This month on Travel Notes we head north to Canada where we talk with Laura Risk, assistant Professor in the Music and Culture program of the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto Scarborough and professional Scottish and Québécois fiddler. Her fiddling has been described by filmmaker Ken Burns as "a revelation and achingly beautiful” and Living Tradition hails her 'powerful, percussive style… bursting with energy and passion.”

Today, we dive into some of her research projects and explore tunes and musical traditions that are hundreds of years old with relations to music from all over the globe. We also listen to a few songs off her newest album, Traverse, which was released in 2023 and is a 10 track musical journey through traditional fiddle music.

https://laurarisk.com/

https://www.gracemcnallymusic.com/

Welcome back to Travel Notes! Today, we're thrilled to chat with professional violinist, Laura Diaz. Laura's musical journey took her from graduating with degrees in Music Performance, Music History and Computer Information Systems to a 2021 SURF Grant where she explored Guatemalan composer Joaquín Orellana's career amidst Guatemala's turbulent history, digitizing and archiving his work for future generations. Tune in for a deep dive into the innovative music of Joaquín Orellana, Laura’s groundbreaking project and this unique cultural connection!

Link to the documentary: https://youtu.be/fFvcQVbNddw

Link to NY Times article on Joaquín Orellana: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/arts/music/joaqin-orellana-the-spine-of-music.html

In today's show we are going somewhere we’ve never been before on Travel Notes! We are going to the southernmost island in the Caribbean just off the coast of Venezuela, perhaps most musically well known for their steel drums thanks to their economy’s heavy reliance on petrochemicals and petroleum, you may have heard of this island called Trinidad and Tobago!

Our cultural liaison will be Trinidadian and Toronto based musician Drew Gonsalves, founder of the calypso group Kobo Town. Together, we get to know the complex, diverse and compact country of Trinidad and Tobago through the musical lens of calypso and Kobo Town’s newest album, Carnival of Ghosts.