Fort Simpson (Mar 29/04) - In Ireland, experienced fiddlers are idolized like rock stars, says Nedd Kenney.

It is not so in the NWT, but the Kole Crook Fiddle Association is trying to infuse an appreciation of fiddling in youngsters. It's also striving to bring elders and youth together through the small, stringed instrument.

Kenney, who oversees a fiddle project in Cambridge Bay, travelled to Fort Simpson to instruct at a Kole Crook Fiddle Camp in late February. Twenty-four students, ranging in age from seven to 20, participated in the week-long event.

Taught to play by a "master" from Prince Edward Island, Kenney said he was pleased with the ample turnout -- there were more players than fiddles.

"With this number of kids, we'll produce fiddlers suitable for the square dances in each town," he said.

Schools are once again beginning to embrace music instruction as a means to instill literacy and conceptual skills, he said, though some of the novice fiddlers are much more adept at learning by ear at this early juncture.

"Every kid is on a personal voyage," he said.

The Kole Crook Fiddling Association, co-ordinated by Lewis Beck, is in the initial stages of a five-year plan to cultivate fiddlers, some of whom will act as mentors to other adolescents, Kenney said.

The association would also like to see culturally specific music programs integrated into the school curriculum and even translated into each of the NWT's official languages, he said.

The young musicians demonstrated some of their newly acquired skills by giving a public performance at the end of the camp.

While the youngsters aren't yet hitting all the right notes, they are making steady progress.

"It is difficult for the first (lesson)," admitted Josh Baton, 14.

"By the next day we were getting better at it," said Terrence Yendo, 13.

Baton, from Wrigley, started playing the fiddle three years ago while Yendo, also from Wrigley, has been at it for only a year.

"You can play for people or yourself and your family. It's good," Baton said.

"I'd like to learn the tunes so I can be good like Nedd and teach other children," said Yendo.