Folk at the Hall program for about five years now and I have been playing at Open Mics at both O'Reilly's and Shamrock City for the last five years.  I have also played  at the Confederation Building as part of Canada Day celebrations and this year I was a guest performer for the Miss Teen NL Pageant in March.  Some of these performances can be found on my YouTube page.

Michael Scheeler-Breen
Michael Scheeler- Breen is 12 years old and is from St. John's. He will be leaving St Mary's Elementary School and going into grade 7 at Beaconsfeild Jr. High this year. He showed interest in playing violin when he was 5 years old, taking lessons From Caryl Clark to present. This year, he took part in several performances with Terry Rielly at Coffee and Company in Febuary and performed with Fergus O'Bryne in Young Folk at the Hall, which he enjoyed greatly. He has been playing fiddle music for the last 4 years and can also play a bit of piano, guitar and banjo. This is his second year playing at the folk festival.

Fiona Shea
Fíona Shea, 15, New Hampshire. Fíona plays her fiddle and bodhran at festivals, Contra Dances farmers' markets, and other events in her native New England. Fíona has grown up playing traditional music: styles from New England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Canadian Maritimes. Always ready with fiddle, she has attended the Gaelic College for Celtic Arts and Crafts in Cape Breton, studied at fiddle camps and schools across New England, and played music from Boston to Antigua, Guatemala. The passion—and especially joy—in Fíona's playing comes straight from her heart, intertwining with and flowing through her music.

Russells in the Corner
Russells in the Corner, a family group from Bell Island, Newfoundland, features Naomi (age 13) on fiddle, guitar, vocals and Tamsyn (age 9) on accordion, piano, vocals. Accompanied by Dad (Kelly Russell) on guitar and Mom (Tonya Kearley Russell) on bass, the group has performed at many events over the past several years, most notably their weekly dinner theatre show in Bay Roberts, "A Time in Pigeon Inlet", now in it's 4th successful season (see www.pigeoninlet.ca) and Summerfolk in Owen Sound, Ontario, last summer. Their repertoire features lively NL fiddle and accordion music plus songs both traditional and original.

Keely and Katrina Boland
Katrina age 14 and Keely age 11, have been performing publicly for most of their young lives. Katrina sings Newfoundland & Irish folk songs and plays the bodhran and guitar. She came first for voice in 'Traditional Newfoundland Song' during the 2011 Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival. Keely has been playing fiddle since she was age 6. Keely enjoys playing the traditional Newfoundland dance tunes. Keely took first place for 'Traditional Fiddle' during the 2011 Newfoundland Kiwanis Music Festival and got two additional awards, for most 'talented fiddler' and for most 'outstanding performance'. Both Katrina and Keely have been performing at the Annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festivals for many years and often volunteer and play for veterans, seniors and charitable organizations.

Matilda Goldie
I am seven years old and I am a student in Grade One at Bishop Feild School. I've played the violin since I was four and the fiddle since I turned six. My birthday is February 22. I take fiddle lessons from Karen Hawkin. I want to be in the folk festival because I like to perform for people. I also like to hear my best friend Annie Lewis play the violin. My favourite piece is "The Mason's Apron." I like to sing and play at the same time because it is challenging. I learned a lot of my pieces by myself and I teach myself the piano. I can play 35 fiddle tunes but I am learning more. This performance is for nanny who is sick.

Murphy's Reel
Murphy's Reel is a Folk Traditional Group from the Southern Shore of Newfoundland. The Four Members, brothers Sean and Daniel Power, Hillary Williams and Michael Carter are students at Mobile Central High School. They have all been playing and singing since an early age. They have been influenced by the strong musical traditions of the Southern Shore of Newfoundland. They play a mixture of Newfoundland, folk, Celtic and original material. They are working on their first recording due to be released this summer.