From the 7th Midwest Fiddle Championship
Presented by the Fiddle Club of the World
On the main stage at the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival
1st place was awarded to Los Pichardos, a family band from Chicago and Oak Park, with Victor Pichardo on vihuela, his sons Yahvi on guitarra de golpe and Zacbe on arpa grande, and daughter Gabriela on fiddle. The lead fiddler is Juan Rivera, a native of the Tierra Caliente in the state of Michoacan, home of the style of music known as Son Planeco. The dancers were Serafin Guevara and his daughter, Andrea.
2nd Place went to Dr. Hojka’s Medicine Show with the Chicago Prairie Cloggers. The band featured Jordan Wankoff (of the Old Town School fiddle faculty) and Michelle Steinman on fiddles and Walter Hojka (also an Old Town School fiddle instructor) on keyboards. The Chicago Prairie Cloggers were organized for the occasion by Dr. Rebecca Unger from regulars at the Monday night dance sponsored by the Chicago Barn Dance Company.
3rd Place went to the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society. The three young fiddlers in the band included Itzaki Metropoulos, who took 1st in the Youth Division of our fiddle championship just a couple of years ago. The band also included a santur (hammered dulcimer) and a duf (a frame drum).
Here are links to more videos of the contest, all shot from the point of view of the emcee, who was on the stage. The sound is not so good. But it’s a great place to watch.
1st Los Pichardos
3rd Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society
4th Anne Hatfield (of the Hatfield Sisters) & friends
5th The Fiddler & the Hoofer (Rick Veras & Reggio McLaughlin)
What talent we have in our city.
Paul Tyler, convener