We are...
Nice to meet you!
MELODY BENBOW was born in Calgary, Alberta, but has lived on
the West Coast most of her life. Her father, George Benbow, was a classical composer and
pianist in Alberta and her mother a transplanted native of Yorkshire, England. Melody
became enamoured of Celtic music from old recordings her mother played around the house.
Melody has always loved to sing and after receiving her first guitar at age 14, Melody
began writing tunes to accompany poetry, taking particular interest in and inspiration
from the poetry of Scotland’s Robert Burns. A number of these collaborations
with Burns appear on the Kitangus CD WEST COAST CELTIC.
Melody is a founding member of West Coast Celtic Trio KITANGUS, and a founding member of 1998’s A SONG FOR IRELAND. She continued to work with the cast of ASFI in Victoria’s MYRIAD MUSIC with " SONG OF THE ISLES", the 1999 tour in support of their CD of the same name. The tour concluded in the fall of 2000 with a summer run of shows at the world famous Buchart Gardens. Melody claims as musical influences her father, her significant other, Kate Bush, Loreena McKennitt and more. Melody is a great songwriter, an enchanting performer, beautiful vocalist, expert bodhran/percussionist, a guitarist and is currently incorporating the mandolin into her bag of tricks.
While pursuing musical and artistic goals, Melody has recently completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Victoria. Melody shares a lovely musical home with her partner, Gareth, and their daughter, and of course the High Regal Queen of Everything, The Cat.
FAE WIEDENHOEFT was born and raised in
Chicago, Illinois and found her way to the beautiful West Coast of Canada in 1996. From an
early age, Fae was influenced by her sister Cathy to dabble in the magic of stage and
song. In the beginning she performed solo for a squirrel family inhabiting the large pear
tree in the backyard! She later went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in
Musical Theatre Performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago. Some of her favourite
roles were Sarah Brown in GUYS AND DOLLS, Sara in COMPANY, and Glenda the Good Witch in
THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Fae met Melody at a rehearsal for A SONG FOR IRELAND in March of 1998. At first narrating the folklore portion of the production, Fae demonstrated the broader range of her abilities, and was soon contributing her musical talents as well. Fae is responsible for the tune for "Dublin Town", the last track of the CD that grew from A SONG FOR IRELAND. This tune was written only to assist Fae in memorizing the poem by J.M. Synge, but the tune stuck, all the way to CBC air play province-wide on St. Patrick’s Day 1999! When A SONG FOR IRELAND transformed itself into MYRIAD – SONG OF THE ISLES, Fae stuck with the troupe, and continued to work with MYRIAD in pursuit of concert tours. Celtic music has introduced Fae to the diversity of traditional instruments, and over the last 3 years she has found great joy in playing bodhran, penny whistle, bones, and spoons. She still dabbles with her guitar, song writting, and enjoys singing folk songs by her favourite icon Joni Mitchell.
Fae currently resides in Victoria, B.C. with her partner Marcin. Here, when not rehearsing, performing, or singing in the shower, she bones up on Celtic folklore, holistic medicine, and dabbles in computer web-page and graphic design. She and Marcin spend as much time as they have left in the great outdoors!
