$21 in advance / $25 day of concert



Natalie MacMaster is a virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler known as an electrifying performer whose passionate proficiency on the beloved four-string amplifies the traditional East Coast sound for contemporary times. It’s a signature sound that has resonated with world audiences through 10 albums, multiple gold sales figures and 27 years; numerous Juno and East Coast Music Awards; two honorary degrees (from Niagara University, NY, and Trent University) and an honorary doctorate (St. Thomas University); the Order Of Canada – and a reputation as one of Canada’s most captivating performers.

She also has the respect and admiration of the crème de la crème of top-notch musicians: master violinist Mark O’Connor, whose camp MacMaster frequents as a guest instructor; legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma – who recently invited her to prominently participate as a guest performer on his 2008 holiday-themed album Songs Of Joy & Peace; banjo prodigy Béla Fleck; fellow fiddling marvel Alison Krauss; spiritually electrifying superstar guitarist Carlos Santana – the list goes on.

But to Natalie MacMaster, her beloved family now shapes and informs her musicianship as much as the jigs, reels, air, waltzes, strathspeys, marches and traditional folk that feed her spiritual soul. “Not so much the sound as the delivery,” states MacMaster, who married fiddle phenomenon Donnell Leahy of Leahy in 2002. “I am a Mom now. I am a wife. Those things are my priorities in life, and I think people get a sense of that – of that part of who I am – through my show. But my music itself hasn’t changed.”

If anything, family has reinvigorated Natalie MacMaster’s commitment to the stage and her audience. “I like being on stage even more,” she enthuses. “When I appear onstage, that’s my departure from Momhood – and I transform into Natalie MacMaster: the entertainer, the fiddler, the performer. “I relish that now more.”

As do her audiences, who are left clapping, hollering and screaming for more as MacMaster and her band wow them with stylistic diversity as reflected in such top-selling CDs as the Grammy-nominated My Roots Are Showing, Blueprint and Yours Truly.

The applause only increases in excitement when MacMaster incorporates step dancing into her performance. “I was 16 when I started focusing on the step dancing,” she recalls. “I was with a bunch of other young musicians and we all played and we all danced. It was a joke at the beginning, but then I began pulling it out of the hat so to speak when I needed to perk up the crowd, and it always did the trick. “As the years went on, people came to expect it, so I still do a little of that – even when I’m pregnant.”

But it’s her majesty with the bow and her intricate technique in making the fiddle sing and championing the Cape Breton tradition that floors her admirers for over 100 shows per year. “I guess culture and tradition never go out of style,” MacMaster explains. “I think they’ve seen me go from a very youthful new sound into a maturity and a confidence through the years.

This strength and confidence has only manifested itself through the years, whether it’s through album such as the gold Fit As A Fiddle that marks her fueling tradition or exploring Texas and bluegrass swing, Gaelic singing on the gold No Boundaries; a touch of folk rock and new age during the gold In My Hands; a contrasting embrace of the modern and old roots on Live; or the upcoming new traditional-flavored album she’ll record for release in the fall of 2009. She recently released a DVD “Natalie MacMaster: Live in Cape Breton” featuring Donnell Leahy, Bela Fleck and Buddy MacMaster.

Born June 13, 1972 to her parents Alex and Minnie MacMaster in Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Natalie MacMaster’s impressive musical lineage includes a cadre of amazing fiddlers, including her uncle, fiddle prodigy Buddy MacMaster (with whom Natalie recorded the 2005 gem Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island); her cousin Andrea Beaton and the late, great Canadian folk icon John Allan Cameron.

Her career hasn’t been without its challenges. “I was incredibly shy on stage until I was in my early-to-mid 20s,” she explains. “So I put mind over matter, triumphed and transformed that negative nervous energy into positive nervous energy. “It made me stronger rather than weaker.”

It has served Natalie MacMaster on stage, whether performing with The Chieftains, Paul Simon, Faith Hill, Luciano Pavarotti or in front of millions on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the ABC 2002 New Year’s Eve Special and Good Morning America. It has thrilled audiences throughout Europe and North America, especially in her native Canada, enabling MacMaster to passionately perform and promote the universal language of her Cape Breton sound.

And at a youthful 38, her strength and confidence in performing the fiddle continues to drive her passion and hunger to explore her love of music even further – and satisfy her audiences, and herself, in the process.

Find more info at: www. nataliemacmaster.com