The Brisbane Celtic Fiddle Club is a community music group, which meets once a month to learn and play Celtic fiddle music. The group is led and taught by Emma Nixon, winner of the 2010 Golden Fiddle Awards Best Fiddle Teacher.
The Brisbane Celtic Fiddle Club has performed at Woodford Folk Festival, the Endeavour Foundation’s Grand Highland Charity Ball, Tartan Day and the Redcliffe Show as well as numerous fetes and community events.
We welcome anyone to come and join us. Tunes are taught by ear and no sheet music is used. All that’s needed is some prior experience on your chosen instrument and a love of Celtic music. We have a large range of instruments in our group including, violin, viola, cello, harp, bodhran, concertina and guitar.
We meet every second Friday of the month at Simply for Strings - 78 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill. We begin at 6:30pm with a slower learning session, break from 7:45 until 8:15 and continue with a faster learning session until 9:30pm.
You are welcome to come along and join in at any time, the cost for a single session is $10 or alternately you may want to purchase a yearly membership: family membership is $120; adults are $80; and children and students only $40 per year.
We try to run a regular session one Sunday afternoon a month at the Kookaburra Cafe in Paddington. Due to parking restrictions from Suncorp Stadium events this is not at a regular place in each month. Check this site for updates.
We also have club shirts available - one for $15 or two for $25 (what a bargain!). Shirts come in all men’s and women’s sizes and some children’s sizes in both black and azure (blue). They can be worn to club sessions, concerts and festivals or just any time you feel like it!
So, feel free to come and check out one of our sessions, we would love you to join in and have a go. We have a lot of fun!
Emma Nixon
(Our Director)
Emma Nixon began playing violin when she was 9 years old. She played classical violin in chamber groups and Queensland Youth Orchestras and completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts in performance and studio teaching. She worked as a strings teacher while completing an Arts degree in music and English and then a teaching diploma.
She heard a CD by Alasdair Fraser and decided that she wanted to play Scottish fiddle. So began her worldwide journey learning from some of the great Scottish fiddle players.
In 2008 Emma graduated from Newcastle University in the UK. She was awarded a Newcastle University scholarship to complete a Master of Music specialising in Scottish fiddle performance and research into transmission of Scottish fiddling.
Back in Australia, Emma is continuing to perform, teach and research.
Emma has been performing with Tony Vandermeer for 12 years. They bring a wide range of musical influences to the duo to create intricate, intimate performances. As featured artists in a number of concert series Emma and Tony have performed many themed concerts together, ranging from Scottish to film music. They have recorded 2 CDs together on the MRA lable and played on the soundtrack of the documentary film 'After Maeve'.
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