How many working fiddlers from Appalachia have won the Rhodes Scholarship? It can’t be many, and Brevard, NC’s Madeleine...

How many working fiddlers from Appalachia have won the Rhodes Scholarship? It can’t be many, and Brevard, NC’s Madeleine Dierauf must be the first winner to have roisoned the bow at Merlefest (@merlefest). A student at Davidson (@davidsoncollege), Dierauf has secured one of this year’s coveted Rhodes, which supports graduate study at Oxford. The fiddler in Americana trio Wilder Flower (@thewilderflowermusic), Dierauf plans to pursue a dual master's in American Studies and Philosophical Theology. Amidst the dreaming spires of Oxford, she will work through the thorny question of “how can we bridge divides and cultivate connections with each other despite our differences?” Combining her Western Carolinian roots with her musical sensitivity, and academic verve, Dierauf will no doubt provide singular answers to her timely graduate project. So please join us in hearty congratulations of Madeleine Dierauf, “daughter of Appalachia” and 2024 Rhodes Scholar. To read more, see the link in bio! alt text: a picture of a woman looking into a camera, in front of a fence made of gray boards photo credit: Davidson College