Music Staff
Josh Burdick, fiddle.
JOSH BURDICK (Lansdowne, PA) plays mostly fiddle and some
piano for English, Scottish, and contra dances, especially in the Philadelphia area. His main Scottish music collaboration is with Nora Smith, Melissa Running, and Jane Roberts in their band, Glenfiddle. Have a look at their website: http://home.comcast.net/~glenfiddle/site/.
Josh started out studying classical violin and piano at the Peabody Preparatory School in Baltimore. In the summers, he studied music theory, history, and composition at The Walden School for Young Composers, in New Hampshire. He began Scottish Country dancing, and later playing for dance, at Swarthmore College, where he currently leads the music for the folk dance class.
By day Josh uses computers to study the human genome.
Hanneke Cassel, fiddle.
HANNEKE CASSEL (Boston, MA). a native of Port Orford, Oregon started playing violin when she was eight. She gravitated from classical roots towards other styles, including Scottish, winning the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Jr. Championship in '92 and '94, and the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship in '97. Hanneke holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance
from Berklee College of Music, and has performed and taught across the U.S.,
Scotland, Sweden, China, New Zealand, France, England, and Austria.
In addition to her solo act, Hanneke has played for the Cathie Ryan Band, and is a member of Boston-based fiddle bands Childsplay and Halali. Her fiddling has graced the stages of Boston's Symphony Hall (opening for Judy Collins), Mountain Stage, The Plaza Hotel, Lincoln Center, the Boston Hatch Shell, and the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
Hanneke has a number of fabulous recordings including her Scottish Country Dance CD Many Happy Returns with Dave Wiesler. You can visit her website at:
hannekecassel.com for her concert schedule, complete listing of recordings and
more.
Liz Donaldson, piano and accordion.
LIZ DONALDSON (Bethesda, MD) plays piano and accordion and has been playing for dancing for many years. She is known for
her innovative back-up style incorporating exciting rhythms, textures, and harmony lines in her music. In addition to
playing for Scottish, English and American contra dances, Liz teaches all these styles, and dances, too!
She is a member of Terpsichore, Waverley Station, and The New Hip Trio. Her Scottish
Country Dance recordings include: Caledonian Muse, Terpsichore, Scottish Dance Music, Waverley
Station: First Stop! Memories of Scottish Weekend ('98) and More Memories of Scottish Weekend
('02), as well as her most recent CD English Echoes: English Country Dance Favorites. Liz has two books of
Scottish tune medleys and Rain in the Desert, a collection of her own compositions.
Liz has taught and played at numerous dance weekends and music workshops including Scottish Weekend (MD/PA/WV), Pinewoods (MA), and Asilomar (CA). Her travels have taken her to Great Britain, Canada, France and Japan. She has performed with Terpsichore at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage.
Liz enjoys teaching BandAids, ensemble-playing workshops, and enjoys composing tunes, especially waltzes.
For more information access Liz's website at lizdonaldson.com.
Dan Emery, piper.
DAN EMERY (Fort Washington, PA). Dan has been the designated piper at Scottish Weekend since the first session at
Buffalo Gap in 1989, and has been the piper at Pinewoods many times. As well as the highland pipes, Dan plays the small
pipes. In addition he enjoys playing the flute, fiddle and cittern (like a big mandolin!) just for fun.
When not piping, Dan is a fine Scottish country dancer and is an architect in real life.
Earl Gaddis, fiddle and viola.
EARL GADDIS (Plainwell, MI) is a full-time dance musician, having played fiddle and viola for a mixture of English, Scottish, American, and international dancing for well over 40 years. He plays for dance camps, workshops, balls and other dance events throughout the United States and abroad. Earl is a member of Bare Necessities, which has released
about a dozen recordings of English Country Dance music so far, and of Woodlark (with Karen Axelrod and Chris Rua), and he has recorded with a number of other musicians as well. He lives in great contentment on ten acres of woods in Plainwell, Michigan with his wife Sherry Brodock.
Ralph Gordon, cello and bass.
RALPH GORDON (Charlestown, WV) is a classically trained bassist and cellist educated at West Virginia University and the Manhattan School of Music. He played for many years with innovative folk band Trapezoid, and his skills span a wide range of musical styles from chamber music to big band swing. The Charleston Post Courier remarked, "His playing is more sophisticated and technically accomplished than the next ten string players of any sort and he uses his instruments to subtly ground, stabilize, and inspire the rest of the ensemble as they pursue their experimentations."
Ralph is in great demand in the Washington, DC area as a freelance artist and a session musician. He can be heard on more than sixty recordings, including Scottish, English country, contradance, hoedown, folk, bluegrass, klezmer, blues, swing, jazz combos, and big band styles. Ralph has played for over ten years with Terpsichore, and has worked extensively on revitalizing Scottish folk cello style.
Ellen Gozion, piano.
ELLEN GOZION (Pittsburgh, PA) Since graduating from the School of Music at UNCG in Greensboro, NC, Ellen has been a full-time musician specializing in classical ballet and modern dance accompanying, and is currently a
full-time accompanist at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. An active member of the local regional contra and English music and dance community, she has performed, toured and recorded with various players, including Larry Unger, David Knight, and old-time fiddler Mark Tamsula, and with bands Toppish, The Hot Toddies, Amarillis and others.
Ellen also performs regionally as a solo folk singer and has recorded two collections of traditional songs and ballads. Both collections feature music from southern Appalachia, Northern England, and Scotland. Guest fiddler David Knight appears on the 2004 recording, Awake Awake.
Ellen has been an active contra dancer since the late '80's; she began attending Augusta's old-time-vocal-and-dance week annually in 2002; and she is the proud new owner of a 5-five-string banjo, her latest absolute delight. For more information, check out Ellen's website at www.ellengozion.com.
David Knight, fiddle.
DAVID KNIGHT (Washington, DC) has been instigating dance up and down the East Coast and beyond since 1991, primarily in the Scottish, American, English, and Irish dance traditions. He also veers regularly into composition, performance, and recording. He has been featured on three recordings - Waverley Station: First Stop!, More Memories of Scottish
Weekend, and most recently Ellen Gozion: Awake, Awake. His most recent tunes are collected in The Art Of..., his second collection. He plays most frequently with Thistle House, Waverley Station, and the Evil Twins. Visit David's website at music.davidknight.us.
Etienne Ozorak, accordion.
ETIENNE OZORAK (Meadville, PA), accordionist, is leader of the
Music Makars, known in most Scottish dance communities for their innovative and unusual arrangements. In the mid-seventies, Etienne started Scottish dancing and served with the Cameron Highlanders as piper. He performed with Bobby Brown and the Scottish Accent between 1977 and 1985, appearing on eight landmark recordings and two trips to Scotland with Cape Breton and Ontario fiddlers. In 1991, he formed the Music Makars and has guided them through six recordings and one tour of Scotland, including a live appearance on BBC radio Scotland. The group's musicality remains grounded in the Canadian fiddle music sound he grew up with.
Etienne also loves to dance, and splits his devotion to Scottish country and highland dance with American ballroom dance in which he regularly competes. Be sure to visit his website at www.musicmakars.com.
Dave Wiesler, piano and guitar.
DAVE WIESLER (Newark, DE). Dave is pleased to return to Scottish Weekend for the twelfth consecutive year. Dave is a skilled pianist and avid Scottish Country dancer and enjoys the chance to participate in both at Scottish Weekend. In addition to his Scottish Dance music, he plays regularly for contra dance, English Country Dance, couple dancing, concerts,
and has substantial studio experience.
He has been on staff at Pinewoods, Augusta, Ashokan, Buffalo Gap, and Sierra Swing, Timber Ridge, and Boston Harbor, and has performed at the Kennedy Center and at the Smithsonian. His music has taken him to Hawaii, Canada, England, Scotland and the Galapagos Islands. Check out his book of original melodies, DaveTunes, and his CDs, including Cracks and Shadows and two Scottish dance recordings Many Happy Returns with Hanneke Cassel, and Heather Hills with Mara Shea. You can also find out more about Dave on his website at
davewiesler.com.
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