Nicolas Babineau and Alexis Chartrand are two dynamic young Québécois musicians brought together by passion for traditional music. Their shared sensitivity for recordings of old fiddlers inspires their performances of traditional Québécois music. They sometimes play two fiddles, and sometimes allow the guitar to accompany the melodies, with their feet energizing the dance tunes. In May 2017 the duo released their first album, Gigues à deux faces (nominated Best Traditional Album at the Canadian Folk Music Awards), and have performed throughout Québec, the Maritimes, across Canada, New England, and Sweden.
There will be TWO SHOWS at the Saranac Methodist Church on Route 3 in Saranac:
Saturday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. and
Sunday, February 3, at 3:00 p.m.
Babineau and Chartrand will be joined on several numbers by guest artist Mélissandre Tremblay-Bourassa, a traditional Québécois dancer and choreographer. She has developed a creative and aerial style of improvisation as a step dancer for which she is especially appreciated. Recently nominated for a Grand Prix Desjardins, her résumé includes two years with the Cirque du Soleil, among other highlights.
Seating is open with a suggested donation of $15; children under 12 attend free. For further info please telephone 518-293-7613, e-mail hillholl@hughes.net or visit www.hillandhollowmusic.org.
Babineau and Chartrand will perform an extravagant array of reels and traditional music―a surprising mix of fiddle culture from the Francophone communities of North America, including Chicoutimi, Gaspésie, Cape-Breton, and Newfoundland.
Babineau and Chartrand have been on a musical voyage of discovery. They traveled to far-flung Francophone communities in eastern Québec and the Maritime provinces to collect tunes of legendary old-time fiddlers. Louis “Pitou” Boudreault of Chicoutimi gave them “Welcome to holiday inn” and “La gigue à ma marraine Alfreda,” while from Émile Benoit of Newfoundland they gathered “Roaming Scott” and “Set carré.”
Crafting their own arrangements of the old tunes is a way of paying homage to these legendary artists of the past who have deeply influenced Francophone culture, while it is also a great opportunity for the duo to express some very personal musical ideas and carry their culture forward. One reel from Joseph Larade, a fiddler from Chéticamp (Cape-Breton), they found so rich that they were inspired to create a triptych of three different interpretations of it.
The duo will perform also some of their own original music, including “Le reel du Moose,” featuring references to a famous traditional song, different exploratory approaches to foot percussion, and changing guitar styles.
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
NICOLAS BABINEAU discovered music at the age of 7, trying the unused violin of his grandfather. Accepted as a violin student at the Conservatory of Classical Music in Trois-Rivières, Nicolas continues to learn several instruments, including guitar, electric bass, mandolin, banjo and Irish bouzouki. Specializing in traditional Québécois music, Nicolas went to the United States, France, England and represented French Canada at the Canadian Pavilion at the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World. In 2017, he released an album titled Compos Trad in Local Flavor with the flutist and composer Jean Duval.
ALEXIS CHARTRAND is a fiddler from Montréal who has been active in the Québécois traditional music scene for several years. He is known for his energetic accompaniment of step dancing and social dances. His interest in Québécois, Irish and Scottish fiddle styles inform his playing, along with his study of classical, contemporary and baroque music. He frequently collaborates with dancers including baroque dancer Anne-Marie Gardette, traditional dancers and callers Pierre Chartrand and Mélissandre Tremblay-Bourassa, regularly performs in duo with guitarists such as Yann Falquet, Colin Savoie-Levac, and Peter Senn. His performances have brought him around Québec, Canada, New England, and Europe. His research into the intersections between traditional and baroque violin styles has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. He has also given workshops on fiddle, traditional repertoire and traditional music history at CAMMAC, Festival de Violon Traditionnel de Sutton (QC), Carleton University (ON) and Boxwood Festival (NS).
