Kristen is privileged to play on three amazing violins:  an 1800 Charles Thompson English Violin, a c.1875 German fiddle (maker unknown), and a custom-made electric violin from Ithaca Stringed Instruments.

Like most traditional instruments in the Celtic tradition, the fiddle is a relative newcomer. Irish, Scottish and Breton music are all based around the stylings and ornaments which are natural on the pipes. Rolls, crans, cuts, etc. are a necessary part of articulatiing bagpipes. Fiddle players (as well as accordions, bouzoukis, and the like) have copied pipe techniques to the instrument.

Just as the fiddle in Irish and Scottish music was adapted from the English, Breton fiddles were adapted from the dominant culture of France. Though the fiddle is a much more recent addition in Brittany, having been widely adopted in Breton music only after the Second World War (though they were not uncommon in Eastern Brittany well before this).