Youth brings fiddling fun to Festival

The Maples

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This article was published 07/02/2024 (697 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Festival du Voyageur is just around the corner. The nine-day celebration of Manitoba’s francophone culture, which opens Feb. 16 and runs through Feb. 25, will feature a variety of musical talent from all over the country, as well as some local treats.

One of those acts from close to home is Fiddles on Fire, composed of members of the fiddle club from Elwick Community School, in The Maples.

The group of eight students from grades 5 to 8 will perform at this year’s festival on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Tentes des Neiges. Fiddles on Fire has been together for a number of years, but this will be its first performance at the winter festival.

The students all have years of music experience on different kinds of stringed instruments through the Sistema Winnipeg after-school program — which is presented to schools in low-income areas by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Skills learned from cello, violin, and more have lent themselves kindly to the fiddling fun.

“We’re not on fire,” declared Athena Marmeto, a Grade 7 student, as a solid introduction to the group.

However, the group members will be wearing a set of matching T-shirts with an original fiery logo, designed by Areyanna, a fellow member and student. She said the inspiration for the name came from Elwick’s logo, which is a torch.

The group will play a variety of fiddle tunes at their show.

“Something that you would want to dance to, like jigs,” said Sam Ste. Anna, another group member.

While the setlist will feature fast-paced fiddle songs, they’ll also be trying their hand at slower waltzes — something that should provide a new challenge for the upcoming concert.

Through consistent practice — the group meets every Tuesday and Wednesday — the students’ nerves are calm and friendly morale is high.

“Something I like about working with this group is that, because they’re so comfortable on their instruments from their experience in Sistema, we’re able to learn fiddle music with melody parts,” said Anna Bond, music specialist at Elwick.

“So we’re not always playing the same melody. Sometimes we’ll be playing some tunes where there’s two-, three- or even four-part harmony.”

Thanks to Sistema, the students also have experience performing in front of a crowd. At the time of this interview, the group was preparing for the Feb. 2 farewell concert for Brian O’Leary, the former superintendent of Seven Oaks School Division.

“I just feel like this group came together, first and foremost, because we love working together,” Bond said. “And we’ve worked together in different ways … this is my fourth year teaching at Elwick, now, and my fourth year working with these students, and I just love how much fun we have together. And, as a violinist, I really enjoy being able to work with a group of other violinists.”

“We’re all friends,” Marmeto said. “Like, it’s really comfortable. We’re not looking at this (seriously). We joke about lots of stuff. It’s not like we’re co-workers.”

“There’s no question (that can’t) be answered,” Areyanna added. “We ask questions and learn from each other.”

For more information on Festival du Voyageur’s musical lineup, visit heho.ca