About the Coast String Fiddlers
The Coast String Fiddlers Association (CSFA), a non-profit group, is committed to promoting the understanding and learning of traditional fiddle music through the support of fiddle instruction and related activities.
To become an associate member of the Coast String Fiddlers Association, please call Yvonne Hart at 604-886-2906.
If you can help us with fundraising, or have some fundraising ideas, please contact Denise Quarry at
604-886-2150(day) or 604-885-0849(eve) or email dquarry@dccnet.comDonations to assist with the development of the CSF fiddler association would be gratefully accepted, and can be mailed to the Coast String Fiddlers Association, PO Box 1398, Gibsons, BC, V0N 1V0.
The fiddle groups include:
T.Rad (CSF Trad Band)
Info will be added soon.
Coast String Fiddlers
After hundreds of concerts, this group of ten children and adults have become polished performers who know how to have a good time playing music together. They have played for international dignitaries, Robbert Burns’ Suppers, school children, and the local Grannies who are our most faithful fans. Sold out concerts are the norm.
The Coast String Fiddlers play an international mix of traditional fiddle music, including Scottish, Appalachian, Shetland, and Finnish as well as compositions by Canadian Fiddlers and members of the group, some of which defy categorization! The energy of our fiddling is supported by accordion, piano, guitar, mandolin, and bodhran, and highlighted with Highland and Cape Breton Step dancing.
Founded in 1993 by Michelle Bruce, the group has enjoyed such adventures as an exchange trip to Iqaluit, Nunavut, where we played in schools, community concerts at Toonik Tyme celebrations, at an Inuit elders centre, and for the Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul.
In July 2003, the Senior CSF travelled to Mt. Vernon Washington to play on the Main Stage for the Highland Games. The Coast String Fiddlers shared the stage with internationally recognized musician Catriona MacDonald, a fiddler from the Shetland Isles. She mentioned that watching the Coast String Fiddlers reminded her of her musical beginnings in Shetland under the tutelage of Tom Anderson, who dedicated his musical energies into developing young fiddlers.
The group travelled to Scotland in the Summer of 2005 to perform in the Aberdeen Youth Festival, and again to Belgium in 2007 to reunite with fellow performers from the Festival.
The Coast String Fiddlers’ first CD, All Strings Considered, has sold more than a thousand copies since it was released November 2002. A second CD, Look to the Mountains, again featuring a mix of traditional and original tunes, was released June 20, 2004.
Bad to the Bow (Intermediate CSF)
Following in the footsteps of the Coast String Fiddlers, this group spawned in 2002 with five 5-year old and 6-year-old beginner fiddlers striving to be a part of the CSF one day. Now, six years later, this group has grown to twelve accomplished young musicians, ages 10-15, who are accompanied by cello, guitar, and piano played by parents of kids in the group.
Junior CSF
They are the youngest group of the Coast String Fiddlers family, and the smallest (the largest violin in the group being is currently a ½ size!) They range from ages 6-10, but in spite of their young age, all the kids in this group have been playing the violin for at least 2 years, and like all the other groups of the CSF, these fiddlers are also enrolled in private lessons. These are some dedicated and hard working young fiddlers — and it shows. Fondly referred to as the cute factor of the association, this group is in no way short of musical talent.
The Junior and Intermediate CSF groups perform together whenever possible and have added such high-profile performances to their name as the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), and the Vancouver Celtic Festival, where they will played along side fiddlers Ashley MacIssac, Daniel Lapp and Oliver Schroer!
In the ten years or so that the Coast String Fiddlers have been together, we have managed to develop our own instructors in the organization. The Intermediate and Junior groups are able to take advantage of the instruction of Chelsea Sleep who spent her youth in the Coast String Fiddlers.
An outgrowth of the fiddle group is the Sunshine Coast Summer School of Celtic Music. In its four years, we have featured a fabulous line-up of top quality teachers brought in from around the world. Students are introduced to all kinds of fiddling styles and are able to participate with other instruments as well. A non-competitive atmosphere conducive to families and friends learning together is what it is all about.
The Coast String Fiddlers Association is a non-profit organization. Funding goes towards bursaries for the players to attend the School of Celtic Music, and to projects that enhance their musical development, such as workshops, and trips to communities with other young fiddlers. Currently the group is fund raising to travel to Scotland August 2005 to participate in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
As Michelle Bruce says:
“I am so proud of these fiddlers who, with the help of parents and supporters, have revitalized fiddling on the West Coast of Canada.”
We’re proud and happy to carry on the tradition!