Kerala Songs in Niagara Falls, NY
I had not expected that life in Toronto would keep sending me across the US border. But securing immigration papers has meant my traveling thrice this past month to Niagara Falls, the land border crossing into Canada closest to Toronto. On a recent trip, I ordered lunch from a food truck run by a man […]
Welcome back … I mean welcome to canada!
I will confess off the bat to having committed what I have discovered to a big faux pax here: namely, thinking that a move to Canada would be essentially like moving back to the United States. No, no, no! I have discovered a world of unexpected difference, and of much pride in having a distinct […]
Dutch folk songs from Ate Doornbosch’s collection
25 years have now passed since the last broadcast of the Dutch radio presenter, Ate Doornbosch, who spent between 1957 to 1993 criss-crossing the Netherlands, recording men and women singing songs of their lives spent on islands, on farms or in fishing villages. These songs were collected in a 9-CD box set named after the […]
Midwinterhoorn ceremony at winter solstice 2017
Now that spring has broken, it is finally time to complete projects that have lain dormant through the dark days of the year. Here is a video of my trip to a winter solstice ceremony in the middle of the Netherlands last year. The ceremony revolved around the playing of the Midwinterhoorn: a long, curved, […]
Backstage at the recording sessions
Last year wrapped up with the completion of recording sessions for my CD, “Folk Tunes, Translated”. I won the Prix de Salon from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2016 to record this CD – and since then, it’s been a phenomenal excuse for delving into these different folk music traditions. The fun still continues after […]