Quotes

“One of the most emotional moments in the 50th Annual Philadelphia Folk Festival for me came when a crowd sitting in a driving rainstorm sat under their umbrellas and sang along to the only real National Anthem this country ever deserved, Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” performed by a group of children [The Great Groove Band] whose parents were longtime festival goers.

The moment repeated a theme that ran through the entire weekend. I kept seeing families who’d come to share this music together — young people with their toddlers bouncing along beside them; older folks with their teenage kids, who usually were carrying some sort of acoustic instrument; and in a couple of instances three generations of family members who’d come together for the party. This was a case of people who’d been coming to this festival, some for many, many years, bringing their children and grandchildren along to carry on the tradition.” John Swenson: Music on My Mind blog, 8/24/11.

“A substantial contribution to the growing field of fiddling pedagogy,” says Laura Risk in her 9/09 Strings Magazine review of Fiddling Demystified. “Given the growing interest in using fiddle music to supplement standard school-music programs and private classical string lessons and the frequent lack of stylistically informed fiddling in such contexts, Fiddling Demystified should be required reading for all string teachers hoping to branch out into fiddling.”

• Citation from Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick at the 2009 Commonwealth Awards for “outstanding artistic achievement” .

• “In Full Bloom is Donna’s best CD ever, un vrai délice!” Québécois artist Benoit Bourque

• 2008 Massachusetts Artists’ Fellowship in the Folk Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to “recognize exceptional work and to support the further development of talent.”

• Darol Anger in his foreword to Donna’s Fiddling Demystified, Vol. I: 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.”

• “Groovemama is a wild storm of music!” caller Ron Buchanan, 2007 Philadelphia Folk Festival

• “Donna’s fiddle speaks fluent français!” Scott Alarik, NPR’s “Hear and Now”

• “Donna is an outstanding performer and world class teacher. I consider her at the forefront of the developing field of fiddle pedagogy.” Dr. Alan Jabbour, Dir. (ret)., American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

• “Donna and her Groovemama colleagues changed the way my students and I think about fiddling. They actually helped us to feel confident enough to turn our music over, close our eyes and play independently. The techniques can be a real help to your ears for harmony and melody, your sense of rhythm and your bowing technique. There is nothing in classical music that approaches these skills in this way. I even started playing Mozart the following day in a different style – much lighter and more at ease!” Jane Ezbicki, ASTA chapter past president, Fine Arts Director (ret.), Wayland MA Schools