David Surette Mandolin Festival Concert

Join us on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 pm for the David Surette Mandolin Festival Concert, featuring Marla Fibish, Skip Gorman, Keith Murphy and Steve Roy with special guests Susie, Isa and Julianna Burke. This concert takes place in the Music School Recital Hall, and tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students/seniors. Tickets can be purchased below, in person at the Music School or over the phone by calling 603-228-1196. Note: admission to the Saturday evening concert is included for all festival participants; registration for the weekend workshops is available online HERE or by calling 603-228-1196. For questions regarding registration, please contact Registrar Nicole Laurin at nlaurin@ccmusicschool.org.

About the Artists

Marla Fibish is one of the finest mandolin players of Irish music, to which she brings a deep and distinctive sensibility. A singer and composer, she also plays mandola and tenor guitar. She is known for her musical settings of works from a variety of poets, as well as original tunes written in traditional forms. She is a sought-after teacher at camps and privately and has many recordings and an instructional DVD focused on acquiring the foundational technique for playing Irish music on the mandolin. During the online gathering of the MMF community in March 2022 to honor what would have been the 20th festival, Marla and her partner Bruce Victor played a gorgeous piece she wrote in memory of David Surette. Their duo Noctambule’s 2021 recording is called Every Migrant Is My Fellow. For more, visit marlafibish.com; The Parting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK2ceda8hcg&t=1s

At the age of eight, Skip Gorman received a Jimmie Rodgers record, and he was off and running. For over half a century Skip has been singing, playing and performing an impressive and varied palette of traditional American and Celtic music on mandolin, fiddle and guitar. A master of the Bill Monroe mandolin style, Skip is also a walking library of cowboy music. Skip has completed over 18 recordings of fiddle, mandolin, bluegrass and cowboy songs, been featured on many others, and established his own record label, Old West Recordings. Ken Burns has used Skip’s original music on four of his celebrated documentaries. Skip recently completed a four-CD, 67 track recording project called “Celtic Fiddle Rambles”, which he dedicated to David Surette. For more, visit skipgorman.com; Git’ up John:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTv5atnXz7I

Multi-instrumentalist and singer Keith Murphy’s music is reflective of his native Newfoundland, Eastern Canada and Quebec, as well as his current home state of Vermont. His approach to the mandolin is heavily influenced by Irish bouzouki accompaniment styles and French Canadian fiddle repertoire. His playing is marked by drive and lyricism. Keith performs frequently with his wife, fiddler Becky Tracy, and with the Hanneke Cassel Trio. A composer and arranger, he has written for theater and film and his tunes have become staples of the contra dance scene. In 2008, he founded the Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival in Brattleboro, VT. For more, visit https://blackislemusic.com/ 

Steve Roy studied double bass in college, but has since added other instruments and many styles to his skills. He is as comfortable in a bluegrass or old-time session as in a Beatles or rock jam, and is known for his improvisation skills. Steve plays and teaches mandolin, upright bass and fiddle and more. He performs with Old Hat Stringband, High Range, and the East Bayside Bluegrass Collective of Portland ME. Steve and David Surette had a Grateful Dead duo, called Steve and Dave Play Dead. He has shared the stage with Laurie Lewis, Molly Tuttle and many others. He teaches at camps throughout North America and also is a violin maker. For more, visit https://steveroymusic.com/mandolin/; China Cat Sunflower/ I Know You RIder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaCCBwJ8Iwo

Special guests include Susie Burke, David Surette’s wife and playing partner of 35 years, and their daughters Isa and Julianna Burke, who are helping organize this event, will perform at both concerts and be there to lend a hand, musically and otherwise, throughout the weekend.