Simple Gifts

Simple Gifts is three women playing 12 instruments in an impressive variety of international folk music — from lively Irish jigs and down-home Appalachian reels to hard-driving Klezmer freilachs, haunting Gypsy melodies, and exotic Balkan dance tunes. The Boston Globe writes “These women share a chemistry that infuses their music with energy, integrity and joy. Theirs is a special gift.” Switching with ease among two fiddles, mandolin, concertina, banjolin, psaltery, hammered dulcimer, guitar, piano and more, the performers intersperse the program with information about the music, the instruments, and the cultures represented.

Simple Gifts performs original compositions and its own arrangements of traditional ethnic music from Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, the Jewish tradition, and Appalachia. Residency activities include a workshop in which all ages learn to play spoons, a hands-on session for community musicians, a lecture/demonstration for the public and a “try an instrument” session.