MP3 Halali - WORLD: Celtic

Dynamic triple fiddles, soaring vocals and footstomping celtic tunes.

9 MP3 Songs
WORLD: Celtic, FOLK: Modern Folk



Details:
Halali offers intricate fiddle arrangements that "veer between Celtic airs, Appalachian hoedowns, and their own smart tunes with bewitching ease." (Boston Globe, Nov. 2001).

Halali's repertoire spans the gamut from lively jigs and reels to more sensitive slow numbers and inspiring vocals.  We perform new music, as well as traditional classics, and cleverly arranged covers.

The founding members of Halali -- Hanneke, Laura, and Lissa -- hail from extreme corners of the United States, but met in California at Alasdair Fraser's school for Scottish fiddling when they were teenagers. They formed a friendship that lasted until they relocated to Boston, where they attended music school. Each fiddler brings her distinct style to the band, but all are influenced by a common group of folk heroes in traditional genres such as Scottish, Irish, Quebecois, Old Time (Appalachian), Cape Breton, and Scandinavian. This produces a creative yet harmonious sound that has generated an enormously positive response.

Each member of Halali also has numerous individual accomplishments.

Hanneke Cassel is the winner of the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, as well as the '92 and '94 National Scottish Junior Championship. She has a degree from the Berklee College of Music in violin performance and her first solo album My Joy was released this spring.

Laura Cortese has been featured on tour with Alasdair Fraser, and recently appeared in the world premiere of Tim O'Brien & The Crossing: Staged with Dance by Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. She is the 1998 New England regional Scottish Fiddle Champion. Laura is a key Organizer of BCMFest, Boston's Celtic Music Festival.

New England fiddler and folk singer Lissa Schneckenburger grew up in Maine as an active member of the contradance community, where she cut her teeth as a musician at a very young age. She has continued to explore music throughout her life, leading to her recent graduation from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (2001) She has several solo albums to date, as well as releases by her contradance bands Phantom Power and Spin.

Flynn Cohen is one of the country's premier guitar accompanists and has degrees in music from Dartington College of the Arts in England and Mills College in California. He also performs with the John Whelan Band in the US and Europe.