TURNER — French and Irish fiddle tunes will be the focus of this week’s Music for Mavis concert scheduled for 6:30 p.m. today, Tuesday, June 6, in the gazebo on the village green. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held next door in the community room located on the lower level of the Turner Public Library.

The featured act will be the multi-generational band Les Bijoux, whose members range in age from 12 to “vintage.” In addition to fiddles, their collection of instruments includes guitar, banjo, mandolin, bodhran (Irish hand drum) and spoons, all of which add extra punch to their repertoire of lively Celtic and Quebecois jigs and reels as well as waltzes, marches, hornpipes and polkas from a variety of other ethnic traditions from around the world.

The group rose from the ranks of the youth music program of the Maine Folque Co-op, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring Maine’s cultural heritage by bringing the generations together through traditional music and dance. Over the past three years the members of the ensemble have earned enthusiastic applause from audiences at veterans homes, retirement communities and schools throughout the area, as well as at the American Folk Festival in Bangor and the New England Folk Festival in Massachusetts. 

While there is no charge for admission to the concert, freewill donations will be accepted to help support the Maine Folque Co-op’s arts enrichment fund, through which the young musicians have the opportunity to study with selected master fiddlers from Maine and beyond in order to sharpen their playing technique and expand their performance repertoire.

More information on this event or other upcoming concerts in the “Music for Mavis” concert series is available from Paula Anderson at 754-0954.

The schedule of performers for the remainder of this summer’s Tuesday concerts on the gazebo follows. From June through August,  concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. September concerts begin at 6 p.m.

    June 13 — Mary Murphy and the Wildcat Mamas, blues, folk, jazz; June 20 —  Turner Templeton, folk, country, rock n’ roll; June 27 — Moe Boule (sax) and the Jones Band, fun dance band.

July 4 — Colwell Brothers, hot blues; July 11— Az-Iz – Marty Lang … jazz, swing;  July 18 — Satori, fusion jazz; July 25 — Back Woods Road Band, bluegrass, rock, blues.

Aug. 1 — Mill Creek Road Show, bluegrass, country, blues; Aug. 9 — Will Clark, & the Misty Mountaineers (Yodlin’ Slim Clark’s son); Aug. 16 — Denny Breau, virtuoso guitarist and charismatic crooner; Aug. 22 — Kevin Libby Trio — songwriter, guitarist and singer; Aug. 29 — Bishop Avenue, with Chrissie Paulson, country, harmony, rock.

Sept. 5 — Pam Weeks, T-Acadie, a variety of music including traditional French Canadian and New England dance tunes; Cajun waltzes, two steps, Cajun blues and Zydeco tunes; old-time southern tunes and original tunes; Sept.12 —Hot Damn, country and classic oldies.