Congratulations to our 2011 Champion Katrina Nicolayeff!  For 2011 contest results please see the Past Winners section.

The Forty-first Annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship will be held on September 28 and 29, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee during the IBMA Bluegrass Fan Fest.  The Preliminary Round is OPEN TO ALL FIDDLERS.  See the "Info and Schedule" section for details.  Last year, over 40 contestants from the US and Canada competed in the competitions.  See the "Past Winners" page for results. 

The new category for Traditional Style Fiddling was a huge success and we have expanded to pay 10 places!  The Grand Master Fiddler Traditional Championship is designed to recognize fiddlers who play a fiddling style outside the recognized US “contest” or “Texas” styles, or Canadian “contest” styles.  Examples of TRADITIONAL styles could be the Appalachian fiddling, the Central Missouri fiddling, Metis, Bluegrass, Southeastern, Scottish, Irish, New England, the Kentucky fiddling of Doc Roberts and Ed Haley and so forth (this list is not inclusive).  The competition was sponsored by the West Virginia Division and Culture and History and the champion was presented the Robert C. Byrd Award in recognition of our dear friend and former GMFC Board member.

The Grand Master Fiddler Championship Inc. is organized as a Tennessee nonprofit and U.S. IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, formed to educate about and perpetuate fiddling as an art form and cultural treasure.  The corporation's main focus is on promoting and holding the annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship competition - an event that has started many young musicians on their way to a career in music.  As a 501(c)(3) entity, all donations and monies we take in are fully tax deductible and we welcome your support to promote and educate about fiddling. Fund-raising efforts are being planned so that the company can expand the competition and support activities to add more education, events and activities to further the awareness about fiddling. 

Fiddle playing was an important part of the WSM Grand Ole Opry for many years and from 1972 through 1997 the contest was sponsored by WSM and the Grand Ole Opry and later by Gaylord Entertainment.  Once the contest is self-sufficient, we plan on annual donations of proceeds to such charities as the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund and Bluegrass Trust fund, which benefits musicians in need.  We do this in recognition of the contribution of these pioneers to country, bluegrass and traditional music.  Many of these pioneers such as Roy Acuff, "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson, Bill Monroe, and Tommy Jackson played the fiddle or were very involved with fiddling.

Please tell all your fiddle and fiddle music friends, web sites, discussion lists and other music sites about this web page!   Let us hear from you and we will add you to the GMFC email list.

If you still need further information after visiting the site, please use the following links to contact us or obtain further information.

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