Instructors

Rosie Carver

Fiddle

Rosie is a fiddler based in Vancouver. Her early learning years included violin lessons and piano lessons but playing in groups and orchestras like the Vancouver Corelli Strings, the Junior Philharmonic Orchestra, her multi-talented guitar group in high school & diverse church choirs is what sparked her love of music.

She is the founder and director of the West Coast Fiddleheads, and long time member of the Celtic folk group, Blackthorn. She also performs with the lovely trio Triskellion and has appeared as a guest artist with the North Shore Celtic Ensemble and the Vancouver Fiddle Orchestra. You can find Rosie fiddling away with her partner Michael Viens as Blackthorn Blossoms or with the “Pretty Regulars” at local Irish sessions & festivals.

Michael Burnyeat

Fiddle, mandolin

Michael Burnyeat is a fiddler and multi-instrumentalist from Vancouver, BC, who plays with numerous Celtic, Folk, and Country bands in Vancouver and across the lower mainland. He is the founder of the UBC Fiddle Club, and is a two-time BC fiddle champion (2017-2018). In 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 he was a finalist in the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition.

He has released two albums of fiddle music, A Sense of Tradition (2018) and On The Edge (2022).

He is an in demand music instructor in Vancouver, currently teaching at Open Door Music School, as well as co-founding and co-leading The Open Door Fiddlers, a youth fiddle group.

Michael Viens

Guitar, Bodhran, Harmonica, Spoons

Michael has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old. He grew up immersed in the French culture of Maillardville where he learned to play the spoons and harmonica as well. He was first introduced to Celtic music in 1995 when he joined Blackthorn, Vancouver’s longest-running Celtic band, as a guitarist and singer.

He has since become a stalwart member of the local Celtic music scene co-hosting weekly traditional Irish music sessions in Vancouver as well as with the duo Blackthorn Blossoms with his partner Rosie Carver. He has appeared as a guest artist with the North Shore Celtic Ensemble, Laudate Singers, Capilano University Choir and Vancouver Bach Children’s Choir.

Michael teaches guitar and bodhran at Open Door Music School in Vancouver.