Fiddelium

Fiddelium (/fɪˈdɛli.əm/[1]) is a youth fiddle group from Nanaimo, British Columbia, founded in 2011.[2] There are two tiers in the group; senior and junior. The senior group consists of 14 members between the ages of 12 and 18,[3] and an accompanist who acts as co-director alongside the director. The junior group is made up of 4 members who play with the senior group on certain songs. The group as a whole is primarily composed of violin players, with three or occasionally four viola players (one member plays both violin and viola) and a cello player. The accompanist plays piano and guitar and the director occasionally plays the double bass. The group was founded by director Trish Horrocks and accompanist Geoff Horrocks, wife and husband. The group has released two albums, Fiddelium[4] and Lit Up. The former won a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2023 in the Young Performers of the Year category,[5][6] and the latter was nominated for the same in the 2024 awards.[7] The group has also won two CBC Music Class Challenges in 2020[8][9] and 2021,[10][11] respectively.

The membership of Fiddelium has changed over the years, with members often leaving the group after graduating from high-school, and various younger members replacing them. Some years there is a junior program and other years there have been just senior players. Junior players usually graduate to the senior level after one year.