Hampden school to host Canadian fiddler

HAMPDEN – Fiddler Wendy MacIsaac of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, at Hampden Academy. Her visit to Maine also will include spending a day with HA students.

The concert is the first event in Arcady’s two-day Fiddle Festival 2002.

On April 5, MacIsaac also will do a program for the students at Hampden Academy. In the morning she will teach a group of students how to step dance to her fiddling, and in the afternoon she and the students will perform for the rest of the school.

MacIsaac’s concert, with piano and guitar accompaniment, will be followed Saturday, April 6, by afternoon fiddle workshops she will conduct at Hampden Academy. In addition, MacIsaac and more than 60 fiddlers will play for a 6 p.m. public supper and country dance April 6.

Arcady’s fiddle workshops, supper and country dance, the music organization’s annual fund-raiser, has become a popular tradition. Now in its sixth year, the event brings violin students and aspiring fiddlers of all ages to the Bangor area to participate.

It is also a wonderful event for families, said Patti Ciraulo, Arcady’s executive director. The dances are easy enough for beginners, and the supper will include good food from traditional beans, casseroles and hot dogs to Chinese food and homemade desserts.

Advance tickets for the events, which are sponsored this year by Bangor Savings Bank, RDL Strings and Phenix Inn, can be purchased at Schacht’s Hardware in Hampden, RDL Strings, BookMarc’s and Lippincott Books in downtown Bangor, Patrick’s Hallmark at the Broadway Shopping Center and Pretty Woman in Orono.

For information, call 990-2805 or 288-2141.