Connie Kaldor, a Juno-award winning singer, has flourished on the folk music scene for three decades. An artist of substance without pretension, she is one of Canada’s most significant contemporary folk performers.
Her live performances are legendary and her fan base is broad and extremely loyal. People come back to see her again and again because a Connie Kaldor show is about more than just the power of music. It is also about the power of personality. What she says between songs is as intriguing as the lyrics she shares.
Connie has travelled prairie backroads to visit modest community centres and sold out concert halls in major cities. From Bejing to New Dehli to Saskatoon to Washington, Connie has triumphed with a mix of song and spoken word honed in pacing and tone by the many years she has spent performing.
You may recall Connie's Vision TV series 'Wood River Hall'. Showcasing the best in Canadian folk and acoustic performers, guests included Bruce Cockburn, Sylvia Tyson, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Shari Ulrich. Each episode featured Connie singing a song on her own as well as joining in with the guest.
Like many a prairie girl, Connie grew up singing in the church choir and listening to Patsy Cline and The Beatles on her record player. She sang at the Regina Folk Festival in her teens but initially pursued a professional career in the theatre, studying dramatic arts at the University of Alberta and performing at the Théâtre Passe Muraille in Toronto.
She left the theatre for music in 1979, touring the prairies with Heather Bishop and by the next year, was singing at the Vancouver Folk Festival. In 1981 she undertook her first national tour and established her own independent record label.
Joining forces with 'Fleming and Associates', one of the major acoustic music agencies in North America, Connie was soon headlining folk festivals across the country. She was part of a wave of Canadian talent, along with Stan Rogers, Ferron, Heather Bishop, Valdy, Roy Forbes and Stringband that was forging a distinctly Canadian sound.
Some of Kaldor's best-known songs include 'Bird on a Wing', 'Wood River', 'Wanderlust', 'Gentle of Heart', and 'I Go Out Walking.' Her 'Strength, Love and Laughter' has been an important song in Canadian feminist music. 'Bellybutton' (the title song of a Bishop album) has been popular with children's audiences.
When songwriting, Connie says "What often comes first is the rhythm of a melody or the rhythm of a series of words. That seems to lead me down the path to a song. I love the rhythm of language."
"As much as I like performing, I love the creative aspect of songwriting. It is wonderful to make something out of thin air. I have done all kinds of writing. I have written for theatre, I have written for a specific demand (can you write a song about grain handling?) but mostly, I have written because I can’t help it. It is the way I express myself and most of all, it’s fun to do."
Settling in Montreal in 1990, Connie married Paul Campagne, founding member of the group 'Hart Rouge'. They have two boys, Gabriel and Aleksi.
Connie Kaldor has been a favourite on the folk festival and concert circuit for her bold performance style, sense of humour and passionate singing. With a varied repertoire of love songs, social commentary, historical and contemporary Canadian narratives, she is one of this country's musical treasures.
In 2007 Kaldor was appointed a member of the Order of Canada.
Natalia Zukerman has a sound that’s strong yet delicate, gentle yet insistent. You can call the music she makes folk, but jazz and blues are a part of it too. Then there's that soulful something or other that you can’t quite put into words. Whether onstage or on record, she presents herself just as she is - no gimmicks, no flashy pyrotechnics, only the solid musicianship of someone who knows and loves her craft. 
Zukerman didn’t have to look far to find musical influence. She attributes her rigorous work ethic, discipline and instrumental predisposition to her parents. The daughter of violinist/conductor Pinchas Zukerman and flutist/writer Eugenia Zukerman, Natalia grew up in Manhattan immersed in classical music.
After receiving the requisite training early on, Natalia realized her first instrument, the violin, was not taking her where she really wanted to go. There were glimpses of an alternative. “My parents used to go to the Aspen Music Festival in the summer when I was very young. One day I saw the classical violinist Nigel Kennedy playing fiddle in a bluegrass band, and heard banjos for the first time."
Then Natalia saw Suzanne Vega play. "It was the first time I'd seen just a woman with a guitar. That was a 'wow' moment. Up to that point I had no idea."
Once her eyes were opened to the folk scene, everything began to change. She turned her attention to the guitar, starting with classical lessons. After graduating from college, Natalia began writing songs and her own musicality blossomed.
Her love for the guitar led her to explore various types: electric, acoustic, slide, lap steel, even the banjo and a brief foray into traditional Indian technique. Her intricate sense of rhythm and meter came naturally. So did the lifestyle of a traveling performer.
Natalia's lyrics delve boldly into work, love, temptation and the journeys to personal reinvention. Intelligent and full of imagery - country roads that lead to red barns, antique shops, glass bottles and roadside coffee shops. City streets and back alleys, flagging cabs and the buzz of a streetlight clicking.
Blending folk, country, jazz and blues, she has created her own sound and found her own voice. Onstage, Natalia Zukerman knows exactly how to create richly textured, atmospheric settings for her intimate songs.
