Celtic Jam Slow Session Wednesdays 7:30pm – 9pm
Introductory Session 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Blackburn North Neighbourhood Centre (formerly Koonung Cottage)
109 Koonung Rd, Blackburn North (Melbourne, Australia), $4 per session

Join us every Wednesday evening to learn and play tunes at an easy-going pace. Perfect for anyone who would like to try playing celtic music, or who is looking for a more chilled session!  We also play regular gigs.

There is an introductory session at 6:30pm each week where we will learn a tune from our common repertoire slowly by ear.  This is an opportunity for new players to get some basics in order to join the regular jam.

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Welcome Sessions for young adults with disabilities

Thursday evenings 7:30pm – 8:30pm, Jika Gardens Community Centre, East St, Northcote

These social music-making sessions will offer young adults an opportunity to come together and play music in the style of a traditional Celtic session. Music will be learnt aurally will also offer an opportunity to socialise in a safe setting. Many young people with disabilities leave school and have difficulties finding opportunities to connect with other young people, so we are hoping that these sessions will give opportunities for them to meet other young musicians and create some new friendships.
Especially for young musicians (ages 17 – 25) with a disability and/or diverse learning need.
This program is an initiative of Keys of Life, an organisation started by Daphne Proietto in 2015, to foster a music-learning community for students with diverse learning needs including autism.

Find out more…

Lost in the Groove Music Fiesta, East Gippsland March 11- 13, 2023

Paynesville March 11, Orbost March 12, Lakes Entrance March 13

Enjoy a series of free singing and instrumental workshops in these East Gippsland towns, led by community music experts, Brian (Strat) Strating  and Lyndal Chambers.  Top off the day with an impromptu street performance and evening jam session.  No booking necessary. Details on the Lost in the Groove page

This free community music fiesta aims to bring music opportunities to small towns in East Gippsland.  Lost in the Groove is an initiative of QuasiTrad Music and Crashendo!Bairnsdale, to enable communities in remote areas to experience great events in their own towns.  We aim to make it a regular event, with ongoing sponsorship.

. See our gallery page from 2022

Here’s some of our recent events….

Online Sessions 2020 – 2021

Camp concert with Laura Risk (Canada)

QuasiTrad was founded in 2014 by Judy Oleinikov to actively encourage participation in celtic musical traditions in Australia.

The highlight of the Quasitrad calendar is the annual camp which brings some of the world’s finest traditional musicians to Melbourne for workshops and performances. The camp honours the traditional way of learning music by providing an environment open to all players, teaching the music by ear and enjoying a great community atmosphere.

QuasiTrad also hosts jam sessions, workshops and dances throughout the year. You can subscribe down below to receive our newsletter about events, or see the Quebec Fiddle Weekend facebook page

You can also find out about traditional celtic music, in particular Quebecois music, and what’s happening here and around the world through the Trad Chat blog.

“Traditional celtic music in Australia is almost one of our best-kept secrets. You almost need to know someone in the circle to discover it, not because it’s elite, but because it’s niche. It’s not easy to find teachers and mentors in the genre, and many people live a long way from regular jam sessions or other celtic players. It’s a privilege for me to be able to help bridge this gap and to host events and tuition, and to be part of the small but steady folk music-and-dance revival happening here. I have a particular love for French-Canadian music which is lively and a lot of fun to play, and I particularly love to present this music, along with its Scottish and Irish music “cousins”, here in Victoria, Australia.”
Judy Oleinikov