NEWS - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Matthew Thomas Lin Memorial Scholarship to be Awarded Annually at the Grand Master Fiddler Championship. The intent of the $1000 scholarship is to encourage music education, and this year's selection will be awarded at the Grand Master Fiddler Championship competition in Nashville on SEP 5.  Click here for the full press release.

NEWS - The GMFC is proud to announce that the Missouri State Old-Time Fiddlers Association has signed on to become a co-sponsor of the 2021 Traditional Championship category.

NEWS - The Traditional Championship Prize money HAS INCREASED, with a first place of $500!! The Top 10 (up from the Top 5) will return to compete for the Champion title.  For a list of the new increased prizes, please click here.

The Fiftieth Annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship will be held on Saturday September 4th and Sunday September 5th, 2021 (Labor Day Weekend), in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the Ford Theater.  Contestants from all over the world will come to compete.  In 2019, Ridge Roberts of Texas claimed the Championship.  Who will the 2021 Champion be?  Please plan to join us for the competition!

Click HERE for more information about the contest.

Click HERE to register and enter the contest.

The Grand Master Fiddler Championship Inc. is organized as a Tennessee nonprofit and U.S. IRS 501(c)(3) charitable corporation, formed to educate about and perpetuate fiddling as an art form and cultural treasure. The corporation's primary focus is holding the annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship competition - an event that has started many young musicians on their way to a career in music. As a 501(c)(3) entity, all donations are tax deductible, and we welcome your support to promote and educate about fiddling. Fund-raising efforts are being planned in order to expand the competition, enhance our educational efforts, and to further the awareness of fiddling around the globe.

Fiddling laid the foundation of the WSM Grand Ole Opry and remains important to country and bluegrass music today. For a quarter-century, the contest was sponsored by WSM, the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Association, and later by Gaylord Entertainment.  When financially able, the GMFC makes donations to such charities as the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund and the Bluegrass Trust Fund which benefit musicians in need.  We do this in honor of the contributions of the pioneers to country, bluegrass and traditional music. Many of these pioneers such as Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, "Uncle Jimmy" Thompson, Bill Monroe, Howdy Forrester and Tommy Jackson played the fiddle or were very involved with fiddling. We have also donated fiddles/violins to the W. O. Smith Community Music School in Nashville.

Please tell all your fiddle music friends, websites, discussion lists and other music sites about this web page! Let us hear from you and we will add you to the GMFC email list.



2019 Dr. Perry F. Harris Distinguished Fiddler Award Recipient Mark O'Connor.