Muso Listening Room Series: Workshop and Concert with Ravenswing

Ravenswing is a band that plays like they're dancing, weaving together the brilliance of Scottish repertoire with the gritty drive of New England contra dance rhythms. While Abi Sandy and Crystal Zhu grew up playing music across New England and New York, the duo came together in Scotland while traveling with the Edinburgh University Folk and Traditional Music Society, bonding over their shared love for community through music and dance on both sides of the Atlantic. Since then, their joyful arrangements and compositions have energized concert halls and dance floors across New England, the Midwest, and the UK. Their love for the places they have been and the people they have played with shines through every set they play.

At 5 PM, join us for a workshop exploring Scottish bowing technique and ornamentation led by Crystal. Learn about articulation as a marker of the Scottish fiddling style with an introduction to the Strathspey, a traditional dance featuring snaps and dotted rhythms. The workshop will culminate in a tune teaching session.

At 6 PM, brush up your rhythm playing with a workshop led by Abi in traditional DADGAD guitar. We will explore the fundamentals of DADGAD and why it’s a great tuning for Celtic music, learn chord shapes for accompanying tunes in major, minor, and mixolydian keys, and finish with some practice playing along to a tune from Crystal!

At 7:15 PM, join us for an hour long performance featuring repertoire from across Scotland including Scots song, Gaelic puirt-à-beul, tunes from the piping tradition, and contemporary fiddle tunes.

Save your spot online for free and pay by cash or Venmo on the day of. Price will be a sliding scale ($5-20), but we will not turn anyone away if cost is a limiting factor!