Les Batinses perform music that is out of this world. From the far North to the shores of the Mediterranean, their sails through tango, polka, swing and good-old reels from Quebec. Folklore suddenly becomes funklore!

These seekers of sense and sound also enjoy experimenting with unusual instruments like the bouzouki, uillean pipe, the Breton bombarde and the didgeridoo. Les Batinses surf across frontiers and eras to create a world class music that is "made in Québec."

The Bitter End is a Montreal-based Celtic folk group comprised of five talented musicians; inspired by traditional Irish and Scottish ballads and tunes, they weave the textures of bouzouki, accordion, fiddle and bodhran with three-part vocal harmony to create a sound rich in spirit and tradition. The Bitter End is Tim Walsh and Heather Cameron, who are joined by Sean Dagher, John Showman and Jim Goode.

Military Regiments live and die on the strength of their traditions and history. In the case of the Black Watch, the unit's tradition and history are embodied in the sounds, uniform and deportment of its Pipes and Drums. The Black Watch Pipes and Drums are the oldest organized pipe band in North America, and have, over the years, been consistently ranked among the top Canadian Forces bands in all rated categories.

The Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch (RHR) of Canada are always in great demand, both locally in Montreal, and throughout North America and Europe. So far, members of the Pipes and Drums have appeared at over 200 engagements this year alone! The Pipes and Drums have appeared at many events over the years, including the Ed Sullivan Show, Tattoos and Highland games throughout North America, including Fort Ticonderoga, New York, Maine, Miami, Kentucky and the Stone Mountain Highland Games and Tattoo near Atlanta, Georgia.

The Celtic Flyers play traditional as well as contemporary Irish music in an energetic and original style that has the crowd in mind. The group is comprised of Gary Davis on guitar and Jim Stevens on guitar and voice, and sometimes includes a fiddler and a piano player.

Gary Davis was born in 1955, began playing guitar at age twelve, and started his musical career at age sixteen playing locally in coffee shops. Between 1997 and 1999, he performed on a YTV children’s show called My Hometown. In the last five years, Gary Davis has been playing full-time with Jimmy Stevens in Irish pubs as well as in at events such as St. Patrick’s Day, weddings, private and legion parties, etc.

Jim Stevens was born in Scotland and grew up in Montreal in a family of seven children, where music was always a big part of his life. He began playing and singing at local legions and parties in the early seventies and had progressed to the downtown Irish music scene by 1973. For the last ten years, Jim Stevens played with "Salty Dog" as a lead singer and rhythm guitar player.

At the age of 30, J.P. Cormier has already lived a life that most musicians only dream about. He has played at the Grand Old Opry, won the respect and support of stars like Waylon Jennings and Marty Stuart, toured the United States extensively and won dozens of fiddle, guitar, and banjo titles.

As gospel recording artist Jerry Sullivan puts it: "One person in a thousand plays an instrument well. One in ten thousand plays well enough to be considered professional. One in a million has the gift and John Paul Cormier has received the gift along the way. J.P. plays eight instruments and sings with a virtuosity that seems impossible for one man to possess."

The professional music careers of sisters Maureen, Karen, and Teresa Ennis exploded onto the national stage in January 1998, when they brought the house down, and the capacity audience to its feet, at the East Coast Music Association Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. With one forty minute set, performed brilliantly by the trio and their superb band, the Canadian music industry witnessed a rarely seen event in the business: the collective acknowledgement by every last person in the room that The Ennis Sisters were destined to enjoy national, if not international success as a musical group. On that fateful night many feel a star was born, but for anyone who has seen The Ennis Sisters perform since they were just young tots, their success comes as no surprise.

From traditional "milling frolics" to concert stages and clubs, Mary Jane Lamond is taking the country by gentle surprise.

A graduate of St. Francis Xavier University where she pursued Celtic Studies with a Gaelic language major, she has won prizes at the Gaelic Mod in Ontario, performed at the Isle of Harris Festival in the Hebrides and appeared with Ashley MacIsaac in a special A&M showcase in L.A.

A favourite with Atlantic Canadians, Mary Jane has performances scheduled across Canada this summer including the Governor General's Picnic, the Harbourfront Celtic Festival and the National Arts Centre and Festival by the Sea. Mary Jane continues to tour regularly as Ashley MacIsaac's featured guest.

She recently opened the East Coast Music Awards Show with a spectacular display of the vocal acuity that is quickly becoming her trademark. Her growing recognition was evidenced at the awards show with nominations for Female Artist of the Year and Roots/Traditional Artist of the Year for her Gaelic record "Bho Thir Nan Craobh."

Tess LeBlanc, originally from Moncton, New Brunswick, has been living in Québec for many years. A terrific step dancer (Cape Breton style) and bodhran player, she also has a beautiful voice with which she sings songs in French and English as well as in Gaelic. Her talent and repertoire are a reflection of her wide Celtic influences. Tess’s musical maturity shines through in her songs which seem to have been a part of her since childhood.

A native of Cape Breton, who began playing fiddle at the age of nine and has since become a local legend, Ashley MacIsaac is flagrantly challenging tradition to re-create, messing it up until it's unclear, then forging ahead with his own version—a new-age fusion of Celtic soundscapes interwoven on a symbiotic tapestry with contemporary forms.

Ashley MacIsaac has a somewhat daunting presence for a fiddle player. Wearing a kilt and a pair of scruffy army boots, his image and aura are such that he would not be out of place as an extra on the movie Braveheart. His look and his music are barbaric and devilish, stubborn and proud, tawdry and threatening. When the fiddle players from the old country played in the sitting room they didn't sound too polite. MacIsaac offers little to alter this Celtic custom. His music sounds at times like voodoo fiddle carrying down a tradition of hundreds of years of Celtic suppression, oppression and rage. This truly is heart music.

Dave MacIsaac is considered a master of stringed instruments and one of the finest Celtic guitarists in the world. Whether it’s a fiddle, an acoustic or electric guitar in his hand, Dave can easily bring an audience to their feet with his fiery traditional fiddle tunes. He’s also renowned for his stunning guitar accompaniment and is an accomplished mandolin, dobro and banjo player. Steve Winick, Dirty Linen Magazine describes Dave as "an instrumental alchemist with an uncanny ability to extract beautiful aspects of different styles of music and then combine those qualities into new sounds."

Dave is a three time East Coast Music Award winner, having picked up trophies for Male artist of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year for his last release, Nimble Fingers, in 1996.

Mary Jessie MacDonald is one of the finest Celtic pianists alive today. A legend in Cape Breton, she played with Winston Scotty Fitzgerald in 1951 on his first recording. Mary Jessie is featured on Dave MacIssac’s latest album, From the Archives.

Maeve literally means "intoxicating one." Maeve is also the name of many fine Irish women, amongst whom was Queen Maeve (or "Meidhbh") of Connaught. Currently, Maeve is a group of four women based in Montreal who have come together to perform traditional Celtic music. Beverley McGuire interprets laments, ballads or lively songs in both Irish Gaelic and English, Deborah Jackson on fiddle and Isabelle Doucet on whistle and flute add warmth to the songs and play their own rollicking versions of jigs and reels, while Susan Palmer compliments the melodies with her harp accompaniments. Maeve has performed in concerts, festivals and galas in Montreal and Vermont, has been engaged by many of the Irish organizations in Montreal and was one of ten groups selected in 2000 for the Festival Musique Multi-Montréal.

Successor to Advielle Que Pourra, Montcorbier is a trio of musicians steeped in the traditions of Brittany who borrowed their name from one of the most prestigious poets of Medieval France, François de Montcorbier. This highly romantic figure was known for his powerful poems about love and death as well as about his life as a bandit and a murderer.

Daniel Thonon, Nicolas Boulerice, and Olivier Demers perform together with the energy of a rock group, the virtuosity of a classical string quartet, the romanticism of a gypsy band, and the sound of traditional French instruments.

Na Nigheanan Glengarry is a musical ensemble whose aim is to preserve their Celtic heritage through music and song. Glengarry County, home to most members of the group, was settled by Gaelic-speaking Highlanders over 200 hundred years ago and is also known as the Highland heart of Ontario. Although Gaelic has long since disappeared as an everyday language, the county is still imbued with the Celtic spirit of its ancestors.

Singing mostly in Gaelic, Na Nigheanan's main interest lies in the traditional music of the Scottish Gael, with particular emphasis on sacred songs. However, being versatile in nature, they excel in their unique interpretation of mouth music and work songs and also enjoy teaching Gaelic songs by skillfully weaving them into their musical presentations.

They will be presenting the "Milling Frolic" at the Montréal International Celtic Festival—a rousing musical tradition which has its origins in the production of homespun fabric.

Nobody You Know, based in Montreal, is comprised of John Showman on violin and Pat Greider on guitar and ciitern. The band has been playing for six years, getting its start at Hurley's Irish Pub in Montreal. A successful local pub act, the band has toured extensively every summer for the past five years, playing in Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick, throughout Ontario and Quebec, in Manitoba and in many States, from New York to California. Last summer the band played in Canso at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, in Yellowknife at Folk On The Rocks, in Hamilton at Festival Of Friends, in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Irish festival, in Joliette at the Festival Memoires et Racines, and in Middlebury, Vermont at the Festival on the Green, among others.

The band's repertoire draws from a variety of influences, most notably traditional Celtic music. John's background in gypsy and bluegrass music and Pat's background in American folk, rock and country music give their Celtic repertoire a broad scope and good balance of sounds.

In the years since its creation, Orealis has established a reputation as one of Canada's most exciting and innovative Celtic bands. Their fresh, evocative music, a magical blend of traditional and original material, has delighted concert and festival audiences across the country and in the U.S. Their varied repertoire ranges from haunting ballads and slow airs to driving instrumentals and songs performed with energy and enthusiasm. It is not surprising that this versatile group has shared the bill with such diverse acts as the Pogues, The Waterboys, the Gypsy Kings, Runrig, Luka Bloom and Richard Thompson. Their most recent album "Night Visions" captures the magic and excitement of their live shows and is essential listening for all fans of Celtic/World music.

In the three years Nelson Carter, fiddle, and Seán Dagher, cittern and vocals, have been playing together, they have committed themselves to the development of an obscure vocal repertoire and to stretching the limits of instrumental expression. The comment that The Paddingtons receive most often from audiences is that the duo sounds and feels like a full band. Nelson’s diverse musical background (jazz, blues, pop, and even country) adds flavour to his Celtic/ Maritime playing. Seán’s cittern accompaniment brings out both delicate counterpoint and chordal energy from this rare and beautiful instrument. During the songs, it is Nelson’s turn to accompany, playing the part of lead instrument, inner voice, harmony line, and rhythmic spice all at once. The duo’s improvisational style keeps the music fresh and current. The Paddingtons play pubs and venues across Québec and Eastern Ontario.

No band in Irish Music today has risen faster and farther in such a short time than Solas, whose most recent Shanachie album, The Words That Remain, has cemented their reputation as one of the premier Irish groups in the world.

Formed a little more than four years ago, this versatile, virtuosic group has already received three consecutive awards from the Association for Independent Music (AFIM) for Best Celtic Recording for 1996's Solas, 1997's Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers, and 1998's The Words That Remain. The band has appreared on CNN World Beat, NBC's Weekend Today Show, and others.

With similar speed, Solas progressed from clubs to theaters and headlining status at festivals. The tremendous early buzz on the group has panned out as fact, not fiction, among critics and audiences alike.

Solas continues to fire on all cylinders, landing the opening slot for the recent summer-long Mary Chapin Carpenter tour. In short, Solas is a dazzling Irish supergroup refusing to rest on their laurels.

Tüna is a progressive Celtic outfit with a high level of musicianship, a brand new album called "Montreal Urban Celtic", and an extremely dubious collective hairstyle. The CD has been eagerly anticipated by Montreal's Celtic community since their first performance which dates over a year ago, on March 13th 1999. Other gigs have included the "Festival de Folklore de Drummondville," in the summer of 1999.

After many late nights of playing pub music in various bands and many pints of fine Tartan Special Ale, Guinness stout and single malt whiskies, this accomplished line-up decided to get together to play a more concert-oriented blend of Celtic music focusing primarily on instrumental aspects of the tradition. Tüna arguably contains some of the city's—if not the country's—finest Celtic musicians: a Montréal super-group if you will. Their new CD captures not only their incredible musicianship but also the exciting energy of their live performances.

Dave Gossage has written many original instrumentals that this band showcases. As the primary musical leader of the band, he has woven a wealth of musical styles into these original melodies. Tüna's sets include traditional Irish and Scottish, slow airs, fast reels, and jigs, as well as other influences such as African, Macedonian, Blues, and Jazz.

From Prince Edward Island comes fiddling dynamo Richard Wood. He has won countless championships as a step dancer and a fiddler. Twice he earned the Don Messer Memorial Trophy for top Maritime fiddler. In 1998 he won Instrumental Artist and Roots/Traditional Artist at the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax.

Richard has performed for audiences at concerts and festivals across Canada, in the United States and in the United Kingdom. He has made guest appearances with Shania Twain on David Letterman and Good Morning America, in Ottawa on Parliament Hill, with Rita McNeil and friends (CBC), and was part of the Team Canada delegation to Japan where he played for the Emperor, Prince, and the Japanese and Canadian Prime Ministers.

Richard’s high-energy show is a combination of fiddling virtuosity and stunning showmanship. He continues to evolve an innovative approach to traditional Celtic jigs, reels, and strathspeys. Tempering the mix are sweet airs and lively polkas.

DANCE

The Celtic Grace Dancers

The Montreal Highland Dancers

Donald Holder

Donald, a native of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is relatively new to the Celtic dance stage. He has always had a keen interest in different dance styles but has returned to his roots with Cape Breton step dancing.

Donald has stepdanced on stages to the music Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, Richard Wood, and many others. You can catch Donald at concerts and festivals throughout Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Boston, and any kitchen where strathspeys and reels are playing.

David has been active in the Montreal storytelling community for the past four years, primarily as a member of the Storyteller's Guild of Montreal. He has also told stories at festivals and other swapping grounds in Montreal and Toronto.

Originally from Ste. Foy (a suburb near Quebec City), David has been a Montrealer for the past seven years. Although he makes his living as a technical writer, he is also active in the theatre community as an actor and a director.

David is an engaging teller who makes good use of his acting experience to add a theatrical spin to his stories. His strong stage presence will keep you on the edge of your seat as he weaves his tales of mystery, adventure, and laughter.

Let's face it, there aren't too many full-time criers around—-but of these, Daniel must be one of the busiest. He has managed a happy blend of his old roles as teacher and actor, with his own love for history thrown in. The result has allowed him to transform a little-known profession into a long-term career.

Since 1981, he has proudly represented both sides of the nation's Capital Region, Ottawa and Hull. In 1984, the members of the Ontario government booked the services of this spokesman for nine years, appointing him Good Will Ambassador for the province's bicentennial celebrations. Throughout this period, he refined his craft and gave workshops on breathing and voice projection. He also trained criers for other communities both here and abroad.