Passionate. Creative. Captivating. Karrnnel is without a doubt one of Canada’s most accomplished and innovative fiddlers and musicians as a recording artist, teacher, performer and composer. Karrnnel is changing the face of fiddle music.

Karrnnel has been honing his skills on the fiddle for over twenty-six years and he has garnered numerous awards, nominations and high acclaim to his name. A wildly dynamic live performer, he is consistently invited to showcase on the provincial, national and international stage. Known for his distinct style and exceptional technique, Karrnnel is highly regarded for his unique approach in breaking new ground in the traditional fiddle world.

Karrnnel has established himself as one of the most original and decorated musicians in the country. He is the most successful competition fiddle player in Saskatchewan’s history, is multi-nominated and a winner at the Western Canadian Music awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards – including a nomination for Solo Instrumentalist of the Year – and recently was nominated for Instrumental Song of the Year at the 2012 International Independent Music Awards.

In late 2011, Karrnnel and three musical friends formed a new band called The Fretless – a young and innovative band that melds the worlds of celtic, folk and chamber music into an amazing and unique sound all their own. Their debut album ‘Waterbound’ was released in early 2012 with critical acclaim across Canada, the US, and Europe. Karrnnel will be touring across Canada, the US, and Europe all throughout 2012, including a 5 week tour of Europe in the fall.

Since the age of 4, he grew up playing in a family band with his two sisters (Kimberly and Kanndece on fiddle) and his father (Orest on accordion) traveling all across North America as The Sawitsky Family Fiddlers. From there, Karrnnel has gone on to develop a successful and critically acclaimed performance and recording career which includes performances all across North America and Europe and the release of 3 award nominated albums since 2009.

Karrnnel is one of the most active and authentic composers of fiddle music around the world. He has composed over 200 songs to date, and in 2010, he began the process of writing full orchestrations for his original music (an exercise he continues today). Karrnnel is also very active on the education/teaching side of music sharing his musical gift at various music camps, workshops and school workshops across Canada that focus on sharing the traditions of old time music and dance.

Whether he is teaching, performing, writing, collaborating, arranging, or recording, Karrnnel consistently amazes audiences with his passion and expertise of the music he plays.

Classes:

Karrnnel’s classes will focus on 3 components: warm-ups/technique, learn a tune, and tone/your fiddle voice. The level of each class will dictate the exact content with more complex tunes and ideas presented in the more advanced classes, and more of the basics presented in the beginner classes. If time is available, there may be time spent on arranging fiddle tunes. The main idea behind these classes is to not only focus on learning new music, but also focus on what is needed to develop your unique voice as a fiddle player and musician.

Karrnel will be teaching Beginner Plus, Intermediate, Intermediate Plus and Advanced.