Bio

Originally from Manitoba, fiddler/singer/composer Anne Lederman is strongly rooted in several Canadian musical traditions, old and new – Metis and French-Canadian, Scots-Irish, Eastern European and African. She sings in several languages and, in addition to her fiddling and singing, also plays mandolin, piano, bones, feet, jawharp and more.

Anne began her professional career as a fiddler in the late 1970's touring with Harry Hibbs, Newfoundland's “favourite son”. In 1983, as half of duo Muddy York with Ian Bell, she released the groundbreaking recording Scatter The Ashes: Music of Old Ontario of traditional music.

In 1985 and ‘86, she returned to Manitoba to study and record the music of Native and Métis fiddlers, resulting in a 4-record archival set of recordings titled Old Native and Métis Fiddling in Manitoba, re-released in 2004 as a double CD set on The National Museum's Archive label. This was followed by work with Izvor, an ensemble devoted to Balkan, Greek and other East European traditions, and then The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band with whom she recorded two albums: The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band and Agada.

In 1991, she released her own recording, Not A Mark In The World, a collection of Canadian traditional songs of social comment. This was followed in 1998 with a special collection of songs for children, Come From Every Way, about coming to Canada from all over the world. In 1999, Anne began to work with Njacko Backo of Cameroon and his Kalimba Kalimba! ensemble, touring the Prairies, B.C. and Yellowknife. This group has released two recordings, Ka Koua (2001) and The Conscience of Africa (2004).

The year 2000 saw the appearance of Anne’s first fiddle recording, 7 Cats, featuring traditional and original tunes – Metis, French-Canadian, Celtic-Canadian, Klezmer and Macedonian.

This was followed in 2003 by Fiddlesong, a work hailed by critics as an inspired expression of “Canadian world music”.

"It sounds traditional; it sounds brand new. Mostly it just sounds damn good." Penguin Eggs

“. . . creates something both traditional and new, and it's a thing of beauty.” Sound Bytes

“. . . truly a great example of Canadian music at its finest.” The Observer. Hartland, NB

In 1992, Anne founded WORLDS OF MUSIC TORONTO, a school devoted both to teaching of musical traditions throughout the world and to cross-cultural performance. Throughout this time, she continued to teach Music and Folklore at York University, to compose and perform music for several theatrical productions in Toronto and Blyth, Ontario and back up numerous artists in live shows and on recordings (Grit Laskin and Ian Robb, Eileen McGann, Don Freed, Holly Cole, Cindy Thompson, Theresa Tova, Tom Leadbeater and Garnet Rogers among others). Anne was the fiddler and musical consultant for the popular Road to Avonlea television series.

In 1997, she wrote the script for a solo show, Spirit of the Narrows, about her work with Native and Metis fiddlers in Manitoba. In 2004, this work was turned into a 2-person play which premiered at the Blyth Theatre Festival to rave reviews and was remounted in 2005. She continues to compose and perform for theatre, film and concert performance, most recently for two Veronica Tennant productions, A Pair of Red Shorts.

She is currently working on a Canadian theatrical adaptation of “Into the West” by Roseneath Theatre, to be mounted in the Spring of 2007.

Anne has been heard on Morningside, Gabereau, Musical Friends, Midday, Friday Night with Ralph Benmergui and as part of Stuart McLean's Vinyl Café Orchestra. With her ensemble, Fiddlesong (Laura Cesar, Ian Bell, Debashis Sinha and Tom Leighton) nad with LOKA and Njacko Backo, she continues to perform at festivals, concerts and dances throughout Canada.

In 2005, she represented Canada at the prestigious Viljandi Festival in Estonia. In 2006 she performed at the NOrth Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Aberdeen Scotland and at the Shetland Fiddle Frenzy. 2007 took her to the North to teach for the Kole Crook Association and to both the Hockley Valley and Algma Trad Fiddle Camps in Ontario.

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