Francofest Concert

French Culture is alive and kicking in Berlin. Singer Josée Vachon will perform at St. Kieran Community Center for the Arts as part of this year’s Francofest celebration. She will share the stage with fiddler, Daniel Boucher for what is sure to be a lively performance.

Born in Québec and raised in Maine, Vachon has been sharing her Franco-American upbringing for over 25 years through traditional and contemporary folksongs from Québec and Acadia and through her own compositions. Though she often entertained at family gatherings, she began singing publicly with the support of the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine, where she discovered others who shared her rich heritage.

In 1999 she received the National Culture through the Arts Award from NYSAFLT, the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and was inducted into the French-Canadian Hall of Fame Class of 2007 for the American-French Genealogical Society. Ms Vachon has 12 solo recordings to her credit, and continues to perform and record the music that best represents her love of Franco-American culture.

Daniel Boucher is a remarkable young fiddler from Bristol, Connecticut. Growing up in a Québécois musical family, Daniel began to fiddle at age 12. Daniel apprenticed to Massachusetts fiddler Donna Hebert in 2002 and Connecticut fiddler Rosaire LeHoux in 2003 under the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. Daniel stands out as a player because of his technical skill and his complete absorption in Québécois culture—he travels often to Quebec where his parents have kept a second home, collects old songs, and plays often with New England musicians.

In 2011 Daniel was selected to perform at the American Folklife Center as part of its Homegrown: Music of America series, and also at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. He also performed at Bangor Maine Folk Festival and at the CHS.