August 27, 2003

Barachois from Canada to open BYU-Idaho season

 

            Barachois, a lively folk music quartet from Prince Edward Island, will open the Center Stage Performing Arts Series at Brigham Young University-Idaho with concerts Sept. 12 and 13 in the Kirkham Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

            The popular Canadian group features a show of fiddling, singing, step dancing and  humor. Fluently bilingual, they collectively offer up a clever banter in English by way of explaining the unique charm inherent in their French songs.

            Tickets go on sale September 2 at the BYU-Idaho Ticket Office and cost is $8 for general public and $2 for currently enrolled BYU-Idaho students. For tickets, call the BYU-Idaho Ticket Office at 496-2230 or order online at www.byui.edu/tickets.

            Barachois, pronoucedbara-shwa,'” is an Acadian word for “shallow pools of water separated from the sea by sand dunes.”

            The group plays Acadian traditional music   a rhythmic, high-voltage style born in the heart of a culture kept alive through two and a half centuries on tiny Prince Edward Island off the east coast of Canada.

            The songs were brought over from France with some of the first settlers in North America and have been infused with other influences – most recognizably, the Scottish and Irish fiddling styles.

            The music has been passed down through generation after generation by way of kitchen parties and community dances and gatherings. It is a musical genre all its own, filled with passion and life.

            Throw in some driving foot rhythms, piano, a plethora of home made percussion instruments, close harmonies and the occasional brass instrument and you have the spicy Acadian stew that Barachois puts on the boil for every performance.

            It's a stew well seasoned with laughter. Acadian parties are known for their warmth and humor – a welcome reward and a much needed respite from the daily business of raising a large family. The wit, charm and even the antics that Barachois brings onstage is as much a part of their heritage as the songs they sing and the tunes they play.

            The group's first recording, simply entitled “Barachois,” picks up where the party trails off. Pulling its material and inspiration from the collective memory of the Acadian people, the album received three nominations at the 1997 East Coast Music Awards and was awarded Francophone Recording of the Year.

            Barachois recently received Canada’s East Coast Music Award for “The Roots – Traditional Group of the Year.”

 


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(208) 496-1152

e-mail sparhawkd@byui.edu