International Akaroa Music Festival – Fiona Pears

Celebrating the music of Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt

Fiona Pears, violin
Keith Petch, guitar
Bob Heinz, guitar
Pete Fleming, bass

Canterbury’s best known and favourite gypsy jazz violinist has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, and this January she brings her talent and verve to Akaroa’s Gaiety Hall. Together with her dynamic Christchurch band, guitarists Keith Petch and Bob Heinz and bassist Pete Fleming, Fiona will be getting your toes tapping with a celebration of the classics that turned this genre into an international sensation: the music of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. Active in the 1930s and ’40s in Paris as the founding members of the ‘Quintette du Hot Club de France’, Grappelli and Reinhardt became the fathers of the swinging gypsy jazz style that is so enduringly popular thanks to its combination of infectious nonchalance, rhythmic vitality and instrumental virtuosity.

Alongside her performing, Fiona has also written arrangements for artists on the Universal, EMI and
Classic FM record labels.

Fiona has released six CDs and two DVDs to date. Her latest CD Swing Driven Thing was
released in 2014 and is a mixture of her own compositions alongside passionate gypsy jazz.
Fiona will be performing with her dynamic band featuring Keith Petch and Bob Heinz
(both guitar) and Pete Fleming on Bass.