Memorial Hall hosts fiddle concert

The sweet, southern twang of the fiddle will echo throughout Memorial Hall tonight.

As part of its Instrument Series, UNC’s Southern Folklife Collection will host tonight’s concert — as well as a symposium Saturday — to celebrate the fiddle.

Steve Weiss, curator of the Southern Folklife Collection, said the series is a way to entertain and educate UNC and the surrounding community about Southern string instruments.

Saturday’s symposium will draw together renowned fiddlers and music scholars.

“Opportunities like this are few and far in between,” Weiss said.

He said the collection chose to showcase the banjo, fiddle and steel guitar in the series because they are some of the most iconic and representative instruments in American music.

Tonight’s concert will feature performances by the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Emily Schaad, Matt Glaser and three-time national fiddle champion Byron Berline.

“I was looking for people who exemplify a certain style of playing, as well as people who are really strong communicators,” Weiss said.

Glaser, artistic director of the American Roots Music Program at the Berklee College of Music, will perform at the concert and participate in Saturday’s lectures.

Glaser said he hopes the audience will walk away from the event entertained and having learned something about the fiddle.

Philip Gura, a UNC professor who participated in the banjo symposium in August, said the fiddle events are a great way to learn about bluegrass music, which he said is an important component of Southern culture.

“To many people, this music is seen as quintessentially Southern,” Gura said.

But he said bluegrass music, which for many decades was associated primarily with white Southern culture, has become much more popular in recent years.

“This is a music that is adaptable to different types of styles,” he said.

Gura said bluegrass music reveals a lot about the history of the region.

The banjo — brought over by African slaves — and the fiddle — brought over by Europeans — feature heavily in bluegrass, he said, adding that the music represents a combination of the two cultures.

“The interaction between the fiddle and the banjo is important to Southern music,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.