General posts

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of a fiddling icon, especially to country and bluegrass fans here in Australia and New Zealand.

Colleen Trenwith, along with her husband Paul, were founding members of world famous NZ outfit ‘The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band’ but here in Australia, they were best known for their performances and recordings with the legendary Slim Dusty.

Over the last decade or so she has been a much loved teacher of fiddle at the East Tennessee State University.

Trenwith, 74, passed away January 24, 2021, at her home in New Zealand, after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Rest in Peace

_{Source: Bluegrass Today}

In early December Pixie Jenkins was interviewed for Stormer Music by the gorgeous young violinist Millie.

Stormer Music have been teaching and providing core support for young musicians for quite some time now and they are on a mission to “Inspire, Empower, Showcase & Celebrate Australian Musicians”.

Stormer recently brought one of their young students along to interview Pixie at his show in Windsor.

Check out the video on Facebook here: https://fb.watch/2KHyoECz-2/ and visit Stormer Music’s website at www.stormermusic.com.au.

https://gf.me/u/y6kka7

The GOLDEN FIDDLE AWARDS mission is to administer the first national awards system for string players embracing all musical styles for players, composers and teachers of classical, folk, rock, jazz, punk, Celtic, country, alternative and bluegrass.

We have brought smiles to thousands of faces, created some beautiful musical moments and awarded some brilliant fiddlers and violinists with our unique ‘crystal’ fiddle scroll trophy.  All archived on our website at www.goldenfiddleawards.org.au

However, after almost 2 decades of little funding past our single awards concert during the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival, we wanted to expand; we wanted to do more as outlined below.

*  Free online fiddle lessons for beginners (more advanced optional)
*  A free PDF for beginners to accompany their online lessons
*  A searchable database of teachers Australia wide
*  A searchable database of fiddlers Australia wide
*  A searchable database of violinists Australia wide

(A SE QLD teachers DB demo version is available on the site after registering)

Then came COVID19.  This insidious virus has regrettably caused the cancellation of our aforementioned single funding event.

With the wealth of knowledge we have gained over almost 2 decades and with world class musicians at hand we still intended to expand our footprint during 2021, this can only be done, of course, by networking.  We need to send our representatives to various connected events to garner support and possibly more funding for what we wish to do.

One of our new ventures, as an example, will be to give donated violins to under-privileged, distant and remote children.  With internet being available, we can then teach them remotely via lessons on our site.

All of this requires funds, hence this quest.  We need to supplement the income from our January concert loss to even begin to make a move towards our intended new goals as outlined above.

Any donation above $100 will get a free LIVE CD of some of the amazing music.

https://gf.me/u/y6kka7

As part of the BBC programme Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History, composer Shirley Thompson celebrates the rich history of classical music by black composers

Read more on this here…..

“Lots of violinists use a shoulder rest to ease strain on their neck when playing,” he said. “When I realised I could add some small transducers to it to make you actually feel the digital sound you’re hearing, it completely transformed my practice — a real ‘eureka’ moment for me that has brought lots of joyful playing”.

ASU Skysong Innovations is helping to market the device to a variety of sound and music industry parties.

WATCH: View a full demonstration of the hybrid-feedback shoulder rest.

Read more about this innovation ….

Researchers have found talented soloists unable to reliably distinguish new instruments from centuries-old masterpieces.

Luthier Joseph Curtin leads the violin world’s politest revolution. He and several fellow scientists have published a series of scientific papers that have grabbed media headlines and delighted makers who think new violins don’t get the credit they deserve.

For years, Joseph has been deeply involved in provocative experiments pitting new violins against old Italian instruments. Using smoked goggles and cloth screens, double-blind studies run by Curtin, French scientist Claudia Fritz, and other researchers have found talented soloists unable to reliably distinguish new instruments from centuries-old masterpieces.

Read more on this shocking discovery…

15 Best Violin Brands for Beginner & Intermediate Students for 2020

This article includes fifteen best violin brands for beginner, intermediate or advanced players, as well as violin reviews of some of the best student models on the market.

The staff at Consordini.com have created a guide to help you, whether you are a beginner violinist or an intermediate one, taking into consideration the affordability and quality of violins.

Read more here….

The Golden Fiddle Awards Board of Directors have announced the cancellation of the January 2021 show in Tamworth.

This week Barry Harley from the Tamworth Regional Council said “the council is withdrawing all its festival shows and support due to COVID19 social distancing requirements and this has led to the cancellation of our event.

We apologise for any inconvenience but wish all our followers a safe journey through this trying time and with hope will see you all in 2022 in a much better world.

Explore the life, career and iconic recordings of violinist Isaac Stern

Famous for cracking so-so jokes, Stern often told the one about “Two men are walking by Carnegie Hall and one says to the other, ‘have you heard Isaac Stern recently?’ The other responds, ‘no, what did he say?’” The implication being that Stern was as famous for his powers of speech and persuasion as his fiddle playing.

Read more here on our ABC Classics https://www.abc.net.au/classic/programs/legends/legends/12460074link….

PODCAST: World-renowned fiddle player and artistic director of the Masters of Tradition Festival, Martin Hayes

Martin Hayes (born 4 July 1962) is an Irish fiddler from County Clare. He is a member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming.

This is a wonderful podcast featuring this incredible fiddler.

Check it out here…. from the Southern Star in West Cork UK