By Lisa Carolin
One of the unique and popular extracurricular clubs offered at Beach Middle School is the fiddle club, which has been in existence for more than 17 years.
The purpose of the club is to give students the chance to get together and play folk music as well as a start on playing Celtic music, which is what the Chelsea High School fiddle group (Chelsea House Orchestra) plays.
This year, 30-40 students have attended the fiddle club’s weekly after-school practices. Students from sixth through eighth-grade are eligible to join.
“Some younger students can join the club if they have had prior playing experience and contact me,” said Nathan Peters, the fiddle club director, who chooses the music, arranges performances, and coordinates high school cadet teachers.
This year, there are some fourth- and fifth-grade members in the club as well as an oboe player.
“We play the current tunes with the entire group,” said Peters. “We divide out into smaller groups of students with the help of high school cadet teachers. This helps older and younger students play at the pace needed to learn the music.”
As far as performances go, a group of eighth-grade fiddle club members played for the St. Patrick’s Day luncheon at the Chelsea Senior Center on Friday, March 16.
Among the group’s other performances are: the fiddle club opens the Chelsea House Orchestra Hometown Concert at Chelsea High School every year, has played during Sonic Sundays at the Chelsea District Library, the district’s Geography Night, the Chelsea Area Garden Club holiday party, both Silver Maples of Chelsea and the Chelsea Retirement Community, the SRSLY New Year’s Eve party, and the Chelsea Community Fair.
Peters believes playing in the fiddle club is a good experience for students.
“Playing in the fiddle club is a great way to develop playing facility and ear to hand skills,” said Peters. “Students have fun getting together and playing fiddle music. It’s a great activity that continue with them for life.”
Peters, who is Beach’s orchestra teacher, also offers a week-long Chelsea Fiddle Camp through the Chelsea Community Education Department.
