Biographical Info

Washington
with Sabin Jacques, button accordion, and Rachel Aucoin, piano

Fiddle virtuoso Lisa Ornstein is an outstanding interpreter of the traditional music of French Canada and Appalachia, blending compelling and inventive playing with impeccable tune choice. Befriended by North Carolina fiddle legend Tommy Jarrell while she was in her teens, Lisa quickly became an accomplished fiddler in the Round Peak style. A musical friendship with Franco-American fiddler Louis Beaudoin set her on a path to Quebec in 1978. When La Bottine Souriante — Quebec’s internationally renowned traditional supergroup — invited her to join the band, Lisa’s projected six-month stay began to stretch, eventually lasting twelve years. While in Quebec, Lisa spent countless hours visiting with older musicians and playing in kitchens and dance halls. She also squeezed in a master’s in folklore on the life and music of master fiddler Louis “Pitou” Boudreault. She has taught, concertized, and toured extensively in North America and Europe with some of Quebec’s finest musicians, and recorded for both Smithsonian Folkways and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Her music appears on a number of La Bottine’s albums, and on critically acclaimed CDs with former bandmates André Marchand and Normand Miron.

Button accordionist Sabin Jacques and pianist Rachel Aucoin have been musical and life partners since 1997, and they’ll support Lisa at Fiddle Tunes. Sabin has been dedicated to preserving the rich Quebec tradition of the diatonic folk accordion, especially the music of revered accordionist and composer Phillipe Bruneau. Rachel has a background in classical piano and an abundant Acadian family tradition. Together they weave strands of the old and new into a rich, robust, and colorful musical fabric.