OSCEOLA — Sunday from 2-5 p.m., a free concert of fiddle music with a Canadian/Quebecois flavor will be given by north country fiddler and Hall of Fame inductee, Vince Boyea, of Massena.
The concert will take place at the North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame and Museum, 1121 Comins Road and is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Born into a family of fiddlers of French-Canadian descent, Boyea began learning to fiddle at the age of 6, using a small fiddle and bow made for him by a relative. He plays by ear, having had only 10 fiddle lessons at the age of 14, before his teacher moved away. He has played for dances since the age of 17 and has competed in many fiddle contests, winning first place in the first contest he ever entered, in Huntingdon, Quebec. In 2004 he was chosen as the New York State inductee into the North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame. He is a member of both the Association of North Country Fiddlers and the Black River Valley Fiddlers Association.
Boyea is accompanied on the piano by his wife Louise, and often by some of his children, especially his daughter, Kathleen, who plays fiddle on their latest CD, "The Boyea Family, Fiddling Favorites."
Two earlier CDs are entitled "Vince the Prince" as his wife often calls him, and "The Prince Returns." Vincent and Louise were selected by TAUNY — Traditional Arts in Upstate NY — to be recipients of the North Country Heritage Award for 2006, being recognized as "exemplary masters of folk arts and community traditions" in their region. They were chosen for their "welldemonstrated dedication to keeping the rich heritage of traditional fiddle and dance music alive and well in upstate NY."
The 40th annual Fiddlers’ Picnic Festival, Thursday, July 26 through Sunday July 29, features Canadian Fiddle Champion Scott Woods, of Ontario, Canada. The Fiddlers’ Picnic Festival is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
On the net: www.nysotfa.com
