La Famille LeBlanc of New Brunswick performs French Acadian music alongside the YTV Youth Commission, a talented trad band of 5 teens headed up by youth leader Fiona Stowell playing contemporary melodies and traditional tunes from various cultural backgrounds.
This concert will also be livestreamed and recorded. By purchasing an all-festival ticket, you will also get access to the livestream link.
La Famille LeBlanc: The LeBlanc family is a musical family of at least 6 generations. Today, Robin LeBlanc, accompanied by his wife and his three girls, perpetuate this tradition. Fallen in the soup at their birth, the three LeBlanc sisters step dance (a rhythmic dance performed with the feet) to the sound of their fathers’ fiddle (violin) who plays tunes played by his great-great grandfather. Charlotte, the eldest, plays the violin, Rosalie plays the concertina and accompanies her sister at the piano and Mélodie tops it up with her feet work and whistle. There mother harmonizes her voice to theirs while interpreting many of the oldest Acadian-French ballads. To the rhythm of the music, “La famille LeBlanc” will make you dance to her calls for a true Acadian kitchen party experience.
The 2022-23 Youth Commission at a recent performance at Stones Throw Pizza in Richmond, VT.
YTV Youth Commission: The 2022-23 Youth Commission is a band of 5 talented teen trad musicians, selected and led by this year’s Commissioned Artist, Fiona Stowell (fiddle, vocals, and dancing) of Montpelier. Fiona was charged with creating a small ensemble and a program of compositions and/or arrangements with a variety of mentors and master artists. The group has worked together since the fall. They play contemporary melodies and traditional tunes from various cultural backgrounds and will perform at festivals, concerts, and other events through the summer.
The other members of the 2022-23 Youth Commission include Emmett Stowell (piano, banjo and vocals) of Montpelier, Owen Kennedy (fiddle and vocals) of Winthrop, ME, Fern Tamagini-O’Donnell (fiddle, step dance, and vocals) of Wareham, MA, and Grace Martin (mandolin, guitar, and vocals) of Lydonville.
The Young Tradition Festival is a celebration of multi-generational relationships from traditional music and dance communities. Children, youth and young adults are the focus, along with those who support them as teachers, mentors, friends, and families.
The theme for the 2023 festival is "family songs, tunes, and dances," highlighting material inspired by families, learned within and from families, and performed and shared by families. In keeping with the theme, this year’s festival hosts are La Famille LeBlanc.
The Festival is presented by Vermont Folklife, with support from Burlington City Arts, Church Street Marketplace, North Country Federal Credit Union, Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region, the Windjammer Inn & Conference Center, the Nelson Family Foundation, the Turrell Fund, the Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and others.
Email ytv@vtfolklife.org with questions.