The older a person gets, the harder it is to break out of established patterns and follow their dreams. Young people, though, often have the opportunity to pursue those dreams before the pressures of life bear down on them. So many young people in our communities are doing exactly that—following their passions by working hard to develop themselves as artists—and this month we’ll be highlighting some of these extraordinary youth.
Alexandre Tetrault may only be 16 years old, but the young musician has his eyes set on his future, and he’s working nonstop to get there.
The student is currently in the tenth grade at Gabrielle-Roy in Île-des-Chênes, but he’s taking mostly eleventh grade courses so that he can graduate early and focus on his music.
Tetrault has been playing the fiddle since the age of four, after his grandfather gifted him a fiddle for his birthday, realizing that the only way to get the boy to dance was to play old-time fiddle music. As a young child, Tetrault had an ear for music, creating his own compositions early on, before finding his passion for electronic music in the second grade and producing his own composition by age nine.
“My taste in EDM has since grown,” he says of the variety of EDM (electronic dance music) genres available. “I now produce Trap music, Tropical House music, and I mostly make instrumental rap beats for rappers in a software called FL Studio. This heavy bass music controls my life. It’s what I live for and what I hope to make a career out of one day.”
The 16-year-old tries to experience and appreciate other genres of music as well—except country and heavy metal. In 2017, he stepped out of his comfort zone and joined a rock/traditional band called Chiens de Prairie as their fiddler, further growing his passion.
“[EDM] has gotten me through a lot of tough times growing up,” he says. “And when I was the most down, I turned to this genre and it always seems to heal me. Producing it not only heals me, but also gives me hope for the future.”
While producing his own music keeps him quite busy, Tetrault is also eager to share his passion for fiddling by participating in local events and competitions, including Festival du Voyageur. The teen has competed in Brandon’s winter fair, where he has competed in his age category. For the past two years, however, he has opted to join the Open Category, which pits the best fiddlers in the competition against each other. He placed third both times. During the competitions, he has played all-original compositions, which will also be featured on his upcoming album.
“In the future, I hope to become an international producer. I work every day towards it and never do I feel like I’m taking a step back,” he says. “My goal is to change the electronic industry and add fiddle to heavy bass music. I feel like that genre would really catch the population’s attention and help me towards success. My fiddle is part of me, and I can play absolutely anything on it. I must use that wisely.”
