Tag: music (Page 1 of 3)

July 25, 2026: Zlatne Uste Dance Party

Join Zlatne Uste at the Buckland Public Hall on Saturday, July 25, 2026, from 7-10PM for a festive evening of dancing and/or listening to energetic music of the Balkans

Zlatne Uste (Serbo-Croatian for “Golden Lips”) is a 12-piece New York-based Balkan brass band founded in the 1980s that plays traditional music from Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romani traditions, including traditional, wedding, and folk music from the region. They are renowned for hosting the annual Zlatne Uste Golden Festival (“Golden Fest”) in NYC, which is considered the premier Balkan music event in the US, featuring over 50 bands, dancing, and workshops.

Sliding Scale Admission:
$25 – $45
Admission may be paid at the door until capacity is reached.

Pre-Register

Tamburitza Orchestra Play Along

This powerful music is contagious and accessible. Native to Serbia, Croatia and neighboring regions, it also has had a strong presence in the US for over a century, where pockets of immigrants have kept this joyful culture alive. See our list of links below to learn more.

Please consider joining this orchestra for the day if you play plucked or bowed strings, accordion, or like to sing! These tunes fit well on the traditional tamburica instruments which are tuned in 4ths, but can also be played on mandolins or other plucked strings as well as fiddles of course.

Learn More & Register

House Concert with lydia ievins

On April 12th, Fabric of Life will host local musician lydia ievins in the Farmhouse livingroom at the Bassett Homestead.

2PM: Workshop

The afternoon will begin at 2pm with a workshop with lydia, which will focus on melody in the mind of a fiddler. Seats will be limited and Scandi-interested musicians of all levels are invited to participate in an engaging workshop with one of the US’s premier Scandinavian string players.

4PM: Mini House Concert

All are invited to join us at 4pm for a lively house concert as lydia ievins performs glorious Scandinavian harmonies on the nyckelharpa and five-string fiddle with help of a looper pedal.

Dinner & Jam Session

Following a cozy sit down dinner, lydia will lead an open jam session.

Registration is offered on a sliding scale and includes dinner. Seating is limited, so we appreciate pre-registration for this program. If seats are still available, we will accept payment at the door.

PRE-REGISTER

Sliding Scale Registration (includes dinner):
House Concert Only: $15/25/35
Workshop & House Concert: $20/35/50
All sales beyond the cost of the event will go to the artist.

April 19th, 2026: Concert / Party

Sunday, April 19, 2026, starting at 5pm at the Buckland Public Hall

Concert / Party

by many names

Fais dodo – Kafana – Ceilidh – Kalas

(come hungry!)

Featuring Orkestar Banitsa and the Fabric of Life Fireside Orchestra, led by Eveline MacDougall

Music from around the world: Sweden, Norway, Hungary, United Kingdom, Ireland, Romania, Quebec, Nova Scotia, USA, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia, Greece

Sliding Scale Admission:
$20 / $30 / $40

no one will be turned away for lack of funds

Pre-register or pay at the door.

February 22, 2026: Fireside Orchestra Session I

Dance music has an important role in our communities. It brings joy not only to those who play, but also to those who listen or dance. Being a part of this process on any level helps our world become a better place.

Join the Fabric of Life Fireside Orchestra and take part in two fun eclectic dance music sessions. Eveline MacDougall will lead us as we play music by the wood stove in our Farmhouse living room. Learn and practice a wide selection of tunes on Sunday, February 22nd and Sunday, March 22nd. On April 17th, there will be a review session in preparation for the April 19th Concert / Party at the Buckland Public Hall.

October 18, 2025: Mari Black Trio

Mari Black Trio Concert

7:00-9:00PM

Mari Black and Troy MacGillivray played a lively Cape Breton Fiddle concert in 2024 to a sold-out Buckland Public Hall audience and we are excited to welcome Mari back to Buckland with her trio. If you missed last year’s fiddle concert, we hope you will be able to join us this year! And, if you did attend last year, you know what an outstanding musician Mari Black is and just how engaging her style is.

Mari will play fiddle accompanied by a guitar and an upright bass as the trio plays their signature “Fiddling Around the World” show. This show features dance-driven music from around the world (Celtic, Canadian, and American fiddling, jazz, swing, klezmer, Balkan, tango, folk, original works, and more). The trio will also play selected tunes from beloved Celtic styles (Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, Quebecois, and more).

This concert is appropriate for all ages and is sure to have you out of your seat and dancing along.

Pre-concert Workshop

3:00-4:15PM

Prior to the concert, the Mari Black Trio will lead simultaneous workshops for both melody and accompaniment players. Participants will learn a set of tunes and then join forces to put the whole ensemble together in a group arrangement.

Learn More & Register

CANCELLED: September 13, 2025: Eddie Forman Orchestra

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Please make sure you subscribe to our email list so we can let you know when we reschedule the Eddie Forman Orchestra!

People of all ages are invited to join the Eddie Forman Orchestra to dance and enjoy a fun-filled evening of good music at the Buckland Public Hall on September 13, 2025.

4:00PM: Workshop for musicians.

5:30PM: Dance workshop, followed by a lively concert and dance music played by the Eddie Forman Orchestra – complete with polish food.

The Eddie Forman Orchestra, also known as “E.F.O.”, is a western Massachusetts polka band that has been performing before audiences since 1968. Eddie Forman started the band while he was still in high school, and has been creating and recreating music ever since. The Eddie Forman Orchestra has one of the largest followings in the New England area. Eddie has been quoted saying: “It is people like you that have kept us playing for all these years, and as long as you are here, so is E.F.O.” E.F.O. is known for their standard Polkas with Polish lyrics. They are without a doubt one of the hardest working bands giving the fans an abundance of music.

The Eddie Forman Orchestra has received numerous awards in recognition of promoting polka music and culture. Eddie had the honor of being inducted in the International Polka Music Hall of Fame on August 5th, 2006.

The E.F.O. has made eighteen recordings; “The Rest of My Years” “Accordion to Eddie” is their most recent. This recording features a different style of polkas. The band is composed of a very diverse group of musicians. They have an expanded repertoire of music and have performed over the years at many venues throughout New England, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, California and Florida. The E.F.O. has also been featured on several cruises to the Caribbean Islands and Bermuda. Eddie along with his wife Carol organizes bus tours taking their large following of dedicated fans to various festivals and polka weekends.

The Eddie Forman Orchestra is in high demand and has performed throughout the United States. The band’s enthusiasm and love for the music they perform, their versatility and ability to embrace a wide range of styles and their dedication to strong, lively performances make the E.F.O. an enduring success.

Learn more about the Eddie Forman Orchestra

July 26, 2025: Larry & Joe Concert & Workshop

Concert: 7-9PM

Join Larry & Joe at the Buckland Public Hall for an evening of music without borders. Reimagining their two musical traditions, Llanera superstar Larry Bellorín (Venezuela) and Latingrass GRAMMY-nominee Joe Troop (North Carolina) play harp, banjo, fiddle, cuatro, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and sing to inspire joy and unity.

Pre-concert Workshop: 4PM

Gabán / Latin Strings / Venezuelan Strings

During this afternoon workshop, Larry & Joe will teach attendees a two-chord gabán, a fundamental rhythmic and harmonic structure of the musical style, la música llanera. Participants will learn how strings are used percussively through muting and golpes to create the iconic joropo feel. Though Larry & Joe will use the cuatro (an instrument intrinsically bound to the Venezuelan identity) as a teaching tool, this language is translatable to other string instruments like the banjo.

Workshop open to musicians of all-levels. Instruments welcome and encouraged but not required.

PRE-REGISTER

July 5, 2025: Romanian Play-Along with Ralph Iverson and Friends

Romanian Orchestra Play-Along
with Ralph Iverson & Friends

We welcome intermediate to advanced musicians to come for an unusual and delightful day of playing in an impromptu Romanian Orchestra under the leadership of Ralph Iverson. Ralph is a longtime friend of Becky’s, who has been a steadfast supporter and participant at her Barn Dances since the mid-1980s, and Fabric of Life’s more recent Barnfest celebrations. His enthusiasm for playing and collecting of all kinds of dance music from the Balkans, including a special interest in Romanian music is contagious, and much to our benefit. We hope you will join in this rare opportunity to make some of this wonderful music together.

Sheet music will be provided, and many of the tunes will be easily accessible to intermediate players, but Ralph will also throw in a few more challenging ones to challenge advanced players as well. There is nothing that matches the power of the “big sound” that many instruments can make playing this beautiful music.

There will be a small space for informal dancing after dinner, and a chance to play some of these tunes again for those who want to stick around in the evening.

Schedule:

2:00-3:30PM: Session I

3:45-5:15PM: Session II

5:45PM: Dinner

After Dinner: More music with dancing on the fringes!

Instruments:

Strings: any bowed instrument! Fiddle, viola, cello, base, cimbalom

Reeds: clarinets, accordions, pan pipes

Woodwinds

Ralph Iverson Bio:

Ralph has been playing International folk dance music since 1985, and has been a regular at the East Coast Balkan Music & Workshops. He’s been a member of many folk dance music groups, including Mandala Folk Dance Ensemble (orchestra director), Cambridge Folk Orchestra, Pinewoods Band, Pajdashi, Rakija, Zdravets, and Zornitsa. His main instruments are gadulka and violin though he also plays viola, flute, whistle, saxophone, tambura, kaval, brač, lijerica, kemenche, and other instruments. Ralph plays in the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, and the MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Ralph has submitted compositions to a competition “Bulgarian New Music in 7/8,” generally winning second or third place honors, but recently submitted a winning composition for gadulka and accompaniment.

Check out our other 2025 Music Series events:

LEARN MORE

May 17th, 2025: Fireside Orchestra Contra Dance

Join George Wilson, Becky Ashenden and the Fabric of Life Fireside Orchestra, led by Eveline MacDougall for an evening of community, Contra Dancing and music from Quebec, Scandinavia, the Balkans, and more! Cammy Kaynor will be calling for us and all are invited to join as dancers or listeners.

Dance takes place at the Buckland Public Hall, 17 Upper St, Buckland, MA on May 17th from 7-9pm!

Sliding scale admission $5-20