Filmed live during the summer of 2003, Wood River Hall is a 13-part music series recorded at the Canada Saskatchewan Sound Stage. But the show is presented on television as a story-book venue: the community hall of the quintessential prairie town of Wood River.
Hosted by Connie Kaldor, Wood River Hall features performances by our host, as well as guest performers. Prominent Canadian musicians are featured, including those who have shaped the North American folk movement and young musicians who carry on the tradition. Performers include Bruce Cockburn and Sylvia Tyson, of Ian and Sylvia fame. And popular young bands that cross musical genres including the Wailin’ Jennys and the Duhks expand the program’s appeal.
The program is set in a “folk club” setting with a live audience seated at small tables, an intimate, comfortable and informal setting for some of the best music Canada has to offer.
Awards
- Festival
- Location
- Award
- 2004 Gemini Awards
- Canada
- Nominated (Best Performance)
CONNIE KALDOR (Host)
Connie Kaldor was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1953 during a May blizzard on the heels of a heat wave. She's been a study in contradictions ever since. Music pundits have tried to define the essence of the prairie-born acoustic performer for over two decades but even the most eloquent have fallen short of perfection. Fact is, Connie Kaldor is a performer without borders. A contradiction in terms. She is a Juno-award winning singer who has flourished on the folk music scene for over two decades yet her repertoire of original material blurs musical boundaries, embracing elements of gospel, rock, country and western, folk, blue grass and adult contemporary.
By 1984 Connie was headlining folk festivals across the country. She was part of a wave of Canadian talent, along with Stan Rogers, Ferron, Heather Bishop, Valdy, Roy Forbes and Stringband that was forging a distinctly Canadian sound. She toured India, China, Europe the United States and has appeared at most major concert venues in Canada. She has shared the stage with artists including Shawn Colvin, Sylvia Tyson, the Chieftains, Daniel Lanois and Tracy Chapman. In 1984 Connie was nominated for a Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist for her performance on the album Moonlight Grocery.
Her collaboration on the children's album Lullaby Berceuse with children's entertainer Carmen Campagne won the Juno Award for Best Children's Album in 1989 and a U.S. Parents' Choice Award in 1990. Her song Wood River from the same-named album, released in 1992, is considered the quintessential Saskatchewan song. She has written music for both dance and theatre productions and in 1996 Connie merged her love of theatre and music to create the prairie musical Dust and Dreams.
Connie married music producer and Hart Rouge member Paul Campagne in 1990.They live in Montreal with their two boys Gabriel and Aleksi.
