Madison Reporter

Shauncey Ali is convinced he has found his calling.

In 2012, after earning his degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ali admits he wasn’t sure what might come next.

“I had no plan except to maybe work in a greenhouse,” he told Isthmus July 26.

Ali, 41, is a classically trained violinist and a self-taught bluegrass fiddler, according to Isthmus. He told the outlet after he completed his studies; he considered teaching.

“I had this notion to teach music to one or two students on the side,” Ali said.

For the next two years, Ali learned all he could about teaching from his mentor, longtime Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras strings educator Bonnie Greene. Eventually, he opened a small teaching studio in his apartment where he taught school-aged children how to play the violin. His student list quickly grew to more than 30 a week.

“A lot of these kids were sort of falling through the cracks with the traditional musical offerings around town,” Ali said, adding that many students weren’t connecting with the kind of classical music that was being offered up to them.

He soon switched to a different kind of stringed instrument instruction: fiddling, and not long after created MadFiddle, a youth orchestra association that has up to six cohorts with as many as 12 students in each. Lessons are offered throughout the school year with a final live performance. The fiddling Ali teaches is done mostly without sheet music, which he said allows kids to get into the music without any physical or mental barriers.

“At its core, fiddling is dance music and that’s something the kids can feel immediately,” Ali said. “And it extends beyond the bounds of age. And when we get together, we sit in a circle. And I think that's the big thing that students latch onto — it’s very social and interactive.”

Sonny Dierks, 18, has played with MadFiddle for the last decade and says the end-of-the-season concert hall performances “give us a plan and a goal. It’s a benchmark to compare yourself to year after year — and it’s fun and gives you a sense of accomplishment.”

Dierks also said he has learned more than how to play the fiddle from Ali.

“I’ve learned and now understand that things don't always go as planned,” Dierks said. “It’s taught me how to adapt and stay calm and that’s helped me tremendously throughout my life.”