Fall Fiddle Festival Workshops and Concert
featuring fiddle faculty
Alden Robinson, Audrey Budington, and Liz Faiella
with Dan Faiella, guitar
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Concord Community Music School, Concord NH
Festival 10am-3:30pm (Doors open at 9:45 am)
Space is limited and pre-registration is required!
Workshops + Concert: $120 (includes lunch) | Register now
Open to all novice to advanced fiddlers and violinists, ages teen to adult. All fiddlers, including novice level, should have a basic familiarity with their instrument and some playing experience!
Workshops open to all novice to advanced fiddlers and violinists, ages teen to adult. All fiddlers, including novice level, should have a basic familiarity with their instrument and some playing experience!
Concert open to the public!
Fiddlers from the Celtic and New England fiddling traditions will join forces in Concord for the eighth Fall Fiddle Festival, a day packed with workshops and group playing for fiddlers (and violinists who are interested in learning to fiddle!). The Festival, open to teens and adults, will include workshops on a variety of topics at the novice, intermediate, and advanced levels. In the late afternoon, all three fiddle faculty members will present a toe-tapping concert of fiddle music open to the public.
The Festival will feature guest fiddle faculty member Alden Robinson, alongside two of New Hampshire’s own fiddling favorites, Audrey Budington and Liz Faiella. They’ll be joined for the afternoon concert by guitarist Dan Faiella.
Guest faculty member Alden Robinson has toured and recorded with Irish trad band The Press Gang and plays for dances with the contra dance band Riptide, along with many other beloved collaborators and side projects. In 2017 he participated in the Arts Envoy program with the U.S. State Department in Lithuania.
Fiddle faculty member Audrey Budington, who teaches at the Concord Community Music School, studied extensively with the likes of Darol Anger, Maeve Gilchrist, and Eugene Friesen, and is fluent in various fiddling styles. In July 2024, Audrey became a member of The Recording Academy, an organization that hosts the Grammy Awards, and she is the fiddler for The Rebel Collective, a Concord-based Irish/Rock band.
Fiddle faculty and festival director Liz Faiella, chair of the Folk Department at the Music School, has taken the stage at premier folk venues throughout New England, and has shared the traditional Celtic and New England folk music she loves with fiddle students at a variety of camps, festivals, and community music schools. She is now active as a YouTube and Patreon creator, sharing her fiddle teaching worldwide.
In the afternoon concert, the fiddlers will share the stage with guitarist Dan Faiella. Trained as an accompanist through years of playing for New England contra dances and alongside Irish fiddlers, Dan has performed at venues and festivals around the country with numerous traditional music groups.
Fall Fiddle Festival schedule
Please note: This is a tentative schedule and may be subject to change!
9:45 Doors open
10:00-10:15 Orientation
10:15-11:15 Workshop session 1
11:15-11:30 Break
11:30-12:30 Workshop session 2
12:30-1:15 Lunch break*
1:15-2:15 Workshop session 3
2:15-2:30 Break
2:30-3:30 Group tunes & final jam
3:30-4:30 Break
4:30 Faculty Concert
*Lunch (sandwich & chips) provided for all festival participants! Coffee, tea, and cookies will also be available during the day.
Please note: These are tentative topics and may be subject to change!
WORKSHOP SESSION 1
Novice | Don’t Fear Learning By Ear!
Liz Faiella
The return of Liz’s learning by ear workshop! A great way to start the day, if you are a novice fiddler or a violinist who is new to fiddling. Learning by ear is a wonderful way to learn a tune, and a common way that fiddle tunes are passed on in the folk world. And although it can be challenging, it doesn’t have to be terrifying – it can actually be fun! Liz will share some tips and tricks for learning by ear, and we’ll try it out with a simple tune.
Intermediate | Jig Bowing & Expression
Alden Robinson
We will learn the quintessential Irish jig. We will work on playing the rhythm of the jig, which we can feel in our bows even if we can’t fully explain. We will bring expression to the tune—with the emphasis of our bowing, the articulation of our fingers, and through simple grace notes and other ornaments. We’ll also talk about playing jigs for different kinds of dances.
Advanced | Learn a Swedish Tune
Audrey Budington
We’ll take a look at a mischievous little tune from Hälsingland, Sweden called Trollet i Skäkten.
WORKSHOP SESSION 2
Novice / Intermediate | Jig Jam!
Audrey Budington
Jigs! Come all ye lovers of 6/8 & 9/8. This session is for you.
Intermediate | Tune Arranging Crash Course!
Liz Faiella
So there’s nothing with just playing a fiddle tune three times through without gettin’ too fancy. But what if you want to jazz it up a bit? We’ll walk through the process of arranging a tune, from ornamentation, to harmony, to beginnings and endings, and more!
Advanced | Reel Bowing & Ornamentation
Alden Robinson
We’ll learn an Irish reel: first the tune itself, then different ideas for how to bow it, then the possibilities for bowed and fingered ornaments. We’ll talk about how to play at speed efficiently, how to play in an Irish session, and if people are interested, how to play an Irish tune in a contra dance setting.
WORKSHOP SESSION 3
Novice | Playing Polkas!
Alden Robinson
We will explore the wildest but also the gentlest of all tunes: the polka. Polkas take a few notes and throw a party with them. They introduce us to ideas we will reencounter in all other tunes: the pattern of the “call” and the “answer”, the possibility of slurring two notes together on a bowstroke.
Intermediate | Variations on Margaret’s Waltz
Audrey Budington
You know it, you love it, but do you know the Appalachian way? We will equip ourselves with sonorous double-stops and other ornaments to make this waltz really sing!
Intermediate / Advanced | Fiddle Tune Free-For-All!
Liz Faiella
Whether it’s Celtic, French-Canadian, Appalachian, or what have you, we’ll play ’em all. Bring your tune suggestions, plus we’ll play whatever we can think of off the top of our heads!
“This festival was very special. There was woven throughout the day a feeling that all participants were welcomed with warmth and appreciation. I had the feeling that whatever fiddle skills we brought to the table were just fine. There were indeed places for everyone.” – Earl G. (2023)
“The concert was EXCELLENT! …Just a great day overall. I will definitely sign up for next year and recommend it to others!” – Christine D. (2023)
“Total immersion in an amazing day of music!” – Marsha R. (2024)
“What a great opportunity to improve our skills, learn new tunes, meet great professional musicians, and to be able to meet and network with other fiddlers.” Jerry D. (2025)
Fall Fiddle Festival Concert: 4:30 p.m.
Tickets $25/adults, $20 students & older adults (under 18/65+)
Open to the public | Purchase tickets
Please note: Workshop registration includes one concert ticket!
REGISTRATION for the fiddle festival workshops is available online by clicking the button below, or by calling 603-228-1196. For questions regarding registration, please contact Director of Student Services, Nicole Laurin at nlaurin@ccmusicschool.org
