Biography 

Owen Kennedy is a seventeen-year-old fiddler from Maine whose love of traditional music and enthusiasm for performing has captivated audiences from San Diego to the Shetland Islands and all over New England.   Owen is the 2022 New England Regional Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, the 2021 Junior US National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and won the 2021 Young Stars of Maine "Glenn Jenks Future in Music” prize.  He was selected for Best of All Things Irish from the Maine Irish Heritage Center and received a Passim Iguana Music Fund Grant for work on his debut album, Oh When: Now.  

Owen performs in duos with both Seán Heely and Ethan Tischler; and in various groups including the Pineland Fiddlers, the Young Tradition Youth Commission, and as a Youth Artist Leader in Vermont’s Young Tradition Touring Group.  Owen has shared the stage with Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, Genticorum, Claude Méthé, Pete Sutherland & Oliver Scanlon, Andrea Beaton & Troy MacGillivray, and Owen Marshall.  

Owen is a seasoned solo performer as well, frequently playing at local markets & festivals, kicking off the Boys & Girls Club National Conference in San Diego with an audience of several thousand, and performing at The Big Gig, the final Shetland Folk Frenzy concert at The Mareel. During the pandemic, he was part of livestream events from Club Passim's Campfire Festival to Make Music Portland, Virtual New England Folk Festival to BCMFest 2022.  

Recent performances include the Young Stars of Maine Prizewinners Concert, the New World Festival, Waldo Fiddle Fest, Maine Celtic Celebration, and the Flurry Festival; opening sets for Còig in Maine and Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas in Vermont; house concerts in Cherryfield, for the Brownington Ceilidh Club in Vermont and a notloB Parlour Concert in Massachusetts; as well as several Maine tours with Seán Heely, including joining the Seán Heely Band at The Dance Hall in Kittery and for the Maine Highland Games.  

As an emerging musician deeply rooted in the Maine Maritime tradition and immersed in his growing passion for Scottish music, Owen’s powerful playing charms listeners whether capturing the melancholy of a Scottish air, mimicking the sound of pipes in a march, or driving a good ol’ New England contradance tune.


Quote from Alasdair Fraser

After my opening set for the 10/2/21 show in Colchester, VT Alasdair Fraser shared: "What a lovely way to begin – it made me feel so homesick and very comfortable…  I’m in familiar surroundings.  Owen, it’s just a beautiful recital you gave there.  I loved everything about it!"

Short Bio

Two-time Scottish Fiddle Champion Owen Kennedy is a seventeen-year-old Maine fiddler whose love of traditional music and enthusiasm for performing has captivated audiences from San Diego to the Shetland Islands and all over New England.  

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Long Bio

Owen Kennedy is a seventeen-year-old fiddler from Maine whose love of traditional music and enthusiasm for performing has captivated audiences from San Diego to the Shetland Islands and all over New England.  Whether capturing the jazzy bounce of a Maritime reel, mimicking the sound of pipes in a Scottish march, or driving a good ol' New England contradance tune, Owen's powerful playing, clean articulation, and artistic ornamentation are a delight.

Owen is the 2022 New England Regional Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, the 2021 Junior US National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and received the 2021 Young Stars of Maine "Glenn Jenks Future in Music” Prize from Bay Chamber Music School. He also earned 2nd place in the highly competitive Young Tradition Festival Contest.  He was selected for Best of All Things Irish from the Maine Irish Heritage Center and received a Passim Iguana Music Fund Grant to begin work on his debut album, Oh When: Now which will be released in April 2023.  

Though young, Owen is a seasoned performer – entertaining at the Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors dinner and kicking off their National Conference in San Diego with an audience of several thousand, to performing solo at The Big Gig, the final Shetland Folk Frenzy concert in Lerwick at the Mareel. He has opened for Pete’s Posse and an Acadia Trad Festival concert in Bar Harbor, and has shared the stage with Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, The Outside Track, Genticorum, Claude Méthé, Pete Sutherland & Oliver Scanlon, Andrea Beaton & Troy MacGillivray, and Owen Marshall.  Also comfortable in a more intimate setting, Owen has given house concerts in Florida and Pennsylvania and as well as at The MacArthur House in Vermont.   

Like many musicians, Owen made the best of Covid19 challenges with various video projects, including the ongoing "50 Fiddlers from 50 States” project and sharing music online on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. He performed for many livestream events from Club Passim's Campfire Festival to Cabot Arts' Celtic Equinox celebration to Make Music Portland and the Virtual New England Folk Festival.

Owen began playing the violin at four years old as a Pineland Suzuki School student, learning music by ear; his first violin was a box with ruler stuck in it “played” with a wooden dowel rod. He studied with Betsy Kobayashi for ten years and continues to participate in several chamber & orchestral ensembles including Mozart Mentors Orchestra, Maine All State Orchestra (2020), and Mid-Maine Youth Orchestra (2021, 2022).

Although he enjoys the challenge and intricate harmonies of classical music, Owen's true love is fiddling.  He began fiddling with Maine Master Fiddler, Ellen Gawler, and performing with the youth group she leads, the Pineland Fiddlers.  From his very first fiddle performance of Shetland tunes at the beloved Skye Theatre, it became clear that Owen has a gift:  his infectious joy in sharing traditional music.  Owen continues to work with Ellen Gawler and has a deep affection for the Maine Maritime style he plays for contradances, at Maine Fiddle Camp, and at various celebrations and local events.

Owen’s connection to the Scottish style was ignited in Cape Breton, when he first visited with the Pineland Fiddlers in 2015 and when he returned for Celtic Colours 2018.  The flame grew in 2019, with an immersion into the music of the otherworldly Shetland Islands at the Shetland Folk Frenzy and jam sessions in Edinburgh.  Soon after, Owen met champion Celtic fiddler Seán Heely and was inspired by Seán’s performances and workshops at the Acadia Traditional School of Music and Dance and Fiddle Hell, motivating him to dive into the Scottish fiddling tradition and join Seán’s studio in 2020, and culminating in his own win at the Junior US National Scottish Fiddle Championship competition.  Since then, they have performed together in Maine as a duo whenever possible.  Owen also joined Seán and Beth Patterson for their Maine tour and was a guest with the Seán Heely Band for their Maine Highland Games performances in 2022.

In addition to performing with the Pineland Fiddlers, Owen has played with the Maine Folque Co-op since 2015, when the group performed at the American Folk Festival in Bangor.  Led by Cindy Larock and based in the Lewiston/Auburn area, the Maine Folque Co-op provides music for contradances and various special events like St. Patrick’s Day, the Great Falls Balloon Festival, and Maine Maple Sunday.  In 2019, Owen joined the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group, an auditioned trad band of teen musicians, singers, and dancers who focus on learning traditional music and dance repertoire, performing monthly in Vermont at venues like the Barre Opera House, the Chandler Center for the Arts, and the Highland Center for the Arts.  Owen was chosen as a Youth Artist Leader for the 2022-23 Touring Group season and is also playing with the Young Tradition Youth Commission this year, a five-piece band of multi-instrumentalist teenage musicians. 

Whether jamming with friends, playing with the Pineland Fiddlers, the Maine Folque Co-op, or the Young Tradition Vermont Touring Group, performing solo, or offering music at markets, churches, and retirement communities, Owen's love of traditional fiddle music charms listeners with his artistry, authenticity, and infectious grin.  When he’s not fiddling, Owen can be found outside swimming, kayaking, biking, skiing, and fishing; snuggling with his dogs Daisy and Finn; or in the kitchen cooking.  

Selected Performances

2022 

2021 

 

2020


2019

 

2014 to 2018

Press

“Jr. National Scottish fiddler champion to play Fall Foliage Festival” – September 21, 2021

Lisa Kristoff at the Wiscasset Newspaper

https://www.wiscassetnewspaper.com/article/jr-national-scottish-fiddler-champion-play-fall-foliage-festival/151928

 

“14-year-old Winthrop fiddler plays to see people smile” – November 16, 2019

Abigail Austin at the Kennebec Journal

https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/11/16/video-14-year-old-winthrop-fiddler-plays-to-see-people-smile/

 

“Kennedy to perform at national conference” – March 1, 2018

https://www.centralmaine.com/2018/03/01/kennedy-to-perform-at-national-conference/

Press Photos - Download via EPK folder below

Cumston Hall Close

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Owen Kennedy Oct 2022

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Owen Kennedy New England Scottish Fiddle Champion 2022

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Owen Kennedy NH Games 2022

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Owen Kennedy Maranacook Lake

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Owen Kennedy Grin 

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Owen Kennedy & Seán Heely 

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Seán Heely & Owen Kennedy 

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Owen Kennedy & Ethan Tischler

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Owen Kennedy Baddeck

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Youth Commission 

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Youth Commission Playing

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Social Media Links & Contact Information


Website:  www.fiddlerokennedy.com

 

Email:  fiddlerokennedy@gmail.com

 

Facebook & Instagram:  @fiddlerokennedy 

 

www.facebook.com/fiddlerokennedy 

 

www.instagram.com/fiddlerokennedy

 

 YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/FiddlerOwenKennedy 

 

 Booking:  Christina Kennedy at (207) 620-2355 or fiddlerokennedy@gmail.com

 

Hometown:  Winthrop, Maine