Q Brooke Bachand

Music grounded in resistance, healing, and solidarity, Q Brooke Bachand (they/them) is a two-time Irish Music Award-winning nonbinary folk and Celtic artist, fiddle player, singer, storyteller, and mad artist. Born and raised on the Esquimalt/Songhees and Lekwungen-speaking territories, Q is once again rooted there after years of study and performance abroad in Amsterdam and Limerick. Of mixed ancestry, including Scottish and Irish heritage, they bring a deep ancestral pulse to their music and art.

Q’s solo album, Seeds of Discontent, draws from Irish traditional roots and the broader folk traditions of protest, resistance, and storytelling. Weaving together traditional Irish fiddle, rebel ballads, folk songs, and original compositions, the album holds space for reflection, grief, and collective hope—connecting ancestral memory with present-day struggles and a commitment to justice and collective care.

Formerly known as Qristina Brooke Bachand, Q is a dynamic and charismatic performer known for their powerful fiddle playing, emotive vocals, and magnetic stage presence. Once a teen fiddle prodigy, they have evolved into a bold, butch balladeer of rebel songs, resistance tunes, and foot-stomping traditional music. Their performances move between riotous energy and poignant stillness, blending fiddle fire, soulful vocals, a cappella protest songs, and story-sharing. Raw, tender, and electrifying, their work is both subversive and ancestral—a call to collective grief, joy, healing, and resilience.

With formal training in classical violin and an MA in Traditional Irish Music Performance (first-class honours) from the University of Limerick, Q’s fiddle playing is known for its rich tone, expressive nuance, and sheer passion. They also hold an MSc in Infectious Diseases & Public Health from VU Amsterdam. Their artistic influences range from Phil Ochs and Dick Gaughan to the rich oral traditions of Celtic song and story-sharing.

Q is a sought-after fiddle teacher and mentor, having taught at festivals, schools, camps, and universities across so-called Canada, the US, and Europe, including Leahy Music Camp, Goderich Celtic Roots College, Fiddler’s Farm in the Netherlands, and workshops at the University of Limerick. They have received numerous scholarships and accolades for their musical studies and were the president of the Victoria Fiddle Society for 4-5 years.

A proud mad artist living with schizoaffective disorder, Q embraces music and abstract visual art as vital tools of resilience. Their creative practice emerges from lived experiences of mental illness, addiction, recovery, ancestry, and transformation—seeking meaning in the struggle and joy of being alive in a body and world that often defies easy understanding.