Fiddles for the North: Community-Led Music for Youth
Last December, Artscan Circle shipped 38 violins to communities across the Yukon, helping expand access to music education and cultural expression for young people in the North. These instruments are being distributed in Carcross, Old Crow, Mayo, and Dawson City through our valued community partners, The Fiddleheads and the North Klondike Highway Music Society — both of which operate on a 100% volunteer basis and are deeply committed to nurturing local music culture.
These violins will support students as they begin their musical journeys, develop their own unique fiddle styles, and participate in the rich and evolving tradition of fiddle music in the Yukon Territory. By increasing access to quality instruments, Artscan Circle is helping remove barriers to arts participation and ensuring that youth in remote and northern communities have meaningful opportunities to learn, create, and connect through music.
At Artscan Circle, we believe in equitable access to the arts, community-led partnerships, and the power of creative expression to strengthen confidence, well-being, and cultural continuity. This initiative reflects our commitment to working alongside northern and Indigenous communities to support youth in ways that are responsive, respectful, and rooted in local strengths.
We extend a heartfelt thank you to our generous donors and to the incredible team at D’Addario for their continued support and belief in the power of music to build community.
Testimonials
“My name is Boyd Wesley Benjamin and I am from the Vuntut Gwitch'in First Nation and the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation of the Yukon Territory. I have played the fiddle since I was 14 years old and still continue to this day. I am involved in many different projects regarding the preservation of fiddle music in the Yukon including the most recent which includes recording a series of Educational Fiddle Music Demonstration Videos, teaching students how to play fiddle songs unique only to fiddle players from Old Crow, Yukon (my home town).
I want to acknowledge the significance of the support of Artscan Circle for its contribution of the donation of violins to the communities of the Yukon Territory. These violins play a huge part of our culture with respect to dancing and the music. When people hear fiddle music, they can't help but to dance and celebrate the high energy and cultural significance that fiddle music brings.
I want to speak directly to the impact that these donated instruments bring to the communities of the Yukon. We have two particular groups that make a big impact in our Territory. One of them is The Fiddleheads, and the other is the North Klondyke Highway Music Society (NKHMC). Paying close attention to the NKHMC, their focus is on music education, with focus on fiddle music, square dancing and jigging. They operate on a 100% volunteer basis, this part is really important. If I could mandate a regulation, it would be exactly as they do, to celebrate and preserve Fiddle Music for a lifetime. I fully support what they do, and I am eternally grateful for the effort to preserve our culture. These instruments will help students of all nature to learn and develop their own style of fiddle playing and thereby contribute to the ongoing culture of fiddle music in the Yukon Territory.
I also want to speak to the impact that these instruments have on First Nation communities. Fiddle music plays a huge role in ALL First Nations across Canada. It is rather a universal language, so to speak. It brings people together and makes people happy. I can only be humbled to imagine future projects to expand our rich Canadian fiddle culture to other parts of this beautiful country we live in, which by all respects, would include the immense impact of Artscan Circle.”
Boyd Wesley Benjamin
The Flying Gwittch'in Fiddler
“The fiddle donation means the world to us. ArtsCan Circle donated 30 fiddles which are destined to youth in four communities, - Carcross, Old Crow, Mayo and Dawson City. A community needs instruments to get a fiddle program started. New fiddles also help sustain a program so as youth grow up, they can grow into a fiddle that fits them! Thanks very much for the donation – it means a lot!”
Peter Menzies, Order of Yukon
North Klondyke Highway Music Society