Donna Hébert

Donna Hébert is a fiddler in French Canadian and Celtic styles. She learned contra dance fiddling, Quebecois swing, and Acadian rhythms and tunes from masters Alan Block, Louis Beaudoin, and Gerry Robichaud. Donna herself has both played and taught extensively throughout New England, performing and recording with Josée Vachon and the group Chanterelle, as well as other music groups. She has been: Founder and Director of the Great Groove Band at the Old Songs & Philly Folk Fests; fiddler and singer with the band “Mist Covered Mountains” playing Celtic and contemporary folk music; fiddle instructor at Philadelphia Folk School; former fiddle Instructor at Amherst and Smith Colleges; and author of the book “Fiddling Demystified For Strongs.” Donna won a Fellowship in Folk Arts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She is committed to presenting and interpreting the authentic Franco-American and French-Canadian elements of style and repertoire, especially as the masters of these forms are aging or have passed on. She has developed a project to research, record, and perform the songs of Louis Beaudoin of Vermont.

Donna has taught in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program three times: in Year 4 (2001-2002) with apprentice Daniel Boucher, teaching fiddle tunes by ear, defining the tune’s structure and beat placement as well as melody and harmony elements, and showing where the authentic ornamentations fit into the tune and drive the rhythms; in Year 8 (2005-2006) with apprentice Nate Ouellette; and in Year 9 (2006-2007) with apprentice Colette Fournier.