Arta Vista at The Rooms: with Kelly Russell & Friends
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In celebration of the Canada Summer Games, renowned Newfoundland fiddler Kelly Russell will share songs, stories and fiddle tunes from his extensive repertoire learned over his long career as a cultural keeper of the flame.
The concept for these shows was sparked by the realization that Kelly first met the iconic fiddler Rufus Guinchard at the ‘77 Canada Games and the resulting contribution to our culture has been greatly enhanced through this synergy of culture and sport.
The 2025 Games are honored to continue the tradition. In the spirit of passing the cultural torch, Kelly will be joined for these shows by several of the province’s latest tradition bearers, musicians Michael Park and Shana Brown.
This is a free event but a ticket is required. Please reserve your free ticket online or by calling (709)757-8090.
Check out From ‘77 to ’25: A Journey Through Newfoundland and Labrador’s Canada Games celebrating the legacy, spirit, and impact of the Canada Games in Newfoundland and Labrador. This exhibition captures the stories, memories, and moments that have shaped the Games - from the athletes and volunteers. Located on level 2
About the Artists:
MICHAEL PARK:
Michael Park is a dynamic, fun-loving and amazing young fiddler who is a third year student at Memorial University. Michael’s home is in Massey Drive, Newfoundland and Labrador. His love of music and his amazing talent come from his family’s roots on the North Shore of the Bay of Islands, on the picturesque west coast of Newfoundland.
With French, Scottish, English and indigenous blood coursing through his veins, Michael can play you a few familiar Newfoundland tunes from Rufus Guinchard, Kelly Russell or other Newfoundland classics, switch it up with a Franco-Terre Neuvien medley by Émile Benoit, take you across the water to the sweet sounds of Cape Breton’s finest fiddlers like Natalie MacMaster and Jerry Holland, or perform some classic Canadian tunes inspired by legends such as Don Messer and Calvin Volraith.
At just 19 years old, Michael has already performed at folk festivals, weddings, funerals, ceilidhs, talent shows, recitals, seniors homes, venues, craft fairs and many kitchen parties all across Atlantic Canada. He is the proud recipient of a number of scholarships for his musical talent and academic achievements. He is an up and coming young artist who you are going to be hearing and tapping your toe to quite often in the next few years. He plays the traditional tunes as they were intended to be played. You won’t want to miss any opportunity to be amazed by this young man’s talent, ease and finesse on the strings!
SHANA BROWN:
Hailing from Newfoundland, Canada and steeped in traditional Newfoundland/Irish music Shana is a songwriter, composer, piano adventurer and a bona fide accordion shredder. As her first love, she’s taken her accordion in directions not typically heard around Trinity Bay, working swing and classical pieces into her extensive trad repertoire.
?Still exploring how to use the instrument to its fullest potential, she has begun to incorporate it into her songwriting and piano adventure as she continues to create original music in the singer/songwriter/folk genre. With a strong sense of melody, an emerging flair for arrangement and a voice that is deceptively vulnerable but comes across with musical weight and purpose, Shana is a natural musician just coming into her own.
In September 2024 she released her first single, "Start Again", which has been very well received on streaming platforms and charted in at #7 on the East Coast Countdown! Be sure to check it out, and keep in touch for upcoming songs as she continues to write and compose new material!
KELLY RUSSELL:
A professional musician since 1975, Kelly has been a member of landmark groups Figgy Duff, The Wonderful Grand Band, The Plankerdown Band, Bristol’s Hope, Kelly Russell & The Planks, and The Irish Descendants. Working closely for many years with legendary fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit, learning, recording, and documenting their unique music, Kelly has inherited genuine status as one of Newfoundland’s leading traditional music performers. A prominent musical ambassador, Kelly has performed in such countries as England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Spain, the USA and all across Canada. His record label, Pigeon Inlet Productions (est. 1979), has released over 30 full-length LP, Cassette and CD recordings. He has published a 2 Volume Collection of NL fiddle music, “Kelly Russell’s Collection,” documenting over five hundred tunes in musical notation. Kelly has taught fiddle to many students, some of whom are now successful performers. He has also actively helped revive the art of storytelling and recitation, inspired by the Tales of Pigeon Inlet by his father, Ted Russell.
Get Tickets
The concept for these shows was sparked by the realization that Kelly first met the iconic fiddler Rufus Guinchard at the ‘77 Canada Games and the resulting contribution to our culture has been greatly enhanced through this synergy of culture and sport.
The 2025 Games are honored to continue the tradition. In the spirit of passing the cultural torch, Kelly will be joined for these shows by several of the province’s latest tradition bearers, musicians Michael Park and Shana Brown.
This is a free event but a ticket is required. Please reserve your free ticket online or by calling (709)757-8090.
Check out From ‘77 to ’25: A Journey Through Newfoundland and Labrador’s Canada Games celebrating the legacy, spirit, and impact of the Canada Games in Newfoundland and Labrador. This exhibition captures the stories, memories, and moments that have shaped the Games - from the athletes and volunteers. Located on level 2
About the Artists:
MICHAEL PARK:
Michael Park is a dynamic, fun-loving and amazing young fiddler who is a third year student at Memorial University. Michael’s home is in Massey Drive, Newfoundland and Labrador. His love of music and his amazing talent come from his family’s roots on the North Shore of the Bay of Islands, on the picturesque west coast of Newfoundland.
With French, Scottish, English and indigenous blood coursing through his veins, Michael can play you a few familiar Newfoundland tunes from Rufus Guinchard, Kelly Russell or other Newfoundland classics, switch it up with a Franco-Terre Neuvien medley by Émile Benoit, take you across the water to the sweet sounds of Cape Breton’s finest fiddlers like Natalie MacMaster and Jerry Holland, or perform some classic Canadian tunes inspired by legends such as Don Messer and Calvin Volraith.
At just 19 years old, Michael has already performed at folk festivals, weddings, funerals, ceilidhs, talent shows, recitals, seniors homes, venues, craft fairs and many kitchen parties all across Atlantic Canada. He is the proud recipient of a number of scholarships for his musical talent and academic achievements. He is an up and coming young artist who you are going to be hearing and tapping your toe to quite often in the next few years. He plays the traditional tunes as they were intended to be played. You won’t want to miss any opportunity to be amazed by this young man’s talent, ease and finesse on the strings!
SHANA BROWN:
Hailing from Newfoundland, Canada and steeped in traditional Newfoundland/Irish music Shana is a songwriter, composer, piano adventurer and a bona fide accordion shredder. As her first love, she’s taken her accordion in directions not typically heard around Trinity Bay, working swing and classical pieces into her extensive trad repertoire.
?Still exploring how to use the instrument to its fullest potential, she has begun to incorporate it into her songwriting and piano adventure as she continues to create original music in the singer/songwriter/folk genre. With a strong sense of melody, an emerging flair for arrangement and a voice that is deceptively vulnerable but comes across with musical weight and purpose, Shana is a natural musician just coming into her own.
In September 2024 she released her first single, "Start Again", which has been very well received on streaming platforms and charted in at #7 on the East Coast Countdown! Be sure to check it out, and keep in touch for upcoming songs as she continues to write and compose new material!
KELLY RUSSELL:
A professional musician since 1975, Kelly has been a member of landmark groups Figgy Duff, The Wonderful Grand Band, The Plankerdown Band, Bristol’s Hope, Kelly Russell & The Planks, and The Irish Descendants. Working closely for many years with legendary fiddlers Rufus Guinchard and Emile Benoit, learning, recording, and documenting their unique music, Kelly has inherited genuine status as one of Newfoundland’s leading traditional music performers. A prominent musical ambassador, Kelly has performed in such countries as England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Spain, the USA and all across Canada. His record label, Pigeon Inlet Productions (est. 1979), has released over 30 full-length LP, Cassette and CD recordings. He has published a 2 Volume Collection of NL fiddle music, “Kelly Russell’s Collection,” documenting over five hundred tunes in musical notation. Kelly has taught fiddle to many students, some of whom are now successful performers. He has also actively helped revive the art of storytelling and recitation, inspired by the Tales of Pigeon Inlet by his father, Ted Russell.
Get Tickets
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