Senator Elizabeth Hubley hosted a “kitchen party” on Parliament Hill yesterday to celebrate the first Canadian National Fiddling Day – this Saturday. Here are some photos from that memorable event.
The party took place in the East Block courtyard and about a dozen fiddlers from the Ottawa area came out to perform to MPs and Senators.
I got to perform with Kelli Trottier and the Senator joined the jam (seen below in left photo). It was a lot of fun playing with these fiddlers – many are good friends. I was given an opportunity to play a solo piece – and, of course, I picked one of my favourite, Willow Spring.
Thanks to Senator Hubley for getting the third Saturday of May marked on our calendar as a day to recognize the contribution fiddling has made to Canadian heritage and to our enjoyment of traditional music today. The Senator not only played fiddle through the reception, she also got up and stepped danced. It was a really great time!
I look forward to more fun on this Saturday when I will join a celebration along the Ottawa River (and I bet some Ottawa Valley logger tunes will be played!). Then I will be at Richmond for the Ottawa fiddle competition and expect to be celebrating the occasion with a special jam to start the evening show.
