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Her exceptional control when bowing, her ornamentation and her marvelously rich double-stopped drones produce an authentically moving, almost keening, sound. ~ The Scotsman, Edinburgh Bonnie Rideout plays expressively, usually with a lovely warm tone reminiscent of Irish fiddlers. ~ Folkroots, U.K. Rideout’s instrumental flair and emotional sensitivity on both fiddle and viola are consistently enhanced by her impressive scholarship. ~ The Washington Post Bonnie Rideout’s fiddle work is positively poignant, just short of a sob for good times gone. ~ Keltic Fringe |
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While searching for hidden Christmas presents in her mother’s closet, Bonnie Rideout came upon a dusty, black, oblong-shaped cardboard box. The old violin resting inside became her first love. That was in 1970; Bonnie was eight years old. Bonnie Elizabeth Rideout grew up on a retired farm in Michigan but spent much of her childhood on Cliff Island in Casco Bay, Maine. There she attended a single classroom school where her musical ear began to develop. Ms. Rideout recalls, "Our teacher, Miss Von Tilling, would gather all nine pupils and march us down the road playing the Maine State Song. My brother led the parade on his trumpet, and I took the rear playing my violin. There was no possibility of reading music." Her ear training continued at home in Michigan. Ms. Rideout would scratch away on her fiddle while her Mother played the piano and Father tooted away on his ocarinas. They played everything from The Moxie Song to I Belong to Glasgow. Playing by ear was so natural to Bonnie and was at the heart of her most joyful music-making. |
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Ms.
Rideout also received a formal education on the violin. As a child
in Michigan, she played in public school orchestras and took private
violin instruction at the University of Michigan where she joined
the youth symphony. When she attended the university for her undergraduate
studies, she began as a viola major and eventually returned to violin.
In 1985, she earned two degrees, one in violin performance and another
in fine arts. "I’m indebted to the teachers who taught me the value
of reading music and the discipline of learning the "masters." But
the more I played ‘serious’ music, the more I missed my fiddling."
Ms. Rideout continued by saying, "I knew nothing about the folk
world back then, but my memories of playing at home stayed with
me." A new world opened up when Ms. Rideout heard the work of Scottish
fiddler Dr. John Turner. Over the past ten years, she has immersed
herself in the music of her family’s ancestral Scotland by fusing
the traditions of her Scottish-American upbringing with those of
the old country. She has performed with numerous strathspey and
reel societies in Scotland and learned the different styles of fiddling
from such greats as Ron Gonnella, Bill Hardie, and Angus Cameron.
When Ms. Rideout lived in Scotland, she was greatly influenced by
a farmer named Jim Falconer and his wife Katherine. The couple had
kindly adopted and welcomed her into their home. Ms. Rideout recalls,
"Jim played fiddle and spent many evenings by the fire coaching
me and tearing away my ‘classical’ edges." She also lived on the
Isle of Skye where her research led her to the Patrick MacDonald
Collection of tunes from the eighteenth century. This resulted in
her first solo recording, Soft May Morn.
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In the past five years, she has resumed a prolific recording career on the Maggie’s Music record label, releasing four more multiple award-winning solo CDs entitled: Celtic Circles, Kindred Spirits, A Scottish Christmas, and Gi’me Elbow Room: Songs from a Scottish Childhood. Ms. Rideout’s labors have made her a three-time US-Scottish Fiddle champion and brought her prizes in many fiddle competitions in North America and Europe. She has been featured on the CBS news show Sunday Morning, is consistently featured on NPR’s The Thistle and Shamrock, and has performed on other NPR programs including Morning Edition and Performance Today. In addition, she has won numerous WAMMIE Awards from the Washington Area Music Association (Washington, DC) and has authored four books for Mel Bay Publishing Company. Ms. Rideout has performed in venues from The Kennedy Center to Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. She has presented eighteenth century and Highland fiddle styles at the Edinburgh International Festival, the only American ever to receive this honor. She is a sanctioned Scottish F.I.R.E. teacher and adjudicator for Scottish festivals throughout the United States. Ms. Rideout currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband and three young children. She enjoys mountain climbing, gardening, painting, and sailing. |
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