For the first time ever, the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition is being held in Whitehorse on August 24.
Canada’s national fiddle contest, the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition, will be held in the North for the first time this August.
With a vibrant fiddle scene and creative community, it makes perfect sense for the competition to be held in Whitehorse and this August, along with the Grand Masters Fiddling Competition, youth fiddlers from across the territories and northern B.C. will learn and perform together as part of the Pan-Northern Youth Fiddle Summit.
With the Yukon’s own Fiddleheads acting as the host organization, co-chairs Boyd Benjamin and Keitha Clark have been working for two years to bring this endeavor to life. When the idea was originally brought to the two of them, they had a conversation to hash out possibilities and together decided they ought to just go for it.
“We’re going to make a huge impact and a huge statement hosting in the north,” said Benjamin, a prolific Gwitch’in fiddler originally from Old Crow, with a long family history of fiddling. “Up in the north, we have a huge fiddling community, and I take the Indigenous perspective of fiddling in the north where we have a huge culture for that. Here’s my opportunity to bridge that gap a little bit.”
The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition has been a prominent and renowned event in the country for 30 years, and is treading new waters taking place at the Yukon Arts Centre. The competition is held annually at the end of August, and around 35 fiddlers from across Canada compete for the title of Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Champion.
“It’s been great that they thought about us,” says Benjamin. “I’m really happy and proud that we can be included in their society.”
Clark agrees with Benjamin that the Yukon being the hosting grounds for this national competition is a testament to the strength of the North’s fiddling culture and community, saying Whitehorse also has all the necessary infrastructure and support to facilitate such an event.
“It’s definitely a landmark year for the contest, since it’s never been held in the north,” she said. “We’re able to highlight the northern fiddling culture in a rich way.”
Clark, another ambassador for fiddling in the Yukon, is a teacher, performer and composer, and has founded fiddling programs in Teslin and Haines Junction. She also serves as the Artistic Director of the Fiddleheads. She and Benjamin are dedicated to keeping fiddling alive in the Yukon, with a point to focus on the traditions of the territory.
Benjamin is happy to see the land and culture of the North being acknowledged as part of this year’s events. Growing up and being mentored by and playing alongside many other Indigenous fiddlers, it means a great deal to him to see a strong focus on the Yukon’s unique Indigenous fiddling culture, while welcoming musicians from across the country to experience it.
“Hopefully we do it the right way and for the right reasons and make everyone happy and proud,” he said. “It’s making a huge impact so far, and so I’m really proud of that.”
While Benjamin is a passionate musician who lives and breathes fiddling, he doesn’t see himself as a competitor, making his role as a facilitator more suited to him, though there has been an awful lot of administrative work for both he and Clark. With the big weekend approaching, the two are excited to see their years of work pay off with a massive feat for the territorial and national fiddling communities.
A day ahead of the main event, there will be a barn dance at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, capping off the three-day Pan Northern Youth Fiddle Summit, which takes place August 21 to 23. This summit will bring together 100 young fiddlers from the Yukon, N.W.T., Nunavut and northern BC. In addition to the barn dance, this will include workshops with Canada’s top fiddlers, rehearsals, jam sessions and a waterfront culture hop.
“There’s never been an opportunity for northern youth musicians to gather like this,” said Clark. “The Arctic Winter Games has provided a similar thing for sports, but this is the first of its kind I know of for music, so that’s super exciting to be able to do it here.”
The Grand Masters hadn’t been held west of Winnipeg until 2019, when the competition was hosted in Abbotsford, B.C. With the competition coming north and marking a special and historic year, it only made sense for Benjamin and Clark to go as big as they possibly could, and giving 100 young fiddlers the chance to learn from and experience the artistry of the country’s top fiddlers was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
“These youth fiddlers can, maybe for the first time, get the chance to see what happens at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition, and maybe that could inspire them to continue playing the fiddle,” Benjamin explained. “It’s about the longevity of our tradition in the north.”
For Benjamin, it’s crucial to inspire youth to pick up the fiddle and stick with it, so a new generation of players can carry on the traditions of fiddling in the north. Coming from a family lineage of fiddling himself, he sees it as his responsibility to pass on his skills and knowledge, just as his mentors and family members did for him.
The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition, as per the organization’s website, was developed to promote and preserve Canadian Traditional Fiddling, as well as to provide national recognition to the top Canadian fiddlers. Many past competitors have gone on to become Juno winners, Canadian Folk Music Award winners and international recording and touring artists.
The Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Competition takes place August 24 at the Yukon Arts Centre. Tickets for all the events are available online, and more information can be found at https://yukon2024.com. All are welcome and encouraged to come and be part of this landmark celebration of northern music and tradition.
“People in the north dance because they feel happy and it makes them happy,” said Benjamin. “They smile, they laugh, and when they dance, they dance to fiddle music.”
