Malia

About the Artist

     Hailing from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Malia comes from a large family of musicians. She began touring up and down the East Coast with her family when still a child, garnering performance experience, winning numerous prizes, and gaining a strong reputation in the regional music scene as a talented and versatile fiddler.    Now based in Swoope, Virginia, Malia divides her time between performing and teaching. During the week, she can be found at the Front Porch Music School in Charlottesville where she is the Director of Music Education. On the weekends, you might find her in GA, WI, or any other state, performing as the fiddler for her sister's Mountain Home Label recording group, the Gina Furtado Project. She also performs locally solo and is a high-in-demand freelance musician in Central Virginia.    In addition to her role as Director of Music Education at the Front Porch, Malia taught continued education music classes at Blue Ridge Community College for three years, appeared on 2 Murphy Method Instructional DVDs, has taught many workshops and camps, laid tracks on innumerable albums, and was a 2018 Artist in Residence at Shenandoah National Park. 

Artist's Statement

I am a creative, dedicated, and experienced music educator and performer specializing in traditional American fiddling styles and folk music. In addition to extensive professional performance and recording/session work experience, I have 5+ years of professional curriculum development, workshop delivery, classroom instruction, and non-profit music education program development experience and have worked with students and developed programs for all ages, from pre-K music exploration courses, to advanced adult fiddling. I use draw from Kodaly, Orff, and Suzuki teaching methods, as well as a call-and-response traditional music approach.