Report on a fiddle contest in Chicago
Paul Tyler
School of Folk Music's 2nd annual Midwest Invitational Fiddle
Championship last night under the stars in Lincoln Square. Billed as
Fiddle Fever, part of the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce's summer
concert series, the event was also a preview for the Old Town School's
Folk 'n' Roots Festival to be held in Welles Park on Saturday and
Sunday.
Fiddler Stephanie Coleman, about to head off for her freshman year at
Duke University, and banjoist Steve Rosen, an Old Town School teacher,
took the first prize of $250. Second place went to the twin fiddling
team of Lynn "Chirps" Smith of Grayslake and Fred Campeau of Chicago.
Renato Ceron, accompanied by two band mates from Sones de Mexico, took
third, while David Smith with banjoist Steve Joel and guitarist Lynn
Garren also finished in the money.
The top two finishers, the Coleman and Smith teams, will perform a
short set on the Folk 'n' Roots festival main stage on Sunday at 4:10.
The crowd jammed into Giddings Plaza was treated to a multi-cultural
presentation of traditional fiddling, and a wide variety of familiar
as well as exotic instruments. About half of the teams rendered
versions of old time square dance tunes with the traditional pairing
of fiddle and banjo. But a large part of the program was devoted to
traditional dance music from Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and
Poland. Gracing the stage, at various times, were the Irish uilean
bagpipes, a a Norwegian tussefloyte (a flute), a guitarron (the bass
guitar of mariachi music), and two zithers: a Swedish sitra and the
Estonian kannel. The mandolin, harmonica, and string bass were also
heard.
This years contest was a team competition, honoring the 80th
anniversary of widely heard fiddle team contest broadcast throughout
the summer of 1924 on the then new radio station, WLS, and its popular
National Barn Dance program on Saturday night. The 1924 winner was
the George Adamson team from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Lincoln Square contestants included: Steve Rosen and his Banjo
III class, Noah Scott and Rich Kurowski, Sean Colledge and Steve
Rosen, Audrey Adler and Roger Grissette, Damien Fosse with Ava, and
Danny Miller with Dave Gabbert and Steve Evavold, all playing old time
American tunes. Chico Welch with Rick Veras and Pat McClintock and
Elizabeth Lamberti with Brian Buhman and Clayton Brown played swing.
Karen Cook and Pat Cannady were an Irish team; Flickorna Tre (Girls
Three) played Swedish tunes, as did Steve Johnson with Tim Eischen and
Garret Derner; Tuuletargad (Wind Wizards) were an Estonian entry;
while Andrew Tokarz and Richard Gruszca represented the Polish
Highlanders.
The judges included three fiddlers: Charlie Walden, last years
winner, Jennifer Jeffries, and Mark Gunther. Paul Tyler, head of the
fiddle department at the Old Town School of Folk Music, was the emcee.