Soundbone Traditional Arts

WEEKEND

March 7th-8th, 2026

We thank all of our instructors, administrators, volunteers, performers and YOU who made our first Soundbone Traditional Arts Weekend a success! Stay tuned for more events in 2026 - add yourself to our announcement email-list to get all the news, or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

INSTRUCTORS

Carole Bestvater

Carole Bestvater is a freestyle fiddle player based in St. John’s, NL.  She is at her happiest when playing and singing a wide diversity of different music, and is equally at home performing a variety of folk and classical genres.  Carole is an in-demand session player, performer, and music educator, always striving to share her joy of music making with those around her.  

Most often, Carole can be found collaborating in bands such as Youngtree & The Blooms, The Craig Young Band, Crooked Stovepipe, or LadyLike.  Carole is also deeply passionate about sharing the transformative power of music, which she does through her work with the Strong Harbour Strings Program, and as a Suzuki-method educator. 

Catherine Wright

Catherine Wright is a storyteller, multi-arts practitioner and arts educator who divides her time between St. John’s and Port Kirwan, Newfoundland.

A versatile performer who brings warmth and passion to her storytelling, Catherine has presented a broad range of stories (folk and fairy tales, personal narratives, ballads) at schools, festivals, theatres, galleries, outdoor venues and online, in her over 30 years of performance experience. Her background in dance is apparent in her storytelling style, and she often includes songs and recitations in her storytelling sets and multidisciplinary performances.

Catherine is a respected, seasoned arts educator who has worked with a number of community groups over the years. She facilitated many ArtsSmarts projects in schools (printmaking, folk dance, silk painting, storytelling, textiles) and has toured to NL schools independently and with Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation. She is pleased to have the opportunity to work with Vinland Music Camp.

Catherine is past president of St John’s Storytelling and current provincial representative for Storytellers of Canada (SC-CC).

Christina Smith

Christina is recognised as one of the foremost exponents of traditional Newfoundland fiddling. Since 1982 she has been collecting, researching, performing, teaching, and publishing Newfoundland traditional music. She teaches with the Suzuki Talent Education Program of St. John’s, and instructs a course in Traditional Newfoundland Fiddling at Memorial University. Christina tours internationally and records with the award-winning groups ‘Jean Hewson and Christina Smith’ and ‘Frank Maher and the Mahers Bahers’. She is the founder and past director of the STEP Fiddlers, a group of young musicians who have been performing and recording Newfoundland tunes since 1982.

Dave Panting

The winner of lifetime achievement awards from the NL Folk Festival and the East Coast Music Awards, Dave is a singer / songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in St. John’s, NL, Canada. He has been a professional performer for 5 decades; a founding member of two of Atlantic Canada’s most influential bands: Figgy Duff and Rawlins Cross; and a contributor, side musician and/or technician for dozens of other bands and projects. He is known as a composer of original tunes in a traditional style, including the award-winning “Memory Waltz” and “The Wedding Gift”. Dave has taught with Vinland Music Camp and participated in Soundbone projects for many years.

Eric West

Eric is a guitarist and music arranger/publisher who has performed with a number of prominent musical groups, including the children’s music duo ‘Heather and Eric.’ He has composed and arranged music for radio, television and stage. ArtsNL awarded Eric the 2007 Arts Achievement Award for his contribution to the arts in this province. In 2017 he received the Memorial University Arts in Education Award, in recognition of his contribution to arts education. He was the Director of Vinland Music Camp since its beginning in 2001 unti his retirement in 2024.

Evelyn Osborne

Evelyn Osborne loves nothing better than throwing back the rugs to play for dancers! Whether in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Canada or across the globe in Hong Kong spreading the music of NL is her passion. Evelyn feels that keeping the connection between music and dance alive is vital to the human experience of music.

Evelyn has performed and taught fiddle and dance workshops throughout Canada, in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Her repertoire focuses on Newfoundland dance music and in particular what she learned from working with over 100 tradition-bearers in her 15 years of research.

Evelyn believes that music is part of our creative human experience. She takes every opportunity to work with artists across genres. This often leads to improvisational collaborations such as composing improvised and responsive music on the spot for storytellers, belly dancers, silent films, VJs, magicians/clowns and more globally.

Playing music with and for others is one of the great joys in life. From chamber music, to Baroque or modern ensembles, to dinner theatre, to all sorts of popular music bands, and various non-traditional/cross-genre ensembles, Evelyn loves to play and create together.

Gary Green

Storyteller and author Gary Green has performed provincially, nationally and internationally at a variety of events ranging from youth camps to major festivals.  Gary has performed on network television, on radio and in international award winning audio productions. He has been a consultant for the use of storytelling in the interpretation of several historic sites. 

In addition to teaching storytelling annually at the Vinland Music Camp, he has taught storytelling workshops for other groups in both Newfoundland and Labrador.  His online workshops have had participants from across Canada and Ireland.

Gerry Strong

Gerry is a whistle- and wooden flute-player who played for many years with Tickle Harbour and A Crowd of Bold Sharemen and now performs with Cotillion. With these groups, he recorded six albums and has toured across Canada, Ireland, England, and Australia. Gerry has appeared as a guest musician on a multitude of recordings including that of Irish uillean piper Paddy Keenan. In 2008 he recorded his own CD entitled Velvet in the Wind, which features many of the top traditional players in Newfoundland and Labrador today.

Hugh Scott

Hugh Scott is an award-winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist based in St John’s, NL. He has been a professional musician since 1977, playing in many bands and as a solo performer.

Hugh has opened for many notable musicians such as Liam Clancey and Tommy Makem, and The Yetties (from Dorset, England). His songs have been covered by The Ennis Sisters, Fine Crowd, Brown Ale, Celtic Wind, Chris Murphy, Dicey Reilly and Heather Cameron.

In 1996, Hugh was honoured with the MusicNL SOCAN song of the year for “Theresa Maria”, recorded by Fine Crowd. Since 2001, Hugh has worked with the Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation as a songwriting instructor at the Vinland Music Camp. He has also accompanied other Lomond Sound members for school tours throughout the province.

Hugh now performs with Gerry Strong and Dave Panting in the traditional band Cotillion; he also performs solo.

JANE DENNISON

Jane has been dancing, calling, and teaching with folk dance groups for over 30 years.  She has been a dance instructor at the Vinland Music Camp in Newfoundland since 2005 and has performed at festivals, concerts, and special events in Newfoundland, St. Pierre, Quebec, Ontario, and the USA.  Jane has a Master of Arts degree from Memorial University with a research focus on the sustainability of set dancing in the province. She is the co-author of Traditional Dances of Newfoundland and Labrador – A Guide for Teachers (Vinland Music 2007).

Jean Hewson

Jean has been performing and teaching traditional songs and tunes of Newfoundland and Labrador for more than thirty years. Her adventures have taken her to folk festivals, concert halls, and seminar rooms throughout North America and the UK. She is highly regarded for her ability as an accompanist and has worked with many of the province’s leading instrumentalists, including Christina Smith, Gerry Strong, Daniel Payne, Dave Penny, Eric West, and Rufus Guinchard. She has also received recognition for her recorded work, including two ECMA nominations (Roots Traditional Group of the Year, 1999 & 2006) and a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Traditional Singer of the Year in 2006.