Founded in 2019, Finger Lakes Fiddle Orchestra (FLFO) brings together beginner to expert level musicians from around upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania. The orchestra includes a range of instruments beyond fiddles/violins. We welcome stringed instruments such as violas, cellos, basses, guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, as well as other instruments such as accordions, flutes, and penny whistles. We are an adult orchestra and the music we play is suitable for intermediate players and advanced beginners. Learning by ear is encouraged, but sheet music will be available for download.
Inspired by The Vermont Fiddle Orchestra and The Fiddle Orchestra of Western Massachusetts, FLFO was created to provide a supportive environment where musicians of all skill levels interested in exploring fiddle music can develop and practice their skills.
photo by Mike Ludgate\
Under the guidance of our Musical Directors, we learn, arrange, and rehearse fiddle tunes from a variety of American and Celtic styles.
FLFO is organized by volunteers. Membership costs are used for space rentals, instructor fees, and other operational expenses.
Musical Co-Directors
Timothy Ball
Tim Ball plays the fiddle, violin, guitar, and has more than ten years of experience in facilitating joyful fiddling for musicians of all ages! He’s conversant in a wide range of musical styles, and specializes in helping players of all abilities find satisfying ways to make music together.
https://timballmusic.com
Tim teaches regularly at the Ithaca Suzuki Institute and the Kanack School of Music fiddle camp, and maintains a private fiddle/violin studio in Ithaca, New York. As a performer, he tours throughout the northeast with his Celtic trio Arise & Go, contra dance bands Center Street and Tempest, and has played with Renaissance festival bands Empty Hats and Cantiga.
Hope Grietzer
Hope Grietzer grew up in upstate New York, where she fell in love with fiddle music in ethnomusicologist Jim Kimball’s Geneseo String Band. She wanted to learn more, and studied with New York State Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame inductee Larry Downey after college. After a move to Colorado Springs, Hope’s band Black Rose won the Rockygrass band competition, and she was voted “Rocky Mountain Region Fiddler of the Year” by the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society. She also co-founded the The Black Rose Acoustic Society (www.blackroseacoustic.org) in Colorado Springs, a non-profit which has been hosting concerts, jams, workshops, open mics, a kids fiddle tune jam and a music school for acoustic musicians for the past 30 years.
Back in New York, Hope was inducted into the New York State Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame in 2009 and is past-president of the local chapter of the New York State Old Time Fiddlers Association. She can be found fiddling tunes and singing with the Falling Waters Trio.
Hope brings decades of experience as a teacher and fiddle group leader and has a deep repertoire of interesting music to bring to the orchestra.
https://www.happyhollowmusic.com
Margaret Ball-Lumumba
Margaret Ball-Lumumba is lucky to be Tim Ball’s sister, and also enjoys fiddling! She especially enjoys the groove of high-power reels and lilting waltzes. She performs with the O’Shanigans at contra dances and events, and also in Americana/New Folk band, Autumn Sun.
https://canaaninstitute.org/oshanigans/
Musical Guest Instructor – Rick Manning
Rick Manning plays fiddle and mandolin, performing bluegrass, swing and contradance music with Paris Texas, String Theory, the Falling Waters Trio (Grietzer-Hodgson-Manning), the Contradictions and, formerly, Cornerstone in the Ithaca and Finger Lakes area. Rick has recorded five CD’s – three in Nashville with Cornerstone in the 1990’s and most recently two with the Falling Waters Trio. He is also the founder and director of the Winter Village Music Camp and the Falling Waters Music Camp.
The Start-Up Committee
With the dreams of uniting local musicians and spreading beautiful fiddle-inspired music throughout the community, this group made Finger Lakes Fiddle Orchestra possible!
Finger Lakes Fiddle Orchestra 