About Anne Lindsay

Award-winning Toronto fiddler/violinist/vocalist Anne Lindsay is master of a wealth of diverse styles and blessed with a free spirit for improvisation. She has released four CDs of her innovative, yet down to earth compositions and in addition has played on a gazillion recordings and performed in every shape and colour you could imagine — the Arctic to Maple Leafs games, Led Zeppelin, Blue Rodeo and James Taylor.

Anne Lindsay has established herself as one of the most engaging and versatile instrumentalists in Canada, adapting her unique violin/fiddle style to the eclectic sounds and musical languages of this country’s rich cultural texture.

She is an exuberant fireplug of a session-player-to-the-stars (Led Zeppelin, The Chieftains, Blue Rodeo, James Taylor, Roger Daltrey) whose skills have graced many a stage around the world. Anne has played on hundreds of recordings and is a featured performer with the Jim Cuddy Band, The Skydiggers and John McDermott. She was the resident fiddler for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the stage production of The Lord of the Rings. She has also built a formidable career on her own as a musician, composer and vocalist — all showcased brilliantly on her growing catalog.

Anne has already released several award winning CDs of her own and has won numerous awards including: Solo Instrumentalist and Producer of the Year (Canadian Folk Music Awards), Jazz Violinist of the Year (National Jazz Awards) and the K.M. Hunter Award (Ontario Arts Council).

Anne began her musical studies at the age of five, specializing in violin, piano and voice. A graduate of York University, Toronto (BFA Special Honors Music), the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto and the Banff Centre, Alberta. Her fluency is evident in her wide-ranging repertoire, encompassing jazz, rock, classical, country, old-time fiddle, Celtic, Cajun, and Klezmer styles, and the recent addition of two new Scandinavian fiddles — the Finnish jouhikko and the Swedish nyckelharpa.

In addition to teaching at the Celtic College in Goderich Ontario and the Haliburton Winter Folk Camp she has traveled to Rankin Inlet in the Canadian Arctic to teach music to Inuit youth, hosted Canadian fiddle workshops in Finland and volunteered at the Majengo Children’s Home in Tanzania.

Promo Photos

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Press

“Whether she’s laying down Celtic riffs, wailing on a Jim Cuddy set or tugging on a mama’s Yiddish heartstrings, Anne’s nuance and passionate style wins her fans wherever she plays.” — Oliver Schroer
“Thoroughly cosmopolitan, yet equally rooted in the traditional music of Canada, Hurry On Home really is one to hurry home for.” — Richard Thornley, Penguin Eggs
“Hurry on Home is a sparkling set of varying styles, mostly self-penned, that constantly springs surprises as a piece goes off in an unexpected direction. Thoroughly entertaining and sometimes scarily beautiful.” — R2 (formerly Rock ‘n Reel)
“Anne continues to raise the bar every time she raises her bow.” — Steve Lambert, CHCH TV
“Anne Lindsay is a thoughtful musician, staking out original territory for her violin voice. A consolidation of Lindsay’s work thus far, and a delightful plunge forward…sounds like a conversation with God.” — Penguin Eggs
“She is just unbelievable.” — Scene & Heard with Will McGuirk
“Anne Lindsay … cut the night air with a brilliant fiddle solo that proved to be one-third Ashley MacIsaac and two-thirds Jimi-Hendrix.” — Jeff Macklin, Peterborough Examiner
“But luckily, (it took) a powerful jolt of energy from frenetic violist Anne Lindsay on the beautiful ballad, Five Days in May to get Blue Rodeo back on their stride … the crowd roared appreciatively and the boys rode the momentum the rest of the night.” — Derek Tse, Toronto Sun
“Miss Lindsay is a strikingly attractive stage performer as well as a talented singer and jazz violinist.” — Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail
“Ottawa audiences were taken with Lindsay’s fiddling, rising to their feet almost every time she put bow to string.” — Dan Donovan, Ottawa Life
“The languid jazzy, acoustic opening launched a rarefied super jam between Lindsay and Cripps as they traded explosive licks on fiddle and guitar, while Cuddy stood there and marvelled at where these familiar songs had gone.” — Rick Overall, Ottawa Sun
“Violinist Anne Lindsay endeared herself to those who heard her play with McDermott during the Fiddle Contest last August, but she sparkled on stage in Shelburne.” — Lana Fleming, Shelburne Examiner

Awards & Honours

2025 — Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominee — Instrumental Composer of the Year, Soloworks 2
2011 — OCFF Songs From The Heart, Instrumental Award
2011 — Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominee, Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year
2007 — Canadian Folk Music Awards, Solo Instrumentalist of the Year
2007 — Canadian Folk Music Awards, Producer of the Year
2007 — National Jazz Awards, Violinist of the Year
2006 — OCFF Songs From The Heart, Instrumental Award
2006 — K.M. Hunter Award (Ontario Arts Council)
1981 — The Banff Centre
1980 — York University
1971, 1972 — Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto
1969 — J.M. Greene Award, Toronto