PULLMAN, Wash. — Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster will bring her mix of traditional jigs and step dancing to Washington State University’s Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum Nov. 1.
The 27-year-old Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, native has toured around the world with some of the largest folk and Celtic festivals. MacMaster, who has played the fiddle since age nine, has headlined in London, Glascow, Brussels and Tokyo. Reviewers said she wowed a crowd of 80,000 in Chattanooga, Tenn., when she opened for rock-guitarist Carlos Santana in June of 1995. Broken strings didn’t stop her as she continued to play using only her bottom two strings.
Selections from her first two recordings, “Road to the Isle” (1989) and “Four on the Floor” (1991) were released in 1998 on “A Compilation” on Rounder Records. “Fit as a Fiddle” and “No Boundaries,” which includes classical, ragtime and country music, were released in the United States on Rounder in 1997. Samples of her music can be downloaded from the Rounder Records web site:
In 1992, MacMaster won the East Coast Music Association’s Roots/Traditional Artist Award. “Fit as a Fiddle” won the ECMA’s Instrumental Artist of the Year Award in 1994. The ECMA nominated MacMaster for Entertainer of the Year the next year.
MacMaster has been profiled on Canadian and British television and radio. She was the featured performer on BBC’s 1995 “New Year’s Eve Hogmanay.” The Toronto Star referred to MacMaster as “a fiddle prodigy.” Her song “Catharsis,” from the album “No Boundaries,” made the video rotation on cable’s Country Music Television network.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert are $12.50 for the general public and $8 for students. Purchase tickets at Beasley Coliseum, G&B Select-A-Seat Outlets, by phone at 800/325-SEAT, or online at
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