Fiddler, pianist to perform traditional New England-style music

A pianist called “tremendous” by the BBC and one of Maine’s best-known folk fiddlers offer an evening of original and traditional music in the New England style at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, in Bates College’s Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Admission to this concert by pianist Neil Pearlman and fiddler Greg Boardman is free but tickets are required, available at bit.ly/oacbates. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

The program includes music composed by Boardman and recorded by the pair for his recent release Trip to Benton, as well as other originals, dance tunes and airs. In addition to fiddle and piano, Pearlman and Boardman will sing and play guitar and mandolin.

Boardman has fiddled throughout Maine and beyond since the early 1970s, learning from such Maine music legends as Otto Soper, Simon St. Pierre, Leo Murphy, Alfred Parent, Lucien Matthieu, Ben Guillemette and Don Roy.

He has performed solo and with a wide variety of bands, including the Northern Valley Boys, Kennebec Valley Boys, Maine Country Dance Orchestra, Old Grey Goose, Boardman and Sons, the Gawler Family, Michael Parent and Jessie Boardman.

Dedicated to keeping Maine’s traditional dance music alive, Boardman is a co-founder of the East Benton Fiddlers’ Convention and the Maine Country Dance Fiddle Workshop, and is the founder of the Maine Fiddle Camp. Trip to Benton is the latest of his several recordings.

Pianist and mandolinist Pearlman is rapidly distinguishing himself as a uniquely innovative artist in traditional music. Called “a force to be reckoned with” by WGBH’s Brian O’Donovan, he is recognized in Celtic music circles for his distinctive approach to the piano. Rooted in traditional Cape Breton styles, Pearlman brings in ideas from many other genres, producing an exciting new sound that remains true to its traditional roots.

Also an accomplished Cape Breton step dancer, Pearlman grew up in the family band Highland Soles, led by father and mother, Ed Pearlman and Laura Scott, both influential figures in Scottish-style music and dance in the U.S. Pearlman has performed with such musical luminaries as Natalie MacMaster, Alasdair Fraser, Natalie Haas,  Seamus Connolly, Kimberley Fraser, Maeve Gilchrist and Hanneke Cassel.

Pearlman currently performs with a wide range of musical projects including Alba’s Edge, a Scottish-jazz-Latin quartet; Soulsha, a Scottish-West African-funk octet; the Scottish-influenced Katie McNally Trio; and Pearlman’s duo with his father Ed Pearlman.