tune workshopToronto fiddler Rob Rohr will host an instructional traditional tune workshop Saturday, February 3 in Owen Sound for players of all melody instruments, from 2 to 4 p.m. at St. George's Anglican Church hall. The workshop is $15.

Rob Rohr will be in Owen Sound for the weekend as the fiddler for the February Fiddlefern Country Dancers contradance (www.fiddlefern.ca), along with area keyboard player Maureen Keating and Guelph-based dance caller Kris Rosar. Rosar, formerly of Owen Sound helped launch and was a key organizer for the Owen Sound Fiddlefern contradances for many years.

Saturday's dance is also at St. George's. Doors open at 7:30, dancing starts at 8.

Rohr's fiddling draws from Quebecois, English, Irish and New England tune traditions. His workshop will "focus on the Trad melody instruments, emphasis on listening, learning and playing by ear," Rohr said. "I'll tailor the tunes to the skill level of the crowd, and diatonic instruments (button accordion) if they are part of the group."

Fiddlefern organizes monthly dances and the regular weekly open traditional tune session every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. at Harmony Centre. The non-profit local dance organization has also hosted several trad music workshops over the last several years, putting local musicians together with visiting players, to learn from their expertise in various aspects of traditional dance music.

Rohr plays monthly with Sweet Felons All at Another Bloody Folk Club and frequently plays Quebec square and contra dances across southern Ontario with Les frères Gemme, Mango chaud point and St.-p'tit-Claude. He also fiddles for local dance sides, Toronto f Morris Men and Toronto Women's Sword, and each month shares the joys of the music of French Canada at his own open Quebec music session TOQueTrad.

Rob Rohr also dances with the Toronto f Morris Men, and has convincingly acquired the status of "Cirque du Soleil's Worst Dancer" while dancing in the 2015 Pan Am Games Opening Ceremony.

Saturday's traditional tune workshop is at St. George's from 2 to 4 p.m. Cost is $145. All musicians welcome.

source: media release, Fiddlefern Country Dancers