Fiddle on fire

IRISH fiddle legend Kevin Burke will be playing one of only two Australian shows at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre.
Burke’s fiddle playing has been at the forefront of traditional music for more than 30 years.
He has been established as a first class musician ever since his work in the early 1970s with such renowned performers as Arlo Guthrie, Christy Moore and the Bothy Band and with his far-reaching solo album If the Cap Fits.
During his long musical career Burke has earned international acclaim in both Europe and America as a solo performer, a teacher and as a member of some of folk music’s foremost groups including the exciting Celtic Fiddle Festival and Ireland’s long admired and respected Patrick Street.
His contribution to music was acknowledged by The National Endowment for the Arts when he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship, the USA’s highest honor for excellence in the folk and traditional arts.
Although Burke has spent much of his life playing in a group context, he has never lost his love for solo fiddle music – the “naked fiddle” as he himself sometimes puts it.
This is very evident in his live solo release, In Concert, a performance of mostly unaccompanied traditional pieces.
He will play at the Mecca Theatre at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre in Warburton on Saturday 6 October at 8pm.
Tickets are $35 or $30 concession and bookings can be made online at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/valleyregion or 5966 4500.