Successful Strategic Initiatives Support Fund Grant Facilitates Expansion of Fiddling at DFOM

We are pleased to announce that the Desautels Faculty of Music has received a Strategic Initiatives Support Fund (SISF) Grant of $52,532 to build on the fiddling program that DFOM spearheaded in 2024-25.

With the SISF grant, we will expand the role of North American Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame member Patti Kusturok to that of DFOM Artist-in-Residence. As part of her role, Kusturok will be offering one-on-one fiddling lessons to DFOM students and to UM students outside of DFOM. She will also be teaching a 3 credit course in the Fall 2025 term titled MUSC 3830 (T49) Fiddling across the Country which will explore Canada’s diverse fiddling tradition by taking a look at the many fiddling styles practiced in Canada, listening to various fiddlers and discovering what makes them unique. In addition to using recordings, live fiddlers will be invited as guests in the course. 

In 2025-26, DFOM is also creating a fiddling outreach by connecting Patti Kusturok and some of our DFOM students with the Sistema program, run by Jeffrey Acosta for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. In addition to this link with middle school and high school members of the Sistema program, we will also host other outreach events, including a Fiddling Showcase at the Desautels Concert Hall on March 14, 2026, in partnership with the Red River Fiddle and Dance Society.

Complete registration information for Fiddling across the Country is below: 

MUSC 3830 (T49) – Fiddling across the Country 
3 credits 
CRN 26534 
Fall 2025 term 
Thursday 5:30-8:30  
Instructor – Patti Kusturok

DFOM Communications