Monthly Meetings (workshops)
We meet on the first Sunday of each month from October through May at the Plymouth Congregational Church, 582 Pleasant St., Belmont. Enter through the side door on Alexander Ave. There is usually plenty of parking on Pleasant street or the side streets.
We have two workshops, at 2:00 and 3:45pm, with a social/snack time in between and ending with a session. Go to the “Sunday Workshop” Page for the schedule and description of the workshops.
Our workshops are lead by a some of the key musicians in the field of Scottish music, known for their outstanding teaching capability or matchless virtuosity or both.
Go to the Teacher Bios to see who has taught workshops in the past.
The workshop leader often gives a short performance following the workshop. Then we have an open session, playing our favorite tunes, until 6:00 pm.
On the third Wednesday of each month the fiddle club hosts a popular Scottish/Cape Breton session at the Canadian American Club in Watertown (202 Arlington Street) from 7:30-10:00pm. These sessions are a lot of fun, open to everyone, all instruments, ages, listeners, etc. You don’t have to be a member. The regular session leaders are Katie McNally (fiddle) and Neil Pearlman (piano). Rachel Reeds and Terry Traub often lead the sessions as well. A minimum $5 donation is requested.
Boston Scottish Fiddle Orchestra
The Boston Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is the performing group of the fiddle club. It has about 5 performances per year including BCM Fest, NEFFA, local festivals and the BSFC end-of-year Gala. The orchestra rehearses on Thursday evenings. Anyone who is a member of the BSFC can join the orchestra. There is an extra fee to be in the orchestra.
A LITTLE HISTORY
The Boston Scottish Fiddle Club was co-founded in 1981 by Ed Pearlman, who led the club and was its music director until 1999. During his tenure the club inspired the start-up of many clubs across the US and around the world dedicated to traditional Scottish fiddle music.
Starting in 1999 the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club has operated with a board of directors and has a different musical instructor each month, giving members a variety of teaching styles while still carrying on the tradition of learning about and playing Scottish fiddle music.
Our charter:
“to educate the public about Scottish fiddle music, embracing musicians of all levels on any instrument, as well as listeners.”
While most of our members play the fiddle, many play other instruments, and we often have guitar, mandolin, banjo, flute, penny whistle, accordian, concertina and bodhran in our sessions. We are open to any instrument!
Since the club’s inception we have offered instruction in playing Scottish music through monthly workshops led by key musicians in the field of Scottish music, known for their outstanding teaching capability or matchless virtuosity or both. Monthly sessions (Wednesday evenings) give us the opportunity to get together with other musicians and play our favorite tunes. The Boston Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is the current performing group of the club and performs at various festivals and events. The orchestra provides members of all ability levels the opportunity to be a part of a group that strives for a high level of performance to entertain and share traditional Scottish music with the public.