An original song which brings in the warmth and welcome and the taste and scent of winter holidays, a riff on a Cajun two step based on a familiar carol, a reflective fiddle tune that has become a contemporary classic, an Appalachian style banjo led celebration of Christmas Eve and a lively story of the lights of Hanukkah -- these are just part of what you will find on the album Fiddler’s Holiday.

The recording is a collaboration between The Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band and the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic Orchestra. Brilliant and insightful collaboration it proves, too, bringing off the not always easy to accomplish connection between those who play classical music and those who work in in folk music.

The University of Mary Washington Philharmonic Orchestra is a collaboration on its own, you might say -- members come from the community of Fredricksburg, Virginia, where the university has its home, and from those in the university community as well. As orchestral director Kevin Bartram’s  mind turned to preparing a holiday program, he was also reflecting on the history of the part of Virginia where the university is located, an area with many connections to the Civil War. Then his thoughts turned to the music of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason.

That’s a natural connection. Back in 1982, Ungar, who plays the fiddle, put his emotions and reflections on the parting of friends at the closing days of a music camp he and Mason run into a tune. The camp is called Ashokan, and Ungar named the tune Ashokan Farewell. Several years later, the piece caught the attention of filmmaker Ken Burns, who chose it as the signature music for what would become his award winning series The Civil War. Ungar and Mason worked on other music for that series, and have created music for many other projects by Ken Burns and other filmmakers since.

That connection with the Civil War series wasn’t the first step on the national music stage for either of them, though, nor is film scoring their only work. Ungar, who grew up in New York City, and Mason, who is from the Pacific Northwest, both have long and deep history in American roots music as performers and composers -- and those histories include songs of the winter season.

Fiddler's Holiday concerts in Fredricksburg, and a CD and DVD recorded at the live performance came from these musical connections. Fiddler’s Holiday is the name they chose for the project rightly enough, as Ungar’s fiddle anchors the music. Working with James Kazik, top notch orchestral arranger who is also principal trombonist of the orchestra, the musicians worked out arrangements that would allow thoughtful collaboration between the sounds of folk music and the colours of orchestral music.

For the concert, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason were joined by the two other members of The Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band, Jay’s daughter Ruthie and her husband Mike Merenda. On the recording and on the dvd, the warmth and respect and joy of their family connection comes through, as does the warmth and enjoyment Dr. Bartram and the musicians of the orchestra shared with them.

The program opens with a trio of tunes related in some way to Scotland, and continues with Mason offering the Appalachian song A Rovin’ on a Winter’s Night in her graceful alto. Mike Merenda leads the way on another tune from the Appalachian Mountains, a lively one called Christmas Eve, with Jay and Ruthie adding twin fiddles and Molly sitting in on guitar. On a quieter note, there is the reflective tune Ashokan Farewell, which fits well in this program of winter music.

There’s a tune Mason composed while watching the swirl of snow one afternoon at her home in the Catskill Mountains of New York State called The Snowstorm. Harvest Home Suite is also an original by Jay and Molly, a piece which draws on folk melodies and themes to suggest the turning of seasons on a farm. The scent of evergreen is one of the things Ruthie uses to bring in connections with nature in her original song Darkest Days Brightest Nights, while the flickering Lights of Hanukkah are the subject of lively song written by Jay. Through it all, the musicians of the orchestra contribute thoughtful and tasteful backing to the work of the folk musicians, and clearly all of them -- and the audience -- are having a good time. The musicians get the audience members singing along on Silent Night and then top things off with a rousing sort of Cajun flavored two step riff of the carol called reasonably enough, Silent Night Two Step.

The music on both dvd and audio recording is the same (and there is more of it than mentioned above), but the conversation among musicians differs, and the dvd includes interview material and a piece on the history of Fredricksburg, as well. Both the audio recording and the dvd are thoughtfully produced and edited by Jim Brown, who specializes in cultural and arts documentaries.

The CD and the dvd of Fiddler’s Holiday make good companions to each other -- for you or someone on your gift list.

Kerry Dexter is Music Editor for Wandering Educators.  You may reach Kerry at music at wanderingeducators dot com

You may find more of Kerry’s work at Music Road, Journey to Scotland, Perceptive Travel, Strings, National Geographic Traveler, and other places in print and online.

Photos courtesy of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason