February Event

February 3rd. 1:30 p.m. Paul Fackler and Julie Gorka, “The Traditional Music of French Canada.”

Fackler, a fiddler since his teens, plays from musical traditions of New England, French Canada, Cape Breton, and Ireland. In his non-musical life, he works at NC State University doing mathematical and computer modeling. Julie Gorka has a wide range of musical interests, playing contra dance, Scottish, English, and Irish music on piano, harp, and fiddle. In addition to teaching piano, she leads a Celtic band, The Highlanders.

French-Canadian folk music is generally performed to accompany dances. The fiddle is the most common instrument utilized along with the diatonic button accordion. A part of the French Canadian sound is podorythmie (foot rhythm}, which involves using the feet to tap out complex rhythmic patterns.