Join us for a Shaker Meeting Room series concert featuring
Ellen Gawler, Benjamin Foss, & Chris Moore
with special guest
The Pineland Fiddlers
Friday, April 11, 2025 at 7 pm
(Doors open at 6:30 pm)
Shaker Village, 707 Shaker Rd, New Gloucester, Maine

The trio will perform traditional and original folk songs and instrumentals from Maine, Canada, the British Isles, along with songs and tunes from the Shaker repertoire. The concert will also feature members of Ellen Gawler's teen student ensemble, The Pineland Fiddlers.

ELLEN GAWLER (fiddle/vocals) Ellen Gawler first picked up the fiddle at age 7. She's conversant in many styles, including Irish, Maritime, Quebecois, Shetland, and New England. She has been a member of the Maine Country Dance Orchestra, Old Grey Goose, Trillium, Borovchani, Pine Hill Band, Village Harmony, Childsplay, and Ladies of the Lake. She also tours with her husband and 3 daughters as the Gawler Family. Ellen has been awarded the Maine Arts Commission Master Artist/Apprenticeship Grant, to teach traditional Maine fiddling. As Co-founder of the Pineland Suzuki School, she directs the Pineland Fiddlers, an aspiring youth fiddle group who is dedicated to the traditional music of Maine. Ellen is a Suzuki violin/fiddle teacher of 25 years, and continues to teach at the Pineland Suzuki School, fiddle workshops, music camps and institutes and at her home in Belgrade.

BENJAMIN FOSS (guitar/fiddle/vocals) is a musician and luthier based near Belfast, Maine. Benjamin grew up in southern New England attending and playing for contra dances and building fiddles and banjos out of everything he could find. He is passionate about continuing the traditions of New England tunes, songs and dances and is always excited to share tunes and knowledge with the people around him. Benjamin plays in several contra dance combinations on fiddle, guitar, tenor banjo, and occasionally other stringed instruments. On rare occasions can be found calling dances. Benjamin has taught at many music camps and weekends and also teaches private lessons, both in person and online. When he’s not playing, he’s building and restoring guitars, banjos and mandolins in Brooks. Contact Benjamin for your fretted instrument repair and restoration needs. Some of Benjamin’s other pursuits include restoring his 1850s farmhouse, collecting and restoring player pianos and reed organs, stacking firewood, and finding forgotten fiddle tunes and dances to bring back into circulation.

CHRIS MOORE (mandolins/vocals) is a musician, composer, and educator from Maine. His interest in Shaker music began in the early 1970s, when he heard Sister R. Mildred Barker singing at worship in the 1794 meetinghouse. He has led Shaker music classes and workshops around the US. Chris has composed,performed, and recorded musicinternationally for dance, film, television, spoken word, theater, and visual art projects. Chris has led Shaker music programs at 317 Main Community Music Center, the Farnsworth Art Museum, Frist Center for Visual Arts, South Union Shaker Village, Vanderbilt University, The Omega Institute, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, among others. His latest recording "Changing Union" was released in February 2025.

Join the Shakers and staff for an exclusive evening concert in the Brick Dwelling House, an intimate setting with superb acoustics for music and vocals, where the Shakers have gathered in worship and song for over 140 years.

Proceeds of this concert benefit the ongoing historic preservation of the Herb House Cultural Center.

The Herb House project aims to create a communal space for people to share traditional arts, herbal knowledge, and fellowship within the only active Shaker community in the world.

General Admission

Tickets are $20.
Seating is limited to 85.
Please consider making an additional donation in your shopping cart at checkout. Thank you!

Concert: Ellen Gawler, Benjamin Foss, & Chris Moore

By United Society of Shakers, Sabbathday Lake, Inc.

Concert: Ellen Gawler, Benjamin Foss, & Chris Moore

Benefit Concert for the Shaker Herb House