Artists:Laura Risk

From driving reels and passionate strathspeys to lilting jigs, melancholy Gaelic airs, and elegant 18th-century minuets, Laura Risk's fiddling takes you on a rich journey through the diverse repertoires of Scotland and Quebec. Her expressive, versatile playing is described by filmmaker Ken Burns as "a revelation and achingly beautiful."

Laura's latest solo recording, Two Thousand Miles, was released in 2004. "Laura's music is truly from the heart, with a passion too deep for words," declares KPFK's Folkscene. Two Thousand Miles finds Laura joining forces with some of Quebec's hottest traditional and jazz musicians: Eric Beaudry (La Bottine Souriante) on guitar, Rachel Aucoin (Domino) on piano, Eric Breton (Perdu l'Nord) on percussion, and Michel Donato (Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson) on bass. The repertoire, however, is pure Scottish, with a particular emphasis on tunes from the great Scottish collectors and composers of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Originally from California, Laura grew up in the thriving San Francisco Scottish fiddle scene, learning her craft from master fiddler Alasdair Fraser. Her teenage collaboration with fiddler Athena Tergis resulted in the acclaimed album Journey Begun, featuring original compositions and innovation arrangements of traditional Scottish tunes. "Tergis and Risk [are] the toast of northern California's Celtic renaissance," declared Strings Magazine.

Upon moving to Boston in 1996, Laura joined American roots band Cordelia's Dad. Their 1998 CD, Spine, was named Folk Album of the Month by MOJO and lauded by CMJ New Music Monthly: "If traditional American music has a future, it's probably Cordelia's Dad." The band toured North America and England extensively, including performances at London's Barbican Centre, the Newport, Winnipeg, and Philadelphia Folk Festivals, and City Stages (Birmingham, AL).

Currently, Laura performs solo and in duos with such notables as percussive dancer Sandy Silva, hammered dulcimer virtuoso Ken Kolodner, and acclaimed guitarist/vocalist/bodhran player Paddy League.

Laura is known as an outstanding teacher, able to inspire students at any level. She has taught Scottish fiddling at the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School every summer since 1994, and has also taught at the The Swannanoa Gathering, Fiddlekids, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, and the Southern California Suzuki Institute. She recently completed a five-year tenure as an Instructor of Fiddling at Wellesley College, where she founded the college's first Celtic music ensemble. [1]

She is also a member of Ferintosh..