Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy
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If Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, has a musical ambassador, it might be Natalie MacMaster, whose virtuosic fiddling and energetic step dancing have brought the island’s music international acclaim. Cape Breton boasts a
complex, beautiful style of fiddling brought to Canada by early 19th-century Scottish immigrants. For two-plus centuries, Cape Breton players have staunchly preserved and nurtured this style, known for closely hewing to its Scottish roots. “It is very family oriented,” says MacMaster, “and passed down from generation to generation. It is in the very community, and very much a way of life.” The music, she says, “is part of how you live.”
MacMaster began playing at age nine, absorbing the music from her uncle Buddy MacMaster, a legendary Cape Breton fiddler. “I had already been singing—‘jigging’ them as we call it—and step dancing,” MacMaster explains, describing the tradition common on Cape Breton of singing syllables to imitate fiddle tunes. “At every family and community function I went to there were fiddle tunes.” She was soon playing throughout Cape Breton. Her first album appeared when she was 16; she now has eleven, and has played 100 shows a year for the last 15 years.
In 2002 MacMaster married master fiddler Donnell Leahy; the couple often performs together. They have six children, aged 10 to 1. All are immersed in the tradition, and the older four jig, fiddle, and step dance. “I work really hard trying to carry on a tradition for them by keeping my tradition going,” she says. “I want to pass that down to them.”
MacMaster is quick to explain she has adapted Cape Breton traditions during her time on stage. Cape Breton fiddlers sit when they play at social dances and other events; Natalie has subtly tweaked that tradition, standing and sometimes dancing when she plays, yet always giving a performance infused by her Cape Breton heritage. Her award-winning work—including a Grammy®-winning performance with Yo-Yo Ma—always honors her roots.
Videos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK8rvQnFSaU
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKhpJMJhYA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzP_kIXsuvA&t=12m5s
