Hamilton College Performing Arts opens the Contemporary Voices and Visions series with Canadian celtic fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster on Friday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts.
This tour supports her latest album, Blueprint, which was released in September, 2003. With Blueprint, MacMaster is once again pushing the boundaries for traditional music, fusing her brilliant Cape Breton fiddling with the sounds of Banjo, Dobro and Mandolin, as played by the cream of America's bluegrass community. Backing MacMaster during the tour is her band: Miche Pouliot (drums), Allan Dewar (piano), Brad Davidge (guitar, vocals), Matt MacIsaac (bagpipes, whistles, banjo) and John Chiasson (bass, vocals).
A native of Cape Breton — an island off the east coast of Canada near Nova Scotia — MacMaster, first picked up a fiddle at the age of nine and hasn't looked back. The niece of famed Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster, Natalie quickly became a major talent in her own right. After winning numerous East Coast Music Awards for her early traditional Cape Breton recordings, she began taking Celtic music to new heights with albums like In My Hands, which featured elements of jazz, Latin music and guest vocals by Alison Krauss. She also earned a Grammy nomination in 2000 for My Roots Are Showing in the Best Traditional Folk Album category.
To her accomplishments, she's added two Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for Best Instrumental Album and several Canadian Country Music Awards for Fiddler of the Year.
Tickets for this event are $18 for adults, $15 for senior citizens and $5 for students. All seating is general admission. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the box office at (315) 859-4331 and leave a message.
