To add to our ongoing ‘Small Talk –Obituary Column” I was saddened to hear about the death of the talented violinist Oliver Schroer on July 3rd from the complications of leukemia. Many may not know of him although countless have heard his masterful violin work backing some of Canada’s finest musicians. I once had the opportunity to hear him live in Peterborough Ontario backing James Keelaghan. He will be sadly missed on the Canadian and world music scene.
Yuri
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(James Keelaghan with Oliver Schroer)
Oliver Schroer * Composer, Fiddler, Producer
Oliver Schroer is a unique fiddler/composer who lives at the cutting edge. His musical explorations have taken him far beyond his traditional Canadian roots into the realms of jazz, Scandinavian, Balkan, and Asian music. But he has gone much farther. He has melded those elements into a unique and recognizable style of his own: lyrical, fractal, a continuously twisting thread. Once his music has been heard, it's hard to mistake it for anyone else's.
He has performed across North America and Europe with a wide variety of top acts in venues ranging from intimate clubs to New York’s Lincoln Center. He has been a featured guest on virtually every leading Canadian national radio show, and has been the subject of numerous special broadcasts.
Schroer's playing appears on over 100 albums of new traditional, acoustic, and popular music. He has recorded with American songwriting legends Jimmy Webb and Barry Mann, Canadian singers James Keelaghan, Loreena McKennitt and Sylvia Tyson, acoustic guitar mavens Jesse Cook and Don Ross, East Coast rockers Great Big Sea, West Coast rockers Spirit of the West, members of Quebec powerhouse La Bottine Souriante, Finnish accordionist Maria Kalaneimi , and World percussionists Trichy Sankaran and Bob Becker, to name but a few.
Flexibility is Schroer’s hallmark. Along the path, he has performed with such diverse acts as Linda Tillery & the Cultural Heritage Choir, Marc Jordan, Liu Fang, Jorane, George Fox, Stephen Fearing, Hoven Droven, Greg Brown, Glen Velez, Valdy, Tanya Tagaq, Teresa Doyle, Eileen McGann, and CBC's Stewart McLean/Vinyl Cafe Orchestra.
Schroer has composed over 1,000 pieces and has recorded eight CDs of his own compositions.
Oliver has also produced eleven albums for the Somerset label, two of which have gone Gold. Of the roughly thirty albums Oliver has produced, eight have been nominated for a Juno Award (Canadian equivalent of a Grammy). He has also done soundtrack work. Schroer’s playing can be heard on the award winning television series Angels in America and on Lemony Snickett, a Series of Unfortunate Events.
Oliver Schroer was currently promoting his new CD - Camino, a live recording from his 1,000km walk along the Camino de Santiago in France and Spain.
Oliver Schroer's Passing
