The Waterloo Community Arts Centre is playing host to two folk concerts that draw inspiration from diverse musical traditions.

The first concert, featuring Waterloo native Jeremy Moyer on Saturday, has something of an exotic flavour. Moyer plays the erhu (standard Chinese two-stringed fiddle), the gaohu (Cantonese high-pitched fiddle), and the Taiwanese coconut shell fiddle, which he learned while studying in Taiwan, China and New York City.

Moyer's teacher and mentor was 78-year-old fiddler Zhang Shi-Dong, who taught his young pupil the knowledge and wisdom behind Taiwanese folk tunes, folk opera pieces and ancient religious and court songs passed down through the Chinese oral tradition. He also studied under Lee Yeung-Yee in New York.

He has released one solo album, A Discovery of Chinese Folk Tunes.

Moyer also has wide experience performing western music. He plays a variety of instruments including guitar, bass and percussion.

Saturday's concert will feature folk songs and ancient classical pieces from the Cantonese and Taiwanese traditions, in addition to original compositions that do not preserve the traditional music so much as allow Moyer to share his inspiration with a wider audience.

He will be accompanied by Pei-Yi Niu on erhu, Xiao-Xiang Zeng on yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), Kevin Ramessar on guitar and Brian Orr on percussion.

Although Moyer lives in Montreal, he has performed at various local festivals including K-W Multicultural Festival, Mill Race Festival and at Renison College East Asian Autumn Festival.

In addition, Moyer is performing a concert for children earlier in the day at 11 a.m. Tickets are $5 for children and $8 for adults.

Allison Lupton brings her unique brand of traditional and contemporary Celtic-flavoured songs and instrumentals to the arts centre on Feb. 8.

The Cambridge vocalist and flute/whistle player recently released her debut solo album My True Love, a lovely collection of traditional songs and tunes which has received kudos from critics and public alike.

She will be joined in concert by Ray Caldwell, Anne Lederman, Bob McLean, Tom Nunn, Denis Rondeau and Brian Taheny.