Alberta fiddler represents Canada to the world

Page 2

Calvin Vollrath will be packing up his fiddle and heading to Germany this fall, representing Canada at Worldwide Music Expo (WOMEX) 2000 in Berlin Oct. 19 to 22. The international music expo is the world's largest event dedicated to world, roots, folk, ethnic, traditional and local music.

Vollrath, a Metis fiddler from St. Paul, is one of five artists from across Canada chosen by the Canada Council for the Arts to represent the country at the international music showcase.

Vollrath has composed more than 250 songs and recorded more than 30 albums. He also teaches the fiddle, produces recordings by other Canadian fiddlers, and leads workshops in Canada and in the U.S.

He has won the title of Grand North American Old Tyme Fiddle Champion twice, received the Alberta Country Music Award for Instrumentalist of the Year in 1993, and has been nominated several times as Fiddle Player of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Awards.

Vollrath will be taking part in the WOMEX 2000 Native To Canada showcase, organized by the Canada Council to help Canadian Aboriginal artists launch their international careers. The showcase will take place Oct. 20 at the House of World Cultures, with the artists performing before an international audience of broadcasters, managers, event programmers, artistic directors, presenters, agents and recording company representatives.

The Native To Canada showcase marks the first time the Canada Council has sponsored such an event outside of Canada, and the first time WOMEX has set aside an entire evening for showcasing Canadian Aboriginal performers.

Joining Vollrath in the showcase will be the Whitefish Jrs., a musical group from the Big River First Nation in Saskatchewan; Kanenhi:io, a musical group based in Ontario and made up of First Nations women; singer, songwriter and musician Willie Dunn of Ottawa; and Inuk singer-songwriter Lucie Idlout from Iqaluit.