Benson teen repeats as fair fiddle champion
By NANCY GORDON
Pantagraph staff
BENSON - Rob Hecht, 16, of Benson
won his Second title in the 16-and-under category of the
Illinois Old time
Fiddler's Association Fiddle Championships Saturday at the Illinois State
Fair.
Hecht, who has been playing fiddle since the age
of 3, said he played "The Gardenia Waltz" and a
Kenny Baker fiddle
tune, "Last Train to Durham," in the competition. "It was fun," he said
about
the contest. A Junior this fall at Central Catholic High School,
Bloomington, Hecht spends most
of his time in music oriented
activities. He has taken up the mandolin and acoustic guitar and
plays
tenor saxophone in the Central Catholic Jazz Band, and in the Heartland College
Jazz Orchestra,
both directed by Doug Tidaback. The Heartland group
will play Aug. 25 at Bloomington Country Club
and Sept. 1 at The Coffeehouse
in Normal. On July 4 he traveled with the Central High School Jazz Band
to perform at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Geneva, Switzerland.
His parents, Bill and Debbie Hecht, were among the chaperone parents for the
10-day trip.
The group also performed for a jazz festival in
Paris.
Hecht plays fiddle on Friday nights at the Bement
Country Opry in Bement and on Saturday nights
at the Kentuckiana Opry,
Hopedale. He was formerly with the McLean County Opry at Bellflower.
The money he earns help pay his school tuition, he said.
Hecht's father is pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church
and is keyboard player for Bement Country Opry.
He also records his
won original country and gospel music. His mother is a substitute teacher
and all three of his siblings are music oriented.