FARMINGTON — The Mount Blue High School traditional music ensemble will begin a musical journey Wednesday, April 13, and will return a week later having visited locations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Places like Perth Andover, New Brunswick, where they will join local musicians who call themselves simply the Wednesday Night Fiddlers. Places like Truro, Nova Scotia, where the Mount Blue students will attend the Maritime Fiddlers Association annual spring workshop. And places like Charlottetown, PEI for workshops with well-known traditional Acadian musicians and dancers Helen Bergeron and Louise Arsenault.

“I’m just trying to bring them to places with rich folk-musical culture where they can learn … and to show that music can be a part of life at any age,” says director Steve Muise of the Franklin County Fiddlers’ upcoming trip to the Canadian Maritimes.

Performing along the way at schools, university campuses, theatres and museums, the Fiddlers will also enjoy visits to the Ducks Unlimited Conservation Center in Fredericton, Le Musee Acadien at the University of Moncton, the Bay of Fundy Hopewell Rocks, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, The University of Prince Edward Island and historic sites in Charlottetown and Halifax.

As they make final preparations for the tour, the Franklin County Fiddlers wish to thank the local community for the tremendous support which has helped make the trip possible. The Fiddlers have been busy since November with numerous fundraising efforts.

In keeping with their tradition of supporting local groups with fundraising activities, the Fiddlers will be performing a benefit concert on the last night of their Canadian tour to support the Amherst, Nova Scotia branch of the Third New Jersey Volunteers Reenactment Society.

The Fiddlers will perform their annual spring concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at Nordica Auditorium on the University of Maine at Farmington campus.

Current members of the Franklin County Fiddlers include the following Mt. Blue High School students. Violin: Ellie Buckland, Alex Chandler, Victoria Cushing, Emma Enoch, Abby Flanagan, Zak Kendall, Sky Kincaid, Riley Laflin, Elizabeth LeClair, Silas Rogers, Ellie Sloane-Barton, Louisa Stancioff, Savannah Swain and Ashley Taylor. Flute: Sophia Bunnell. Viola: Sarah Richards. Cello: Caitlin Douglass, North Kay and Seth Wegner. Bass: Jake Correll and Mali Obomsawin. Guitar: Peter Coleman and Luke Wooden. Piano and accordian: Kyrie Harnden.