By Mary Stoudt
Ferrum Fiddlers Festival - after years of pause - was back in full swing at Ferrum College and had its first virtual event on Jan. 23, 2021.
(11-years-old Cheyenne Grantham played Durang's Hornpipe
at this year's Ferrum Mountain Emerging Fiddlers' Contest
.) “The planning of this event began last winter, pre-COVID. It was initially planned for the spring of 2020, but, like many things, it was delayed a bit and transformed into the virtual event that it became,” said Emily Blankenship-Tuker, director of Appalachian Music program and adjunct lecturer of theatre and music at Ferrum.
This year’s convention was organized by the new Appalachian Music program at Ferrum College, including multiple workshops, two concerts, and a Ferrum Mountain Emerging Fiddlers’ Contest.
This year’s contest was open to anyone under the age of 24, any student currently attending Ferrum College, or any prospective student intending to enroll at Ferrum by Fall 2022 semester. This year’s contest winners were 11-years-old Cheyenne Grantham on fiddle, 18-years-old Colby Helms on guitar, and Franklin County High School senior Stewart Werner III on banjo. Helms won a $2,000 Ferrum scholarship and Werner won a $4,000 Ferrum scholarship.
The workshops were held by singer, songwriter and dancer Martha Spencer, a two-time IBMA Award Winner Tray Wellington, and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Hughes. The workshops consisted of Southwest Virginia banjo styles, three-finger banjo styles, and Appalachian dance styles.
This year’s festival also hosted two concerts. One was performed by Rachel Eddy and Emily Hammond and featured songs using fiddles, banjos, bass, and guitar. The pair treated the pandemic as a unique opportunity to livestream their music and accumulated over 30 weeks of livestream performances.
The other concert was hosted by Shohei Tsutsumi, who streamed from their home in Japan. Tsutsumi is originally from Japan and earned a Master of Arts in Appalachian studies from Appalachian State University. Tsutsumi played a variety of tunes during their performance on their dulcimer, fiddle, and guitar.
The festival was a one-day event lasting from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. It opened with a welcome by Blankenship-Tuker, and followed with a welcome by Ferrum College President, David Johns. Concluding welcomes were made by Blue Ridge Institute and Museum director Bethany Worley. The festival closed with Blankenship-Tucker giving closing remarks.
(Ferrum College President David Johns opened this year's Ferrum Fiddlers Festival with a welcome remark.)