Hi everyone! The 34th Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition took place in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, August 23rd-24th, 2024, with 32 contestants competing to be Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Champion. In addition, the first ever Pan Northern Youth Fiddle Summit took place from August 21st-23rd, bringing nearly 100 youth fiddlers together from Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, along with two youth fiddlers from southern BC and Nova Scotia as guest students. The results, memories and observations for this weekend are in this article for my Facebook pages and at www.trentbruner.com. Video playback for both the preliminaries and finals can be found on the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association’s Facebook page for those who could not attend in person, as the preliminaries and finals were sold out in advance. 2024 will be also remembered as the year the Canadian Grand Masters made a major cultural statement, with an unofficial theme “From Legacy to Future”, as this was the first time this national fiddling competition took place in Canada’s northern territories. What I write here is only a snapshot from my position as a CGMFA board member and one of the house accompanists. An entire book requiring the accounts of all would properly tell the story of this massive undertaking and all the meetings of people, sharing of music and culture and how these varying backgrounds not only brought fiddling youths together, but more of the Canadian fiddle community together from coast to coast to coast and beyond Canadian borders. Gina Burgess (NS), Stacey Read (NB), Kim de Laforest (Sask.), Ingrid Johnston (BC), Daniel Lapp (BC), Mark Sullivan (BC), Andrea Bettger (NWT), and Amelia Sloboegan (YT) were the fiddle instructors for this special gathering. To paraphrase CGMFA President Mark Sullivan, “There were many special moments at this gathering. Some children there did not speak English, but they were still able to share music culture with others and become friends.” It was truly a time of building bridges as a fiddling community from Pacific to Atlantic to Arctic oceans, as Northern fiddle tunes, cultural songs and musical arrangements thereof were shared, taught, arranged and would be performed by the fiddlers, guest artists and their accompanying band for the Saturday preliminaries and finals. As the summit continued, rehearsals with contestants took place Thursday and Friday at the Sternwheeler Hotel and Conference Centre before the sold out Friday Night Dance at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse. People of all ages were on the dance floor throughout the evening. As a musician, it was a delight to see a full floor with all contestants playing for the Friday night dance along with a local caller, who was one of the parents from the host organization, Fiddleheads Yukon, a youth fiddle group led by Keitha Clark. House accompanists Jeremy Rusu (Brockville, Ontario - guitar and keyboard accordion), Yours truly (piano), Melika Lemelin (Val-Therese, Ontario - piano) and past CGMFA President Cathy Sproule of Saskatoon (piano) were part of this band at varying times throughout the evening. Saturday was competition day at the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse. The contestants came into the hall all playing “Saturday Night Hoedown”, led by Yukon co-chair, Boyd Benjamin, to open the day. Jeremy Rusu, Melika Lemelin and Yours truly were ready to accompany the contestants. Calvin Vollrath (St. Paul, Alberta), April Verch (originally from Pembroke, Ontario) and Daniel Lapp (Victoria, BC) were the contest judges while Kevin Barrr (Whitehorse, Yukon Territory) was the competition Master of Ceremonies. 32 contestants competed in the preliminary round with a high level of fiddling that afternoon. At the halfway point, the first half of the Pan Northern Youth Fiddle Summit performance took place with the fiddlers, accompanists and guest artist Mathew Nuqingaq, a singer and First Nations drum dancer who is also an actor, photographer, educator, owner of the Aayuraa Studio in Iqaluit, Nunavut, master jeweller, silversmith, metal artist, sculptor, and member of The Order of Canada.
After the second half of contestants competed, a contestant jamboree took place with the 32 contestants from the preliminary round and all three house accompanists. After the ten finalists were announced and playing positions decided, the evening finals took place after a well deserved supper break.
In the evening, the judges opened with a lively fiddle medley, followed by the top 10 finalists performing their second sets of tunes with the aim of winning the title. The second half of the Pan Northern Youth Fiddle Summit performance took place with guest artists “Dena Zagi” (The People's Voice), featuring Dennis Shorty and his partner Jennifer Fröhling on guitars and vocals. Their music is written in the Kaska Dena language and was capably accompanied by the youth fiddlers and accompanists. Dena Zagi’s album, “Gucho Hin,” was nominated for both an Indigenous Music Award and a Canadian Folk Music Award.
Erin Jones from CBC Whitehorse then came on stage and announced the 2024 inductees for the Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour. Family members and others were present to accept the honours for those being inducted. The following inductees are:
Builders: Canadian Fiddle Teachers who have contributed to northern fiddle education and those participating in the 2024 Pan Northern Youth Fiddle Summit:
-Andrea Hansen (Strings Across the Sky, Northern Territories - Posthumously)
-Andrea Bettger (Fiddle Cats, Yellowknife, NWT)
-Darlene Nuqingaq, Naiome Eegeesiak, Aura and Connie Kwon,
-Jessica Barrett-Ives and Gina Burgess (Iqaluit Fiddle Club, Iqualit, Nunavut)
-Cathy Lee (Panniqtung Agiagaqtiit Fiddle Club, Nunavut)
-The National Arts Centre’s Arts Alive Program (Ottawa, Ontario)
-Linda Duford (Kole Crook Fiddle Association, NWT)
-Ingrid Johnson (Cariboo Chilcotin Youth Fiddle Society – Williams Lake, BC)
-Peter Menzies, Amelia Rose, Kristen Poenn and Lolita Hughes
(Dawson City Fiddle Club, Dawson City, YT)
-Rosemary Buck, Michael Allaway and Catherine Allaway
(Treble Makers, Haines Junction, YT)
-Julie Lohnes-Cashin (Tusarnaarniq Sivumut Association, Nunavut)
-Leslie-Jean MacMillan (Valley Youth Fiddlers, Smithers, BC)
-Kim de La Forest (Fiddles North, Nunavut)
-Keitha Clark (Fiddleheads Yukon, Whitehorse, YT)
Legend: Colin Adjun (Nunavut - Posthumous)
Legend: Angus Beaulieu (NWT - Posthumous)
Legend: Joe Loutchan (Yukon - Posthumous)
Special Citation: Gerald Edzerza (Yukon, Legacy - Posthumous)
Special Citation: The Fiddlers of Old Crow (Yukon - Legacy)
Further background information on these inductees will be posted at canadiangrandmasters.ca in the coming days and weeks under the tab “Hall of Honour”.
In the history of the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition (1990-2024), the following statistics of note are:
Of the 459 fiddlers in total who have been involved in the competition and Junior Showcase, 308 fiddlers have competed in the Canadian Grand Masters.
Of these 308 contestants, 118 have made the CGM Finals.
Of the 118 finalists, 34 have made the top three.
Of the 34 finalists making the top three, 19 have become Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Champions.
The 2024 final standings are:
1. Ethan Harty – Lougheed, AB
2. Kyle Charron - Halifax, NS
3. Max Francis – Victoria, BC
4. Eric Provencher – Cochrane, AB
5. Adrianna Ciconne – Halifax, NS
6. Jane Cory – Winnipeg, MB
7. Kyle Burghout – Winnipeg, MB
8. Ben Rutz – Bedford, NS
9. Michael Burnyeat – Vancouver, BC
10. Kiran Klazek-Schryer – Victoria, BC
Ward Allen Memorial Trophy for Best Old Time Waltz – Max Francis, Kelowna, BC, playing “The Last Waltz” from the Preliminary Round
Calvin Vollrath’s People’s Choice Award, as voted by the audience for performances in the preliminary round: Max Francis – Kelowna, BC
Yamaha Silent Violin Prize – Ethan Harty, Lougheed, Alberta The evening concluded with a post competition jam session back at the Sternwheeler Hotel and Conference Centre, with fiddlers, accompanists, fiddle summit participants and fiddle fans alike in attendance for music, dance, food, and fellowship. A special thanks goes to Keitha Clark, Boyd Benjamin, Fiddleheads Yukon and the Yukon 2024 team for the foresight, planning and dedicated efforts for a Canadian Grand Masters event that will long live in Canadian fiddle history, as well as to all volunteers, sponsors and funding agencies. Bravo to all! The 2025 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition will be held in Kamloops, British Columbia under the leadership of Florence Tellier (Kamloops Branch #9, BCOTFA), Jackie Davis (President, BCOTFA) and their local host committee. This group well as gave an official welcome for the 2025 event and announced that the Sagebrush Theatre in Kamloops will be the competition venue. Further details will be posted over the coming months at https://www.cgm2025kamloops.com.
As for me, my next report will come from the 46th Pembroke Fiddle and Step Dance Contest, which will take place this coming Labour Day weekend. For those of you who have recently liked and followed my artist page, I thank you publicly again for your interest and kind support. Until next time, see you somewhere down the musical trail!
Musically yours, Trent
Comments