If you want to learn about Irish fiddling in northern Michigan, Hannah Harris is your person.
She played classical violin as a child but was inspired to learn Irish fiddling after seeing Celtic Woman live in concert and being inspired by the group's fiddler.
Harris studied fiddling in Ireland when she was earning a master's degree in ethnomusicology at the University College Cork. "It was like fieldwork and a degree all in one," she said.
Harris has been a regular in this summer's Little Bay Live series, presented by the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
She visited IPR's Studio A with guitarist John Warstler.
They performed selections from their 2020 album "Tea for Tunes."
Harris also explained what the differences are between fiddling and playing the violin. "It's more of a style thing," she said.
The instruments themselves can differ based on where they're going to be played. "A classical musician might prefer a more bright sound that's meant to fill an auditorium," Harris explained, "while a fiddler might be sitting in a circle in a pub."
Harris, Warstler and Steph Cope will perform next on Wednesday, August 11 at noon in Petoskey, in the Gazebo at Pennsylvania Park.
Music performed
Traditional reels: The Flooded Road to Glenties / Martin Wynne's No. 2 / Joe Tom's
John Spillane, Passage West
Stefan Wiebe engineered this edition of Studio A.
