Donna Hébert has fiddling in her genes. The daughter of a French-Canadian banjo-playing mom who sang in a cowgirl quartet in the 1930s and 40s, Donna heard jigs and reels at family gatherings, while in high school she played Mozart, sharing a stand with violinist Elmar Oliviera. Fiddling's pull was stronger; since 1972, Hébert has learned from master folk fiddlers in a variety of regional styles as well as from classical and jazz violinists. She has received media and recording industry awards and state and regional arts council recognition as a master fiddler, music educator and fiddling pioneer.

Adjunct fiddle instructor at Amherst College, Donna has taught fiddling at Wesleyan, The Hartt School, Central CT State and ASTA conferences, summer camps and workshops as well as folk venues nationwide. She is currently working with string teachers in Massachusetts to develop a regional pilot program introducing fiddling into the string curriculum.

String music pioneer Darol Anger says in his foreword to Donna's Fiddling Demystified: A Practical Guide for String Players "Donna gets it all right! I suspect that the general level of fiddle knowledge and playing will take a major uptick soon after Fiddling Demystified is published, just as other great music books such as Earl Scruggs’ original banjo book, O’Neill‘s great Irish fiddling reference and the infamous jazz Real Book influenced the course of musicians’ lives and work."

A concert and dance fiddler since 1972, Donna also directs The Great Groove Band of young musicians at both the Old Songs Festival in Altamont NY, where the program is in it’s 9th year. In 2006, the Great Groove Band expanded to a second program at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

She teaches, performs and records solo and with her teaching partners in five-member string band Groovemama and with Franco-American heritage quartet Chanterelle. With Beaudoin family members, fiddler George Wilson and the Vermont Folklife Center, she co-directs The Beaudoin Project, documenting, preserving and presenting the music of Vermont fiddler Louis Beaudoin and his family. Summer and fall 2007 performances include the Lowell Folk Festival, Champlain Valley Festival and Catamount (VT) Arts.

Six-times recognized as a master Franco-American fiddler by New England arts councils and a 2005 Massachusetts Artist Grant finalist, Donna has helped to create a community of fiddlers, singers and lovers of Franco-American music.

Recorded twice on Smithsonian with other recordings on Philo/Fretless, Flying Fish (Donna's edgy '80s band Rude Girls debut album on Flying Fish won a 1988 INDIE Award for Best String Band) and Chanterelle labels, Donna is the director and publisher of Fiddling Demystified for Strings.

Shorter bio

Donna Hébert is an extraordinary fiddler, adept at many regional styles, finding the rhythmic heartbeat of a tune every time. Learning style from fiddlers like Louis Beaudoin, Allan Block, Gerry Robichaud and many others, she has fiddled, sung and written for seminal '70s contradance band Yankee Ingenuity and 1988 INDIE award-winning women's string band Rude Girls. Now Donna performs and teaches with Franco-American cultural group Chanterelle, in it's 14th year, and triple-fiddle group Groovemama, teaching Fiddling Demystified workshops and coaching The Great Groove Band at both the Old Songs and Philadelphia Folk Festivals. With fiddler George Wilson, she also co-directs The Beaudoin Project, documenting, presenting and preserving the music of Vermont's Beaudoin family.

Donna teaches fiddling to individuals and groups at schools, colleges, conferences and festivals. On the 2006 faculty at Mark O'Connor's 2006 Strings Conference, she met and worked with California jazz cellist Renata Bratt, with whom she now teaches fiddle/cello focused Fiddling Demystified workshops. Donna is currently transcribing, teaching and performing the tunes and settings of her late Franco-American fiddling mentor, Louis Beaudoin. She also directs The Great Groove Band of school-age musicians, in its 8th year at the Old Songs Festival in Altamont NY and in it's second year at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

PRESS PHOTO

TECH REQUIREMENTS FOR SOUND

Pencil mic for fiddle, SM58 or better for vocals, both on boom stands, straight back chair (not folding).

RECORDINGS & PUBLICATIONS

Fiddling Demystified: A Practical Guide for String Players book/CDs - 20 page guide to right/left hand techniques, 31 tunes fully-styled, 70 pages, two 70-minute lesson CDs. Violin edition - 2007, viola & cello editions Nov. 2007

Fiddlejam CD - Groovemama plays Fiddling Demystified tunes (Donna Hébert, Jane Rothfield, George Wilson, Max Cohen, Stuart Kenney) December 2007

Novice Practice Book/CD - scales, triads and easy tunes for beginners - March 2008

Fiddling with a French Accent DVD - favorite French-Canadian tunes - February 2008

Mrs. McLeod's Reel: Six authentic settings for one extraordinary tune - for violin, viola, cello, book/CD - 2006

The Great Groove Band Vol. I - 9 tunes with fully styled authentic settings, chord charts and half-note easy settings, scored for violin, viola, cello, flute and clarinet - 2006

The Grumbling Old Woman - Tunebook of 60 contradance reels, jigs and waltzes for violin, plus arrangements of Gilbert and Sullivan melodies (Patience and Trial by Jury) for square dancing. Dance directions, chords, tune sources. CD with 27 tunes (60 mins). 2004, 1995, 1981

Alan Jabbour: Appalachian Fiddling DVD -10 tunes in standard and cross-tunings with right-reading bowing picture in picture, 30-minute interview, sheet music transcriptions for violin. Produced & published. 2003

The Muse of Joy and Sorrow: why we play the fiddle - Donna's online book of favorite quotes, short stories, fine art images and poetry about fiddling. 2002

Big Boned Beauty CD Donna's solo CD of favorite oldies and original tunes plus sweet and hilarious songs with sax and violins! Liza Constable, Stuart Kenney, Lise Brown, others. 1999

"Mademoiselle, voulez-vous danser? Franco-American Music from the New England Borderlands" Smithsonian/Folkways anthology, song "The Shuttle," tune "Growling Old Man and Grumbling Old Woman."

Soirée chez nous: Chanterelle - Franco-American tunes and songs from Donna Hébert, Josée Vachon, Liza Constable, Alan Bradbury, with guests André Marchand (guitar), Lisa Ornstein & Pete Sutherland (fiddles) Dénis Fréchette (piano, trumpet), Jeremiah McLane (accordion) and others.

French in America: Chanterelle - Chanterelle's first CD of Franco & Cajun songs, lullabies and fiddle tunes. Donna Hébert, Josée Vachon, Liza Constable, Alan Bradbury. 1993

Folk Song America - Smithsonian Anthology, "The Ballad of Francine Hughes" by Donna Hébert & Lyn Hardy. 1989

Rude Awakening: Rude Girls - Flying Fish artists Donna Hébert, Lyn Hardy, Debbie Saperstone and Selma Kaplan won an INDIE Award for Best String Band CD for this one 1988. A classic! 1987

Gerry Robichaud: Maritime Dance Party- Philo/Fretless/Alcazar label with Bobby Robichaud, Tony Parkes, Donna Hébert, Jack O'Connor, Sandy Davis. Gerry's favorite fiddle tunes.  1977

Kitchen Junket: Yankee Ingenuity - Philo/Fretless/Alcazar label with Donna Hébert, Tony Parkes, Peter Barnes, Jack O'Connor, Henry Chapin. 1977

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