About Laurence Stevenson

Primary genres: Fusion, Folk, World Music

Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Laurence Stevenson's music is a melting pot of dance, ambient, world, folk and fusion. Early lessons in piano and violin were Laurence's launch base for his unique improvisational technique. After immigrating to Canada he continued his musical studies at the University of Toronto and at the same time became an integral part of the Toronto folk scene. Laurence is an amazing fiddle player who can stand toe to toe with the best in any genre. He has been a member of Friends of Fiddler's Green folk group for more than twenty-five years and in 2003, the Friends won the Estelle Klein 'Lifetime Achievement' award from the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals for their contribution to folk music. He has also played with numerous bands including Taliesin, Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People, Alex Bulmer, Enoch Kent, Fools Dance, Mary Knickle, Radio Nomad, a Sudanese music based band and Ritmo Flamenco. He finds flamenco to be a satisfying, deep form of music, rhythmically rich and complex. "You can either be really happy or extremely mournful."

Laurence works at CBC Radio as a Producer for the noted Radio One show 'Outfront'. He founded the Experimental Audio Room (EAR) in 1994, to allow producers and composers to take advantage of the latest advances in technology in sound production. He is very proud of his work with the Glenn Gould inspired project 'The Idea of Canada' which melds documentary and musical forms together in a single radio production. Laurence has won several international awards for radio shows that have heavily featured his unique sound design.

"Throughout the dancing numbers the musicians played an incredible variety of music that ranged from Tango, No Puedo where Laurence Stevenson's fiddle explodes into velvet like melody with the percussion & guitars following its hypnotic rhythm." - Ritmo Flamenco's Misterio in the Spotlight. Our Salsa Thing. Com

"After performing alongside Laurence for more than 20 years, I've yet to hear a musical style or genre he hasn't played*and he loves them all. One minute he's melting you with traditional Scottish 'air' and the next he's bowing up a storm with something in a time signature I barely comprehend." - Grit Laskin, Friends of Fiddler's Green.