Becca Michaelson of St. Paul is an elementary music teacher in the Anoka Hennepin School district and has played classical flute for 19 years. Becca will use her IMDA Educational Grant for fiddle lessons at the Center for Irish Music. Her journey to wanting to learn fiddle is an interesting one.

Relatively new to the Twin Cities (she arrived in 2014 for her first music teaching job) and intrigued by Irish music, Becca introduced herself to her new town by attending the Irish Fair of Minnesota. That decision had a profound impact on Becca. She tells us “I was so inspired by the performance, the depth of knowledge of the presenters, the many events, and how vast the fair was.” Since Irish music had always captivated her, she decided that she would become involved in her new community through music and culture.

Becca became a regular at the Wednesday night céilí classes at the Dubliner. More importantly, she bought her first Copley & Boegli flute, began studying at the Center for Irish Music and gradually (she says grudgingly at first) going to sessions. Her difficulty in her session experience was that she found it humbling to be worse at flute than others, which inspired her “to practice more and keep learning tunes.” As a classically trained musician, Becca reminds us that “learning folk music is entirely different than learning classical music!” Becca continued to further her learning by attending the Catskills Irish Arts Week in 2016, studying with Conal O’Grada and Larry Nugent.

Which leads us to the question – Why fiddle lessons?

Life took a hard turn just over a year ago. Becca started having trouble with all sorts of daily tasks because of weakness, tingling, and numbness in her left hand. The problem led her to eliminate all non-essential music playing for nearly a year (especially difficult for a music teacher). Physical therapy has helped, but it turns out that she can no longer play her beloved Irish flute – it’s just too heavy for her to play for long without pain.

Becca “didn’t want to give up Irish music when it had become so important to my musical and social life.” So – she began a quest to find another instrument that would allow her to play the music she loves. With help from teachers at the Center for Irish Music and other musician friends, Becca has concluded that the fiddle would be less physically demanding on her (still) weak left hand.

Becca’s IMDA Educational Grant will help her with fiddle lessons and provide a pathway back to Irish music. Becca tells us “I am very excited for this opportunity to ‘start fresh’ and challenge myself to a new instrument. My goal with the fiddle is to learn tunes by ear only and progress enough that I can play at sessions again. Through my injury and time away from music making, I realized just how integral music is to my identity.”

The Irish Music and Dance Association is pleased to be able to help a dedicated musician continue her study of traditional Irish Music.