VIDEO: Student Fiddler Sumaia Martins

Fiddle camp freed this Santa Cruz native from the classical box.

February 13, 2013

Santa Cruz native Sumaia Martins started playing classical violin at the age of 5. Fiddle camp freed her from the classical box.

Duel Brazilian and American citizen Sumaia Martins also has a dual identity as both a violinist and a fiddler. She joined the youth symphony at the age of 11 and sat both principal second violin and concert master during her eight years with the group. During this time she also attended multiple summer fiddle camps, including Celtic Camp, Alasdair Fraser’s fiddle camp on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, Valley of the Moon, Mount Shasta Fiddle Camp, Big Sur Fiddle Camp, and Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp, as well as the Greenwood Chamber Music Camp. Over time, rather than separating, her musical paths have converged. The more she learned to feel rhythm in Scottish, old time, and bluegrass, the easier and more relaxed her classical playing and phrasing was, and her years of work on classical technique has given her the tools to mimic the exact infliction of each phrase she hears. 

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