I ordered 10 violins for my program. I very much appreciate your generosity with the purchase.
It's been a pleasure doing business with you and look forward to more business in the future.
Thanks for the great idea in the article about donating the old fiddle.
I found a school here in Ottawa that accepts donations for kids/teenagers. I will definitely do that.
I couldn't believe the price of the outfit when I found your website.
Now I see how you do it - very little markup.
I will do business again with you because of your help meeting our school's budget.
My name is Adam LeBlanc, and I was the contestant awarded the (eco-friendly) Green Fiddle at the Green Festival.
I really like the violin, the colour is beautiful and it sounds wonderful when you plug it in and play it. I'm very satisfied with it.
It was a great honor to be able to have the violin and I will definitely be playing it quite a bit. Thank you for donating it and I will take wonderful care of it.
From the Green Festival here in NEW BRUNSWICK, Canada: Part of the festival is the FIDDLER's FRENZY on the Sunday 22nd August 2010. Lots of information on-line.
We wanted to present a violin to the winner and Fiddleheads sponsored the eco-friendly event.
In the video you can hear the winner, Adam LeBlanc, playing the Green Violin which he won and Fiddleheads donated.
He performed very well for the crowd. We think he has real talent and is young enough to take this violin a few places.
He also gave the crowd a song while he danced throughout while playing. Real nice kid and he has recently started doing the competition tour so we think he will get Fiddleheads some visibility with the inscription in the violin.
He has never owned an electric violin before so he was very excited. He also has a band, so one way or another we think we had a worthy winner that fully met Fiddleheads' requirements.
We hope we can look at doing something together again next year as Ivan Hicks is looking at helping out as we grow this small section of the festival. It could become the hallmark of the festival having a green violin to give away as top open prize.
Thank you for your generous donation of the beautiful violin to our PAC Silent Auction - we really appreciate it!
The violins that the Rotary Club of Westmount ordered from you from were delivered to the Rotary Club of Maraval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, last month, and were very warmly received by those responsible for the music program...
I've attached several photos that I took while there.
Again, many thanks for your help without which this project would remain just an idea!
I am writing to express our gratitude for the support Rhiannon has shown for the Annual Roots and Blues Festival and our yearly concert series.
Her donation to our 2007 Silent Auction Fundraiser was extremely generous – we cannot thank her enough for the violin package she contributed and for taking the time to come down (pregnant) to the Auction to demonstrate the exceptional tone and quality of the instrument.
I would also like to acknowledge Rhiannon's contributions in working with us during our yearly concert series both as an artist, and for sharing the progress of her students with our audiences. Each performance has complemented our presentations greatly and added a first rate representation of the talent found right here in our own region.
We consider ourselves very fortunate to have such a strong relationship between our Society and Fiddleheads.
It is with great pleasure that I look forward to maintaining this relationship for many years to come.
I was hired to set up "New Horizons" for a seniors program in our small charter community of Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Our program mandate for 2007 was to bridge the growing age gap between Native elders and the youth. We decided to purchase some fiddles and some of the elders would teach the childen to fiddle.
I was in charge of the puchasing and did not know a thing about fiddles so I did some net surfing to find a dealer close to home and found Fiddleheads.ca.
What caught my attention was [Fiddleheads'] commitment to commitment to going green as I am always for saving the planet. I got in touch with Rhiannon and over a few phone conversations found her to be very helpful in helping me with the purchases and sizing of the fiddles. What a relief that was for me as I did not have an idea what to look for.
An order was made for eight fiddles to start up our fiddle classes. A few days later Rhiannon phoned and said "one of the violins will be FREE." I was so surprized . "Is this for real," I thought to myself, "Do companies really give away free merchandise to help community projects?"
Fiddleheads proved to me that that the world is still full of music - you just have to look for it.
The shipping and handling was taken care of and the fiddles arrived safe and sound. We are now in the process of hiring a professional to come in and teach music lessons to the young and elderly once a week.
Thanks to Rhiannon we are now in the process of bridging the gap between young and old. Thanks once again!
Music education is an integral component of a young person's development.
The work that the Shuswap Violin Society does is so important in nurturing the next generation of fiddle players in Canada.
Keep up the great work!
- Pinchas Zukerman, Concert Violinist/Violist
[Background: Rhiannon created and founded the Shuswap Violin Society, a successful non-profit group that promoted violin and fiddle music in her former small town]
As the publisher of a weekly newspaper in Nelson, BC, I meet many professional musicians, many of whom make frequent requests to promote their concerts, lessons, and other business activities in my paper. Rhiannon Nachbaur stands out in my mind as truly dedicated to her community and one of the most persistent and hard-working musicians I’ve met in my time as owner of this paper.
I first met Rhiannon when she was preparing for her end-of year recital at the music college in 1997. She hand-delivered me her promotion package and press release for the event and spent weeks distributing posters and invitations around town.
She was the only student in her class who had taken such initiative to promote her recital and her efforts paid off. Hers was the best-attended concert of the year, due to her work in the classroom, on the stage and around town.
The Selkirk Music Program promises to produce "professional musicians" and was right on the mark with Rhiannon. The life of a professional musician is not an easy one, as work is inconstant and limited and there are always people who doubt the viability of such a profession. Thankfully Rhiannon didn't allow this negative reputation to keep her from making music her career. She was driven even more so to do well at it.
Rhiannon is a professional musician of the highest calibre. As a businesswoman she is creative, hard working, and enterprising.
I watched this young entrepreneur as she played almost weekly at the Farmer's Marketplace and at monthly Art Walk openings. It didn't matter that it was raining or that there was an audience of three people- she would just play under cover and continue to serenade her listeners with all her heart. This exposure led to many other performances, which there are too many to name.
It seemed wherever I went I saw either one of her posters or Rhiannon herself, playing. Anything from a Shakespeare play to a jazz group in the café, she was a busy working musician.
I have always admired Rhiannon for the effort she put into the music community through her performing, where she devoted countless hours playing for charity and fundraiser events.
She did it because she loved classical music and was excited to share that love with the community. This is just one example among Rhiannon's countless admirable community service contributions.
One of the greatest effects Rhiannon had on this community was that of her influence on her students and other young musicians in town. Even now I hear from musicians of all ages who studied violin with Rhiannon during her time here. They were all deeply influenced by her spirit, energy and effectiveness to motivate and were very sad when she moved away.
Nelson has yet to fill the gap that Rhiannon left nearly five years ago when she moved to a larger centre for music.
Rhiannon is an innovative self-starter, who motivates and inspires those around her.
I am most impressed with the effort Rhiannon puts into her work, both with the individual children involved and then in the various musical groups involving the various children with their parents.
In working with musical teachers and groups in other cities, I know of no one else that puts in this amount of time, energy and dedication.
As a community I believe Salmon Arm is very fortunate in having your children, young people so involved in community musical performances for the various social and adult group activities.
I strongly believe this involvement for the children and youth not only keeps them off the streets and out of trouble, but teaches them about sharing their abilities and talents with the community at large. This is something money cannot buy.
As a community, your are very fortunate in having the "Fiddleheads Violin School" together with the associated Shuswap Violin Society founded by Rhiannon for the betterment of Salmon Arm.
I have known Rhiannon Nachbaur for five and a half years as the business owner of Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop. She is a violin teacher for my daughter and myself. I also know her as a founding member, and President of the Shuswap Violin Society.
During the past five and a half years, since she came to Salmon Arm and started her music instruction business she has increased the visibility and accessibility of violin and fiddle music in the Shuswap immensely.
She possesses an incredible drive and vision toward sharing with, and nurturing musicians in the area and has shown this energy in many ways in the community:
Rhiannon has:
- Performed on a volunteer basis in nursing homes, community charity and other community functions, sharing her enthusiasm for music, and wonderful talent
- Written entertaining and informative newspaper articles about violin and fiddle playing
- Written newspaper reviews of traveling musical performances in the Shuswap
- Provided dynamic and inspiring private instruction, and group musical instruction for all ages of violin players
- Created and organized an annual workshop for stringed instrument players in Salmon Arm called “Strings Alive”, which has grown each year, and now includes Salmon Arm’s first Fiddle Contest
- Increased the popularity of violin playing and demand for instruction in the community, with new instructors employed in the community
- Assisted with music preparation, advising, mentoring and performs with the newly formed Salmon Arm String Orchestra in the School District 83
- Conceived the idea, and motivated a board of directors to form the Shuswap Violin Society, a non-profit organization whose mission statement includes formation of an instrument loan bank, fundraising for scholarship awards for string musicians, and provision of opportunities for workshops and performances in the community at coffee house venues and others.
These endeavours will encourage sharing of music, and nurture musicians of all ages in the community.
Rhiannon has proven herself to be a leader and highly visible mentor for string musicians. Her vision, sensitivity and energy toward enhancing stringed musicianship in the community of Salmon Arm is evident in the success she has achieved in these activities.
This fall our daughter was a new student to Fiddleheads Violin School (FVS). After three years of violin lessons with another teacher, Amelia was becoming very stressed and was quickly losing her desire to play.
I set out on a “mission” to find a new teacher who would best suit Amelia's needs. Because of Rhiannon's involvement in her students' “musical careers” and her obvious involvement in the community, her name kept coming up time and time again!
We live forty minutes away so I thought, “wow, if so many people know her out here, there must be something special about her!”
We weren't disappointed, Amelia was completely “taken” with her! I was so impressed with Rhiannon's enthusiasm, not only in her teaching, but how she included Salmon Arm and surrounding communities in her “musical world!”
She seems to have endless energy when it comes to sharing her love and knowledge of the violin. As part of her huge undertaking of forming the Shuswap Violin Society she has organized an instrument bank. This is such a kind and considerate project, as it enables children and adults who would otherwise not be able to afford a violin the chance to borrow a violin and learn to play it.
