Isabel Oliart & Sammy Wetstein

Friday, January 3rd, 2025
7:00pm

Hailing from Boston, award-winning fiddler Isabel Oliart has been playing the violin since she was 3 years old. She began her musical journey with classical music, and then discovered Scottish and Celtic fiddling through Brian O’Donovan’s show, A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, where she was inspired by artists including Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Hass. She started learning fiddle music for the first time in 2009, taking lessons with Anne Hooper, and has since worked with other world-renowned teachers such as Winifred Horan, Hanneke Cassel and Katie McNally. Isabel studied with Lucy Chapman and Nicholas Kitchen at the New England Conservatory and with Bayla Keyes at Boston University, where she recently achieved her Masters of Music. She now pursues a career in both classical music and Celtic fiddling. Primarily a Scottish fiddler, Isabel also has a love for the fiddle music of Ireland, Cape-Breton, as well as Contra dance music.

Sammy Wetstein grew up as an adventurous string player, existing between the worlds of classical, folk and jazz music. His musical journey led him to Berklee College of Music, where he studied global styles of string playing and works to use music as a means to bridge between communities and bring people together. While playing tunes from his roots in the world of New England contra dance, Sammy explores the worlds of Scandinavian, Bluegrass, Old time, Scottish, Irish, and contemporary fiddle tunes and brings them together with improvisational creativity.