BRATTLEBORO — Equally at home on the concert stage as she is at a folk festival, Grammy Award-winning Cape Breton, Nova Scotia fiddler Natalie MacMaster is one of the most versatile and exciting young musicians on both the folk and Celtic music scenes.
Her many projects have seen her collaborate and perform with Alison Krauss, Carlos Santana, the Chieftains, Paul Simon, Pavarotti, and Yo-Yo Ma.
Kingdom County Productions and Marlboro College present MacMaster in her holiday-themed concert, “Christmas in Cape Breton,” on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the Latchis Theatre.
In Brattleboro this year, and performing with MacMaster for the second year in a row, are the Kurn Hattin Homes for Children Select Choir, directed by Grammy-nominated music teacher Lisa Bianconi.
As her event announcement notes, MacMaster's live performances “are a testament to her incandescent musicianship and boundless energy, featuring foot-tapping rave-ups, heart-rending ballads, and world-class step dancing.”
Her fiddling fireworks on traditional and contemporary Celtic melodies generate a kind of traditional fusion delivered with uplifting energy felt by the musicians and audiences of all ages, the announcement promises.
After 11 recordings, two DVDs, many East Coast and Juno awards and a Grammy Award, MacMaster continues to draw upon her life and memories from a rich repository of many musical evenings on Cape Breton.
“The music is like the people and the land,” she says. “Strong, powerful, and rugged. It all blends. It all matches.”