NATCHITOCHES – The Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University will present the program “Fiddlin’ with the Finest! A Celebration of Louisiana Folk Fiddling” on Saturday June 15 at 11 a.m. at the Beauregard Museum at 120 S. Washington in DeRidder. The event is free and open to the public.
Three past Louisiana State Fiddle Champions — Clancey Stewart, Joe Suchanek, and Ron Yule — will discuss the importance of the folk fiddling tradition with Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center and Northwestern State Professor of English. Live music performed throughout the program will include various regional fiddle styles accompanied by demonstrations of fiddle stick playing and twin fiddling. A Q&A session on participating in fiddle competitions will follow. Fiddlers of all skill levels are invited to bring their instruments for a jam session with the invited musicians.
This year’s Louisiana State Fiddle Championship will take place as part of the 44th annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival, to be held July 20 at 1 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall on the NSU campus. Fiddlers may compete in the championship or non-championship, as well as in the twin fiddle category. Registration is at noon in the first-floor foyer outside the Magale Recital Hall. The Fiddle Championship winner will perform on the Festival main stage in Prather Coliseum at 5 p.m.
“Fiddlin’ with the Finest!” is sponsored by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum and the Louisiana Folklife Center. Support for the Festival is provided by grants from the Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., the City of Natchitoches, the Louisiana Division of the Arts Decentralized Arts Fund Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the State of Louisiana.
The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information, call the Louisiana Folklife Center at (318) 357-4332, email folklife@nsula.edu, or go to nsula.edu/folklife/.
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Three past state fiddle champions will be taking part in Fiddlin’ with the Finest! A Celebration of Louisiana Folk Fiddling” on June 15 at 11 a.m. at the Beauregard Museum at 120 S. Washington in DeRidder. Photo by Peter Jones
