Local fiddler wins state contest

A Columbia Falls musician recently took first place in the senior division at the 43rd Montana State Old-Time Fiddlers Association Contest held July 23 in Choteau.

"Some days you can't find a string, and then other days are just magic," Alida Wright said. "That day was magic for me. I made very few errors."

Wright, 67, who says she doesn't care if she wins or loses so long as she plays as well as she can, also performed with other association members last week at the Northwest Montana Fair.

Wright said she taught herself how to play as a child. She inherited a fiddle that was purchased by her father in Austria for her grandfather. She used it to play in her high school orchestra until she quit. Her mother "shamed" her into picking up the instrument in 1993 while they were watching a poor performer.

"I said, ‘Gosh, you would think she would just give it up,' and my mother said, ‘Well, at least she's trying," Wright recalled.

That same year, Wright entered the fiddlers association's contest for the first time. She took third in the novice division that year but won her own division several times after that.

This year, she competed against eight other fiddlers. Each contestant was asked to play a waltz, a hoe-down and a piece of their choosing in each of the three rounds. Judges score fiddlers on tone, danceability and old-time playing ability.

Wright emerged the senior victor and took home the $125 prize after two rounds. She also won the third round, which was limited to Montanans and association members, qualifying her to enter the National Fiddle Contest in Idaho next year.