National Fiddler Hall of Fame Inducts Several Distinguished New Members!

The National Fiddlers Hall of Fame will induct the 2015 class of inductees on May 28, 2015, 7:30pm at the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Performing Arts Center (BAPAC).  The induction ceremony and concert will feature performances by Tulsa’s Jana Jae, fellow inductee Jay Ungar, along with several previous inductees and area fiddle artists. The distinguished list of 2015 inductees includes:  The “First Lady of Country Fiddle,” Jana Jae.  Jae gained fame playing fiddle tunes on a blue violin during television's long-running Hee Haw series.

It will be a night to remember as the National Fiddler Hall of Fame honors some of the most talented names in the art of Fiddle at the 2015 Induction Ceremony and Concert.

She is credited with influencing the integration of women fiddlers into then all-male country and bluegrass music bands.  She established a trio of annual fiddle music festivals in Grove, Okla., more than 20 years ago.

Grammy award winner, Charlie Daniels.  Daniels, a North Carolina native, won a Grammy and the Country Music Association's Single of the Year Award for his recording "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."  A member of the Grand Ole Opry, he has been a band leader and recording musician for more than 50 years.

Folk music fiddler and composer Jay Ungar of New York composed and performed "Ashokan Farewell," with his guitarist-wife Molly Mason.  That melody became en-grained in the American psyche as the haunting lament theme song from Ken Burns' PBS television documentary series, The Civil War.                                                                                                        Stuart Duncan, a native Virginian, is a Grammy Award-winning fiddler as a member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, and a multi-year winner of the Academy of Country Music's Fiddle Player of the Year award.  He is in demand as a recording session musician for a variety of artists, including the popular classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

The late Howdy Forrester, known as the "Fritz Kreisler of Country Fiddlers," will be inducted posthumously for his decades-long career that began in the early 1930's.  In 1939, he joined the Saddle Mountain Roundup radio show in Tulsa.  A World War II Navy veteran, Forrester performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry, and with Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys, Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, and with Oklahoma native Cowboy Copas.

The National Fiddlers Hall of Fame in Tulsa, Oklahoma first inducted the late great Bob Wills in 2007 and each year has added to its distinguished alumni.  Among the list of past inductees are;  Roy Acuff, Kenny Baker, Curly Lewis, Johnny Lee Wills, Chubby Wise and Stuff Smith.  

The entire list of NFHOF inductees can be found at www.nationalfiddlerhalloffame.org.  “We are very excited about this year’s prestigious list of inductees. We are expecting a great concert and are thrilled to be having the event at the BAPAC,” said NFHOF Board President, Bob Fjeldsted.

Tickets are $20 in advance for adults, $30 at the door the night of the event and $10 for students.  Tickets are available at www.myticketoffice.com or by going to the BAPAC web site, www.thepacba.com. (Handling fees apply.) The Broken Arrow PAC is located at 701 S. Main in Broken Arrow, OK. 

Lobby doors open at 6pm on May 28th and the concert begins at 7:30pm.  Members of the 2015 NFHOF Class of Inductees will be available for a meet and greet opportunity in the lobby prior to the show.  For more information regarding tickets, contact the BAPAC ticket office at (918) 259-5778.