Music Staff
Mike Dunn, fiddle. (Charlottesville, VA)
(More information coming)
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.
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.
Anne Hooper, fiddle (Quincy, MA.)
(More information coming)
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.
Ryan McKasson, fiddle (Tacoma, WA)
(More information coming)
Melissa Running, piano (Silver Spring, MD)
(More information coming)
Nora Smith, Fiddle (Baltimore, MD)
(More information coming)
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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