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Musical storytelling production chronicles humanity’s love of the fiddle

‘Once Upon a Fiddle’ debuts at McMillan Arts Centre in Parskville Feb. 24
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Violinist Nicholas Ross and storyteller Rachel Dunstan Muller debut their production ‘Once Upon a Fiddle: A Celebration of One of the World’s Most Beloved Instruments’ at the McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville Feb. 24. (Submitted photo)

Storyteller Rachel Dunstan Muller and violinist Nicholas Ross will debut their production Once Upon a Fiddle: A Celebration of One of the World’s Most Beloved Instruments at the McMillan Arts Centre (MAC) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 24.

The evening, hosted by Mid-Island Storytellers (MIST), will weave Muller’s storytelling with music arranged and performed by Ross, who performs regularly with the Vancouver Island Symphony and teaches at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music, according to a news release.

Together they will take listeners through some of the violin’s most extraordinary stories over the last five centuries, including a folk tune caught on the wind of a lonely Irish island, the brilliant solos of one of the world’s most unlikely virtuosas and the heroic string quartet during the Siege of Sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years.

The quartet was initially just rehearsing, but soon received an invitation to play a concert, according to Muller.

“They didn’t think anyone would show up because the city was actively being bombed at the time,” she said. “They were right. Initially it was just their spouses who were listening as they played a concert in the atrium of a ruined synagogue.”

People could hear their music from the street and became curious — by the end of the concert the atrium was full.

“They realized that this was something really important,” Muller said. “The people in the audience, it really fed them. In the midst of bomb blasts on the outskirts of town, there was this little oasis where life was carried on.”

The quartet went on to play more than 200 concerts over the next four years — two members were killed in the process, one by a grenade and another by a sniper.

The more research Muller did, the more extraordinary stories she discovered.

The project evolved into a testament to the power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.

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Muller received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts back in early 2020 to research and write the stories for Once Upon a Fiddle.

“The timing was excellent, in the sense that I had work to dig into just as the world was shutting down because of COVID,” said Muller. “But then like everyone in the performing arts world, I had to wait for live events to resume and audiences to return before producing it. I am thrilled that it’s finally happening.”

Muller was in Washington D.C. for a concert when the world began shutting down in March 2020. She felt fortunate to be able to return home to Ladysmith before the tight border restrictions were enacted.

Muller is the author of four children’s novels – although she stresses that Once Upon a Fiddle is intended for adults.

She is a member of the Storytellers of Canada and has been invited to perform on both coasts of Canada and the U.S.

Ross studied both violin and trumpet at the University of Ottawa. He performs regularly with the Vancouver Island Symphony and teaches at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. As well as being featured as a soloist with the Elmer Iseler Singers, he recently presented “Bach in the Harbour” and a recital at the Old School House in Qualicum Beach.

Tickets for the Feb. 24 production of Once Upon a Fiddle in Parksville are $20 ($18 for MIST members) and can be purchased through the MAC’s Box Office (133 McMillan St.), by calling 250-248-8185 or online. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.

A second performance will take place at St. Andrew’s United Church in Nanaimo on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.

Tickets for the Nanaimo performance are available through the Port Theatre Box Office, by calling 250-754-8550, online or at the door.

Muller said they hope to deliver the production beyond Parksville and Nanaimo in the future.


kevin.forsyth@pqbnews.com

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