Andrea Bettger has been singing and playing the violin for most of her life. She grew up in Ontario in a household full of music: her parents, siblings, and most of her extended family both play and teach music. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Music degree and a Bachelor of Education degree in Music from the University of Toronto. During her time in Toronto, Andrea challenged her versatility on the instrument by playing in all types of scenarios: as concert mistress for the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra, as a session musician for bands such as the Rheostatics, Wide Mouth Mason, and Jane Siberry, as a performer for live concerts with Ron Sexsmith , Martin Tielli, and big band orchestras, to name a few.
In 2003 she moved to Hay River, Northwest Territories, to try out a different pace of life. While there, Andrea became a lead instructor for the Kole Crook Fiddle Association and has taught and continues to teach youth and adults alike to play the fiddle in communities throughout the NWT. She was the youngest ever recipient of the “Citizen of the Year” honour in 2007 for her efforts in teaching fiddle in the North, and she won first prize in the “Biggest Fiddling and Jigging Contest North of 60” in 2010.
Since moving to Yellowknife in 2008, Andrea has become a sought-after performer and teacher. She has developed fiddling programs for youth and adults both within Yellowknife and throughout the NWT, and has become heavily involved in the Aurora Fiddle Society. She has written and self-produced a fiddling book with recordings for beginners. She has devoted special attention to Métis and Northern fiddling and has been promoting the sustainability of this style through her performances and her teaching. She has performed and recorded with countless musicians over her years in the North, including The Jerry Cans, Kim Beggs, Pat Braden, Tracy Riley, Carmen Braden, and Leela Gilday. She has played as part of opening bands for Buffy Sainte-Marie and Jimmy Rankin. She was selected as a Northern-fiddling representative to perform at the NorthernScene showcase in Ottawa in 2013. In 2015, Andrea was chosen by the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in Yellowknife to be a supported musician through their mentorship program. She was awarded the opportunity and fulfilled an artist-in-residence program at the Banff Centre for the Arts in November of 2016. She was the fiddler for the Jerry Cans for the summer of 2017. She released her first all original album in 2018, supported by the Northwest Territories Arts Council, which was nominated for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Her band played at the awards in November of 2018. She returned to Banff as an artist-in-residence in 2019, and has released her second album in August of 2020. Her single “Yellow Snow” was nominated for Single of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2021. The video won “Music Video of the Year” by the Northwest Territories Music Awards in 2022. Andrea was invited and competed in the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition in August of 2022, and she was recently selected by the National Arts Centre to be the featured artist from the Northwest Territories for their website “Canadian Music Road Trip”.
Andrea’s diverse musical background and experience has led her to write music that is heavily influenced by Northern Métis fiddling, and jazz, gypsy, and classical violin styles. The fusion of these approaches results in an exciting blend of toe-tapping material, complemented with meditative and heart-warming melodies.
Andrea lives on a small island in Yellowknife in a cozy off grid cabin with her husband Mike, her daughter Sadee, and her son Jolliffe.
In short…
Andrea Bettger has experience playing classical, jazz and bluegrass styles, and experiments in the electric world of sounds on her instrument. She has become heavily involved in the Northern-fiddling scene. The fusion of these approaches results in an exciting blend of toe-tapping material, complemented with meditative and heart-warming melodies.
She has performed and recorded with countless artists including The Rheostatics and the Jerry Cans and has opened the stage for Jimmy Rankin and Buffy St. Marie. Her musical efforts won her the honour of “Citizen of the Year” in 2007, and she represented the North as a fiddler at “NorthernScene” at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2013. Andrea was an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 2016 and 2019 and toured as the fiddler for the Jerry Cans in the summer of 2017. She performed at Yellowknife’s Folk on the Rocks in the summer of 2018 and 2021 and the release of her first all-original album got her a nomination for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards in November of 2018. Her band performed at the CFMA Awards Ceremony. Her single “Yellow Snow” was nominated as Single of the Year by the CFMA in 2021. Her second album, “Bush Chords”, was released in 2020. Her latest single, “Thin Ice”, is released along with a music video with the same name. The video won “Music Video of the Year” by the Northwest Territories Music Awards in 2022. Andrea was invited and competed in the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition in August of 2022, and she was recently selected by the National Arts Centre to be the featured artist from the Northwest Territories for their website “Canadian Music Road Trip”.
