About

Join Musique Royale for “Sunreturn - A Medieval Christmas Tour”, to hear sacred songs and lively dance tunes from the medieval era to the 18th century! Celebrate the passing year at this special performance which features Jennifer Publicover (flutes); Anthony Rissesco (fiddle); Ellen Gibling (harp); and Jude Pelley (bouzouki). Join Musique Royale from December 2-7 in Maitland, Blandford, Baddeck, Antigonish, Lunenburg and Windsor!

About the Artists

Jennifer Publicover, flutes

Jennifer Publicover leads a multi-faceted life performing on the wooden Irish flute, modern orchestral flute, and Baroque flute. She earned her Master’s degree in flute performance at the University of Toronto and her B.Mus at Mount Allison. An active collaborator in dance halls and on the concert stage, she has also recorded two albums as a member of the neo-traditional trio Papilio. In 2023 Jennifer became a member of the Halifax Rättvik Trio, a new trio exploring the traditional musics of Sweden and Canada and points in between along the North Atlantic. Their first album was released in August 2024. She freelances as an orchestral/theatre musician on the modern flute and a chamber and orchestral musician on the Baroque flute. Possessing a second master’s degree in environmental studies, Jennifer is also a published scholar on the use of music as an environmental education tool, and lectures at Saint Mary’s University on the history of Irish traditional music. She is the owner and director of the Halifax Institute of Traditional and Early Music, and is a sought-after flute teacher.

Ellen Gibling, harp

Ellen Gibling is a harpist based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax, Nova Scotia whose music spans classical, Irish traditional, and improvised genres. She is a band member of Many Worlds, Scions, and Borrowers, as well as playing with The Bombadils, Charlie Wilson, Olivia Barrett, Hayley Ryerson, The Narrows, and Jack Chen.

Ellen’s solo album The Bend in the Light (2022) was reviewed as “bold and beautiful” (Celtic Life International) and “enchanting” (Folk London). Her duo album with fiddler Adrianna Ciccone, The Pear Tree (2024), has been described as “genuine, heartfelt, and as replenishing as a spring morning” (Textura).

Ellen has enjoyed recent creative collaborations with Mocean Dance, Rock Bottom Movement, Maria Osende Flamenco, playwright Mary Fay Coady, and kora player Zal Sissokho. In January 2024, Ellen premiered a harp concerto by Jeff Reilly with Symphony Nova Scotia at the Open Waters Festival.

As a harp instructor and workshop leader, Ellen has taught at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Acadia University, the Huron Harp Festival, and the Canadian International Summer Harp Institute.

Ellen studied classical harp at McGill University with additional training in the World Youth Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She also studied Irish traditional music at the University of Limerick, and improvisation through the Creative Music Workshop.

Anthony Rissesco, fiddle

Anthony Rissesco is a versatile violin player and teacher who tours regularly with award-winning singer-songwriter Lennie Gallant and with roots-rock band Pogey. As a member of the neo-traditional trio Papilio, Anthony has garnered ECMA and Nova Scotia Music Awards nominations. He is also a member of the popular Halifax band The Gig Dogs. Anthony has played with Symphony Nova Scotia, Anne Murray, and Peggy Seeger.

As a music student at Dalhousie University, Anthony studied classical violin under Phillippe Djokic. He has won fiddle competitions throughout Canada, including the Maritime Fiddle Championship. In 1990, he came third in the Canadian Open in Shelburne Ontario, and he was chosen to represent Nova Scotia at the Grand Masters Competition in Ottawa for six consecutive years.

Jude Pelley, bouzouki

Jude Pelley was born in Newfoundland and raised on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. Inspired by his father, who played with seminal Canadian folk-rock group, Figgy Duff, Jude spent his formative years playing with Bridgewater’s award-winning bluegrass band, Exit 13. Since then his musical adventures have included being a mainstay in Victoria’s vibrant professional music scene for 5 years; criss-crossing the country usually by train or waste-vegetable oil fuelled vehicles; hosting an annual festival on his property; running a small-scale acoustic music recording and production studio, Alone Stone Productions (he produced Juno winner Amelia Curran’s first two solo albums).

For the past 5 years he has composed music for a collaborative chamber music project. Lately Jude is involved in many musical projects – he plays in bluegrass and American old time music ensembles in the Annapolis Valley, and is one half of the Swedish music duo, Spruce Larks, with Halifax based nyckelharpa player Kirsty Money.