Kirk Elliott is a musician and composer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Queen's University in Kingston, where he studied violin, electronic and early music. After graduating, Kirk formed an acoustic music ensemble called SHORT TURN. This eclectic trio performed on national radio and television and recorded two albums, one of which won a JUNO AWARD. At that time, Kirk also placed in the top ten at the Canadian Open Fiddle Contest in Shelburne, Ontario. In 1985, a Canada Council Arts Award enabled Kirk to attend the National Choreographic Seminar at Simon Fraser University. His experience at this collaborative gathering of choreographers, composers, actors, musicians and dancers encouraged him to channel his musical abilities into composition. Working in his own studio with a diverse collection of musical instruments from around the world, he has since composed, recorded and performed music for the National Ballet, the National Film Board, the Discovery Channel, Danny Grossman Dance, the Toronto Consort, CTV and CBC radio and television. He was the music director for the DORA AWARD winning production of 1837: The Farmer's Revolt (Theatre On the Move). Kirk has travelled throughout Canada and the United States for 20 years playing fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, accordion, flute, harp, bass, bagpipes, percussion and trombone with Sharon, Lois and Bram's Elephant Show, appearing at such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Palace Theatre on Broadway, and Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. He has produced four CDs for children, one selling over 50,000 units for Scholastic Books, and performed his own production "Princess Soupy and the Opera" with several Canadian orchestras. Kirk is a founding member of Ensemble Polaris, a group dedicated to the performance of music of Northern countries, for whom he composes and plays Swedish and Scottish pipes, bouzouki and balalaika. Additional musical studies have included master classes on renaissance and baroque violin with Monica Huggett, Jean Lamon (Tafelmusik), David Douglas (The King's Noyse), and traditional Scottish fiddle repertoire with Sandy McIntyre (Cape Breton Symphony), as well as lute and lute song classes with Paul Odette and Julianne Baird. Kirk's eight CDs of instrumental music include elements of medieval, renaissance, celtic, bluegrass, classical, eastern, and pop music, with guest artists such as Don Ross, Erica Goodman, Carlos del Junco and Don Rooke (The Henrys). As musical director of GYNTY, a Theatre Columbus production, he was nominated for a DORA AWARD, and Kirk and his friend Magoo recently received an INDIE AWARD for best children's album. With CBC's Jurgen Gothe he performed Up Your Glass, a humorous show about wine for the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Kirk's playing can be heard weekly on Car Business (CTV), Jane and the Dragon (YTV), and The Ron James Show (CBC).