Fiddling sisters N.W.T.'s cultural delegates for 2016 Arctic Winter Games

A Yellowknife fiddle group made up of two sets of twins will represent the N.W.T. at the Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk, Greenland next week.

The four 15-year-old girls were selected to the cultural delegation in December after submitting videos of their performances to the selection committee along withletters of support for the City of Yellowknife and Aurora Fiddle Society.

Grace Clark, Sophie Clark, Annie Thomasand Elizabeth Thomas, also known as Double Treble, have played together for about three years.

"It started mostly as a summer thing, like busking on the street and stuff," says Elizabeth.

"Then we started getting people asking us to play at their birthday parties and little events. So we decided to make it an official group."

The group plays Irish, Mtis, and other Canadian fiddle tunes.

Elizabeth was the first in the group to find out they were selected to play at the games.

"My mom just texted me at 10 p.m., and she was like, 'Hey just got the email. You're going to Nuuk,'" says Elizabeth.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' So I texted Grace and Sophie."

"We got it the next morning," says Sophie. "I was like, 'Grace!'"

Grace shared her sister's enthusiasm. "Ya, it was pretty exciting," she says, smilingear-to-ear.

The girls practiced nearly everyday since getting the good news, and twice a week as a group. Elizabeth says they're ready to perform the biggest show of their lives.

"We have been practicing a lot, so it takes the pressure off things a little bit," she says.

Outside of a trip to the United States, the four girls have never left the country.

They say they're excited to experience a new culture, and learn from musicians from around the circumpolar world.

"They are doing little workshops and stuff," says Elizabeth. "So we are going to learn things from the other cultural delegates from other countries."

The group will perform at least five times at the games. They'll also take part in a collaboration at the closing ceremonies.