Kevin Burke

At age seven years, Kevin Burke started playing the fiddle, learning informally at home from his parents' record collection and family friends. When he was a teenager he regularly went with his parents or friends of the family to local pubs to hear the sessions, often joining in. Most of the people at those gatherings were from rural communities so the conversation, music, singing, and dancing were their forms of entertainment. Kevin went on to play in many noted Irish bands, including The Bothy Band, The Celtic Fiddle Festival, and Patrick Street. He is a master of traditional Irish fiddling and has even received the National Heritage award, the highest award given to folk artists in the United States. The New York Times said of Kevin, “He is one of the greatest Celtic fiddlers alive. Kevin Burke imparts a rhythmic intensity that is remarkably powerful…and uses his formidable virtuosity to make melodies sing from the heart. A superior instrumentalist in any idiom."

Area: Portland
Type: Performance
Grades: K-12
Cost: $300 dollars for one hour