"It's young people like these that's going to save the world!" declared Jean
Clark, as the Coast String Fiddlers concluded a triumphant concert launching their CD ("All
Strings Considered") to multiple standing ovations.
With bows and eyes flashing, to the insistent beat of the bodhran and the
drumming heels of an audience that can barely stay seated (and often don't), they sweep through
an amazing repertoire of Scottish, Appalachian and Acadian reels and roots music.
More than two dozen young people routinely give up Friday nights or Saturday
mornings to rehearse, under the musical direction of Heather Beckmyer and Ann Law, and their
dedication is reflected in their very professional, polished and passionate performances. With
enthusiastic parents providing accompaniment on piano, guitar, accordion and bodhran, the group
has been growing strong since 1993.
"People are amazed that the Fiddlers can play their huge repertoire without
sheet music. But we find that if they learn by ear, they internalize the music and can remember
it better as a result," says Law.
The Fiddlers increase their repertoire - and their numbers - at their annual
"Fiddle Camp," properly known as the Sunshine Coast School of Celtic Music. Registration begins
Feb. 14 for the 2004 session, to be held July 5 - 9 in Roberts Creek. Sponsored by the
non-profit Coast String Fiddlers Association, the Summer School, concerts, and workshops welcome
players of all ages and at all levels. Classes in piano, cello, accordion, guitar, song, dance
and even Gaelic draw top instructors from across North America.
Learning Gaelic is particularly enriching, explains Coast Fiddlers Music
Director Ann Law, because "If you learn the language, you have learned a large part of the
music, because the language is the music."
The Sunshine Coast School of Celtic Music and the Coast String Fiddlers are
both designed to be family-friendly and inclusive, and family groups are encouraged to
participate.
Excited by the music and the sheer joy of sharing it with friends and family,
students attending the School or subsequent weekend workshops often participate in informal jams
lasting well into the evening.
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The July School winds up with a Ceilidh ("Kay-lee") - a Celtic dance party -
at which students perform their new material. The wrap-up Gala Concert at Rockwood Centre in
Sechelt is a community tradition - and usually a sold-out attraction, featuring world-class
performances by the School's instructors as well as students.
Love of music and performance has resulted in Fiddlers' alumni regularly
seizing coveted places at Universities and colleges in Canada and overseas, usually with
scholarships in hand. Lead fiddler Danny Hart, who mentored the younger fiddlers, recently left
to study performance and music in the Scottish Hebrides and chief piper Erin Macdonald is now
enrolled in the University of Victoria's prestigious music program. Their places have been taken
by maturing fiddlers and a new young piper eager to continue the traditions.
One of those "maturing" fiddlers is James Law, 14, who recently became the
first person to complete the treacherous 2000-foot downhill circuit of Scotland's Aonach Mor
track on a single wheel, aboard his "municyle" (a unicycle designed for mountain terrain).
Contrary to reports in Aberdeen's Highland News, Law did not play his fiddle
while unicycling the half-hour descent. Law - who placed second in an American fiddle
competition at the Skagit Valley Highland Games - did demonstrate his ability to fiddle while
unicycling as an entertainment for the crowds waiting to ascend on the circuit's gondola.
Available at the Coast's bike shops, Graham Macdonald's breathtaking video
Diry Little Secrets showcasing mountain biking on the Coast, features Law and other bikers
riding the trails on one wheel and two and features Law and his fellow Coast String Fiddlers on
the soundtrack as well.
The Coast String Fiddlers' CD All Strings Considered is available at Coast
Books (Gibsons) and Roberts Creek General Store, and Talewind Books in Sechelt.
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