The spirit of the Arctic is as fit as a fiddle.
From Aug. 21-24, the first Pan-Northern Youth Fiddle Summit brought together more than 100 fiddlers from the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut and northern British Columbia. Twenty-three young Nunavummiut SA国际影视传媒� eight from Panginirtung, two from Iglulik, and 13 from Iqaluit SA国际影视传媒� represented Nunavut at the musical gathering.
Accompanying the students were instructor Darlene Nuqingaq, her husband Mathew Nuqingaq, Elder and drum dancer Matty MacNair, parent Cathy Lee, Pangirtung fiddle instructor Alanna Qappik, as well as Gustin Adjun, a professional fiddler from Kugluktuk. Professional violinist Gina Burgess was also part of the adult contingent, as well as two instructors from Fiddles North in Pangirtung: Kim de Laforest and Greg Simm.
"I'm so glad that they had the vision and a large enough committee to put on two big events at one time," says Nuqingaq, founder and volunteer instructor of The Iqaluit Fiddle Club, speaking of the coordinators of the Grand Masters Fiddle Competition. The committee was also responsible for putting together the fiddle summit.
It was an invaluable opportunity for many young people who had never before been to a competition to see one on a grand scale, while taking part in all the opportunities afforded by the events for learning and cultural exchange.
The welcome spaghetti supper on Aug. 21 saw each delegation help open the summit with a musical demonstration of their region. For the "Nunavut set," Aramea Arnatsiaq-Murphy and Taiga Las showcased their throat singing. There were also three youth fiddlers playing button accordion, while others fiddled along to Simeonie Keenainak's dance tune 'Cumberland Sound' as a tribute to the eastern Arctic's accordion music tradition.
"It was fun," says 18-year-old Rihanna Satuqsi. "It was hard and confusing at first, but our performance was pretty good."
The Iqaluit Youth Fiddlers played "Beluga Waters," a waltz written by Colin Adjun. His son, Gustin Adjun of Kugluktuk, was a guest performer at the summit.
The next two days were rehearsals for Saturday's show, followed by classes and cultural activities. Three of the fiddlers participated in advanced leadership and teaching fiddle classes while others took workshops at their respective playing levels.
The fiddlers from Nunavut also performed an arrangement of Mathew Nuqingaq's fiddling composition 'How Strong They Were,' or 'Sanngiyuulauqtut,' which is a tribute to Nuqingaq's mother and others who ended up at southern tuberculosis sanitoriums. The original is a drum dance, but Darlene Naqingaq says she wrote the fiddling arrangement at the request of the Royal Conservatory for a song from Nunavut for a violin study.
"It was a special moment at the performance," recalls Nuqingaq.
The Nunavummiut delegation also made a request at the summit for Colin Adjun, who passed away in 2021, to be inducted into the Fiddling Hall of Fame.
Nuqingaq says that learning the new songs was a real triumph for the young Nunavut fiddlers.
"At first it seemed like the tunes were too hard... in total they learned 11 new tunes. With the nine summit tunes, they were quite fast... at the first rehearsal, it was like, 'No, I can't do that.' It was incredible that after just two rehearsals, they were able to play most of [them]. And I was just so proud of my kids," recalls Nuqingaq. "And so glad that the organization found a way to be inclusive."
Some students cannot read music and learn by following their instructors, like Satuqsi, who has been playing the fiddle for three years. She had never seen note-reading before the summit.
"I didn't know you could read notes," she says. "I didn't understand it... there were other students who understood the notes."
She says she learned the new pieces from her teacher, who demonstrated how to play them.
"I would love to learn how to read notes," says Satuqsi. "Then I could learn other instruments, and learn how to play piano."
"All the kids went away feeling like they had learned, and met other Canadian youth," added Nuqingaq. "This is the first pan-North fiddle event, but also the chance to travel for the arts... It felt very special."
