Oliver Schroer

During his final stages of his illness, Schroer said of his compositions, "I used to write a lot of jigs, reels and waltzes – as a matter of fact I still do. But over the years new kinds of melodies emerged – more rarefied, harder to pin down. There were prayers, incantations, whimsies, melismas, mysteriosos, heisenbergs, fractal reels, forest blues, blessings.... They are not so much entertainment tunes, but music that expresses other important things about my relationship to life. This music is, dare I say, more spiritual."

"Enthralled", a duo album Oliver recorded with Irish flautist and singer Nuala Kennedy, was released in 2012 on Borealis Records and was nominated for Instrumental Group of the Year and Ensemble of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards 2012.

In 2007, Schroer was diagnosed with leukemia, which proved to be untreatable. A tribute concert for Schroer was held on February 28 & 19, 2008 at Hugh's Room in Toronto. It featured the Twisted String Project, seventeen youth, aged 9 through 18, led by two of Oliver's proteges, Chelsea Sleep and Emilyn Stam, who traveled from British Columbia to take part in the concerts. The entire trip was funded through public donations of money and airmiles. The fundraising effort was broadcast on CBC radio, and unbeknownst by Oliver who was confined in the hospital, the group's visit remained a secret to Schroer until just a week before the concert. CBC Radio 2 recorded the concert, which aired on Canada Live on April 7, 2008.

Schroer's last concert was performed on June 5, 2008. In a letter to his fans on April 30, when he first announced his intention to do this concert, he called it "Oliver's Last Concert on his Tour of this Planet". He asked that his sold-out audience clap, not cry, and apologized for not being his normal glad-handing self; the risk of infection from personal contact would have been much too great. A subsequent review in The Globe and Mail called Schroer "an investigative fiddler". Schroer was guested at the concert by long-time friends and students; David Woodhead, Ansgar Schroer, Jaron Freeman-Fox, Emilyn Stam, Chelsea Sleep. Schroer died just shy of one month later.

The last tune Schroer taught to his students was a tune he called, Poised, on July 2, 2008. He died of his illness the following morning. His last words were, "Well, I guess no excursions today."

Hymns and Hers subsequently won two Canadian Folk Music Awards on November 23, 2008, in the categories of "Pushing the Boundaries" and "Solo Instrumentalist".

His album Camino was recorded in churches along the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail. Schroer walked 1,000 km of the trail in 2004 with his wife and two friends, carrying portable recording equipment. To save weight, he did not bring a violin case. He carried his instrument wrapped in a sleeping bag in his backpack, "like my own precious relic, carefully packed in its reliquary of socks and underwear." The album features solo playing, occasionally against a background of local sounds such as church bells, birds, and monastic voices.

Schroer was dissatisfied with university life, and began to busk in Toronto, playing guitar in the Toronto subway. After several years, he picked up his violin again, but to play fiddle rather than classical music. Eventually, he began to record, and in 1993 released his first album, Jigzup, which was nominated for a Juno Award in the Best Roots or Traditional Album category.

Oliver Schroer grew up in Vandeleur, Ontario, a small farming community near Markdale in rural Grey County. He attended Grey Highlands Secondary School in Flesherton, where he played French horn in the school band. He also took private violin lessons. He graduated in 1974, having earned several academic awards.

Oliver Schroer (June 18, 1956 – July 3, 2008) was a Canadian fiddler, composer, and music producer.