NewsPress Release - 2/16/2000

MARLBORO, VT -- The trio called Matapat will perform Quebecois music, song, and dance at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, in Marlboro College's Whittemore Theater.

The trio features Gaston Bernard who plays mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and bouzouki; step dancer Benoit Bourque, who also plays accordion, bones, and spoons; and acoustic and electric bass player Simon Lepage.

According to Dan Willging of RootsWorld Bulletin, "The trio achieves gliding, uplifting harmonies while their infectious melodies are exquisitely played on accordions, fiddles, and mandolins that are underscored by arty funk-folk base lines."

Bernard has been involved in a variety of musical projects, ranging from French to Greek, Celtic, and African music, and has performed with such well-known Irish musicians as uilleann piper Davy Spillane and the Celtic rock group Hothouse Flowers.

Bourque is a performer and teacher who has appeared at numerous festivals and music camps around the world. He is also one of the founders of Le Carrefour Mondial de l'Accordeon, an international accordion festival, for which he serves as artistic counselor, master of ceremonies, and performer.

Lepage, who has more than 10 years of experience in jazz, classical, and world music, has performed at such prestigious festivals as Francofolies de Larochelle and Montreal, Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, and Festival de Jazz d'Ottawa.

Tickets are $5 for the public and free for Marlboro College students, faculty, and staff. The Whittemore Theater is fully accessible.

For more information, please call (802) 257-4333. The Marlboro events calendar can be found on-line at www.marlboro.edu/calendar/calendar.html.