SuppliedWhen he’s not fiddling around as the father of three young kids, Daniel Gervais is playing concerts as a Canadian Grand Master Fiddler.
Gervais, who received his Master’s degree of music in classical performance from the University of Alberta in 2014, was the first Albertan to win the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition this year and was also voted the people’s choice at the competition. He is the first player to receive both titles. With a first-place award of $3,500, the competition invites only 33 competitors from all provinces and territories.
“Winning the first time was really really sensational,” Gervais, who also won the competition in 2011, said. “The second time is sensational because it was the first time in Alberta.”
Gervais has been on hiatus from fiddle competitions since 2011 because he didn’t like the pressure of competition.
“I just made sure that I was really well prepared and comfortable with my tunes,” he said. “Winning is an amazing feeling but it was such a big day that I was also very tired.”
Gervais first became interested in playing the fiddle when he was five years old. After seeing a fiddler play he asked his mother, a classical pianist, if he could play and she bought him his first violin. He said he remembers when he tripped up the stairs at a fiddle competition when he was 10 and it ended up pushing him to continue playing.
“I was so embarrassed,” Gervais said. “After that I either wanted to quit or I wanted to really go full blown into it so it really just took off from there.”
Gervais got his first gig at 15 playing at a restaurant every Friday and Saturday night for two hours for $10 per hour. He said the experience helped him develop his confidence in playing in front of an audience.
Although Gervais said it’s too early to tell whether his new win will bring opportunities for his career, winning in 2011 was an important turning point for him. He had competed, and lost, in 2003, 2004, and 2008. He said he came into the 2011 competition as an underdog with the goal of doing his best.
“I didn’t care about my results beyond that just as long as I played my best I’d be happy,” Gervais said. “But then I took the cake and that was a really huge year for sure because there was prize money involved (and) the prestige of winning the title.”
The 2011 win led to Gervais playing at large events such as the London Olympics as a cultural ambassador for Alberta, a reception at Carnegie Hall in New York, and the 100th anniversary Grey Cup in Toronto.
Now, Gervais works as a full time musician playing at festivals, private gigs and giving private lessons and workshops. He also works as a sessional instructor in MacEwan University’s jazz and popular music program. While he really enjoyed the focused nature of his graduate studies, he did take a break during his undergraduate degree in his second year to tour as a musician; he advises music students at the U of A is to see their university studies through.
“Seize the moment, especially in this period in your life, to take the time to practice your art, your craft,” he said. “Life settles in and gets busy so keep your head up and work hard.”
