The Shetland Fiddlers' Society is a group of

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

s from Shetland that play regularly for Shetland Folk Dance and perform at events such as Shetland's Folk Festival and Accordion and Fiddle Festival. The society had its origin in May 1960, when the first big post-war social event organized in Shetland took place. Known as the Hamefarin, it was an organized return trip to their native isles made by some 150 Shetlanders who had emigrated and settled worldwide in such countries as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. A week of social events of all kinds was laid on for the visitors at venues throughout the islands, and among the main attractions were a Grand Variety Concert and a Shetland Concert, each staged on two evenings in the

Garrison Theatre The Garrison Theatre is a 280-capacity venue in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland, with a sprung proscenium stage with fixed raked seating. The auditorium has 19 rows, named A to S, with 8, 12, 13, 15, or 16 seats in each row. The venue hosts dance, dr ...

, Lerwick. The opening act of each concert was a performance by forty 'massed fiddlers', players from all over the Shetland mainland gathered together by

Tom Anderson Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the social networking website Myspace, which he founded in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. He was later president of Myspace and a strategic advis ...

and trained by him over the preceding winter months. The group's performances of traditional Shetland fiddle tunes were so well received that it was inundated by requests to perform all over Shetland and invited to play for Her Majesty Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

during a royal visit planned for August. As a consequence, the fiddlers formed themselves into Shetland Fiddlers' Society on 29 June 1960, with

as its Leader.

Magnus Magnusson Magnus Magnusson, (born Magnús Sigursteinsson; 12 October 1929 – 7 January 2007) was an Icelandic-born British-based journalist, translator, writer and television presenter. Born in Reykjavík, he lived in Scotland for almost all his life, a ...

, then a reporter on the ‘

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded ...

’ newspaper sent to cover the Royal visit, gave the Society its affectionate nickname "Da Forty Fiddlers", which stuck for many years until player numbers dwindled somewhat. The objectives of the Society include: * the preservation, development and presentation for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the public of the traditional art of Shetland fiddle playing * to give concerts recitals and other public appearance of Shetland fiddle music for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the public * to educate musicians in the traditional art of Shetland Fiddle playing'. Tom Anderson left the Society in 1980 but Shetland Fiddlers' Society still thrives, meeting weekly for practice. Since its establishment the Society has produced eight albums of recordings including a 50th anniversary compilation CD, with a ninth album recorded and expected on the market in spring 2014.

References

Organisations based in Shetland Scottish folk musicians Shetland music Shetland fiddlers 1960 establishments in Scotland Musical groups established in 1960 {{Scotland-band-stub