The Gravenhurst Winter Carnival

following are the events happening at the Gravenhurst Opera House….more updates to follow!!

The Brian Pickell Band, Shane Cook with the O’shraves will be amoung the fabulous

musicians appearing at the Opera House on Friday and Saturday night.

Friday Feb. 24^th, 5pm – 7pm Children’s Entertainment – “The O’Shraves”

Friday Feb. 24^th 7pm – 10pm Licensed Refreshments, Ribs & Warming Station

Saturday Feb. 25^th 9am – 11am Lion’s Pancake Breakfast

Saturday Feb. 25^th 1pm – 3pm, Children’s Activities

Saturday February 26^th 1:30pm – 4pm, An Afternoon at the Opera

Sunday February 26^th, 1pm-3pm Music and Entertainment

“The O’Schraves” (The Schryer/O’Gorman/Lefebvre Family) brings you entertainment that is joyous, skillful, inspiring, and fun. Lead by two of Canada’s leading traditional musicians, Julie Schryer on piano and Pat O’Gorman on Scottish and Irish bagpipes and Irish flute and tin whistle, the group features toe-tappin’ traditional Canadian, Irish, and Scottish music mixed with new compositions written by modern tune composers like Brian Pickell and Claude Methé as well as family members, an occasional song, and even a stepdance or two for good measure. Other members of the group are Zach Schryer Lefebvre, 20, on tin whistle, cello, guitar, piano and vocals, Benoit Schryer Lefebvre, 17, on fiddle, tin whistle and vocals, and Áine Schryer O’Gorman, 8,  on fiddle, stepdancing, tin whistle, and vocals.

Shane Cook Bio

At the age of 26, CanadianShane Cook”rates at the top of the short list of the finest fiddlers in the world today,” says the Canadian Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame. Shane has distinguished himself as a master of the Canadian old-time fiddle tradition and excels at an array of fiddle styles ranging from Irish and Scottish to French-Canadian, Texan, andBluegrass. In fact, after a recent concert at The Opera House the Boston Herald proclaimed “Shane Cook’s Celtic fiddling was enough to break hearts.”

 In 2006, Shane retired from competitive fiddling as one of Canada’s most highly awarded fiddlers. He is a three-time Canadian Open National Fiddle Champion, a three-time Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Champion, a Grand North American Fiddle Champion, and is the only Canadian to have ever won the US Grand National Fiddle Championship, a feat he accomplished at just 17 years of age.

In concert, Shane captivates audiences with his danceable playing that is as adventurous as it is technically thrilling. He has toured Canada, United States, Germany, England, China and Taiwan, and has performed his show with several orchestras. Shane is proud to be a member of the PBS hit show Bowfire - a showcase featuring some of the leading names in modern violin playing, and is also a member of The Brian Pickell Band – a collection of Canadian virtuosos of traditional music. Shane has a new duo CD with East Coast Music Award winner Troy MacGillivray and also leads his own band with whom he has recently released his fourth solo CD that the London Free Press describes as “Relaxed, sprightly…and brilliantly played.”

 The Brian Pickell Band

Pulled together by the magnetic, globe-trotting compositions of Brian Pickell and a love of traditional music, the group is both stunningly musical and energizing to listen to. The band showcases the superlative fiddling talents of shane Cook, multiple winner of the Canadian and Grand Masters Fiddle Contests and the American Grand National and/or Mark Sullivan, multiple winner of the Canadian Open, Grand Masters and Pembroke fiddle competitions. Alsofeatured are renowned Ottawa multiinstrumentalist James Stephens on fiddle, mandolin and viola; Pat O’Gorman, an admired mainstay of the Canadian music scene, on flute, whistles and pipes; Julie Schryer, widelyconsidered to be one of the finest piano accompanists in Canada; and Brian Pickell, an accomplished composer, guitarist,and banjo and mandolin player. “I have long been an admirer of Brian’s tunes, as they manage to be contemporary, but to fit so seamlessly into the fabric of traditional music.” Warren Robinson,