Gordon Stobbe

Gordon, considered a master fiddler, has for the past 28 years made his home on the East Coast of Canada. His musical interests lie in the field of traditional music, especially as it is expressed in the wide variety of North American fiddle styles. He plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and clawhammer banjo.
His musical career is wide and varied.

His performance history, besides his work in bands, includes co-creating, hosting, and musical directing eight seasons of a traditional television variety program called Up Home Tonight in Halifax, Nova Scotia ; five years of performing and touring with the NDWT company, a theatre company in Toronto specializing in developing and performing Canadian theatre pieces ; twelve years of hosting a weekly Bluegrass radio show "Bluegrass Express" on CHFX in Halifax, Nova Scotia ; and many recording projects and radio and television appearances. He performed in Halifax's Neptune Theatre's productions of Foxfire and Fiddler on the Roof. He has also been commissioned to compose and record scores for CBC radio dramas as well as musical work on other film and television projects. He has also been a musical coach for actors in Hollywood-produced movies shot in Nova Scotia.

For the past twenty-five years, Gordon has developed a teaching program at Musicstop's Canadian Conservatory of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a repeat instructor at numerous fiddle workshops and fiddle camps across Canada and the United States, including the Emma Lake Fiddle Camp in Saskatchewan, the Kootenay Fiddlers in Castlegar, B.C., the Maritime Fiddler's Association, Fiddles on the Tobique Camp in New Brunswick, the Lunenburg County Fiddlers, Fiddlefest Workshops, Smithers, B.C., Fiddle 'Treat, Gavin Lake, B.C., the Nova Scotia Music Educators Association, Fiddle Camp in Milaca, Minnesota, the Sunshine Coast Summer School of Celtic Music, Gibsons, B.C., Norway House Fiddle Camp and Ceili 2002 Fiddle Workshop in Abbotsford, B.C.

Gordon has been an invited adjudicator at the Nova Scotia Kiwanis and other festivals. He is also interested in the connection between traditional instrumental music and dance. He can often be found calling a square dance with the Mighty Oaks.

Gordon is a composer on the fiddle and has many recording and publishing projects to his credit. His CD, 'Small World' was nominated for Best Roots / Traditional Solo Artist at the 2003 East Coast Music Awards. He has published many fiddle books with more to come. He has written several fiddle instruction books and has published tune collections of traditional as well as original music. These resources are now being used by fiddle teachers across Canada and the United States. He has recorded with artists across Canada. He has co-written fiddle music with Calvin Vollrath, John Arcand, Paul Gitlitz, Bernie Jaffe, and others.
Gordon is a regular contributor to Fiddler Magazine.

Throughout his performance career Gordon has played with a variety of bands, including the Dixie Flyers in Ontario, before settling in the Maritimes. He played with the Ladies Choice Bluegrass Band and Those Fabulous Clichés for a number of years and has since worked in a variety of musical configurations.

Gordon currently performs with a number of groups including Razzamatazz For Kids (children's band), the Gordon Stobbe Trio (traditional fiddle styles of North America), the Mighty Oak String Band, (old-time string band music of the early 20th century with traditional twin fiddles), a trio with Kelli Trottier and Greg Simm and two dance bands made up of various members of the above bands. He plays festivals, concerts, conventions and other musical venues.