Theatre
NATALIE MacMASTER & DONNELL LEAHY
Present
A CELTIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2018
NORTHERN ALBERTA JUBILEE AUDITORIUM
Show: 8:00PM
**RESERVED SEATING / ALL AGES**
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy Present: A Celtic Family
Christmas
This holiday season join Natalie MacMaster and Donnell
Leahy, the award-winning fiddle virtuosos, in an intimate
and unique Christmas concert series you will never forget.
With the duo accompanied by an incredible array of talented
session musicians - and their entire family - A Celtic
Family Christmas will guide you into the wonderful world of
a true Cape Breton Christmas celebration. "This tour is
going to have an energy that goes beyond the duration of
the show," says Natalie Macmaster. "I want it to stay with
our fans throughout the holidays, and beyond."
To fans of fiddle music, Natalie MacMaster needs no
introduction. Over a recording career now spanning 25
years, this Order of Canada recipient has released 11
albums that have notched sales of over 200,000 copies. She
has won two JUNO and eleven East Coast Music Awards and
been nominated for a Grammy, and has collaborated with
artists as diverse as Yo-Yo Ma (on the Grammy-winning album
Songs of Joy & Peace), Alison Krauss, Jesse Cook, and Bela
Fleck. Though acknowledging that she can be "a musical
chameleon," Natalie stresses that, above all else, "I play
Cape Breton fiddle."
Donnell Leahy is no stranger to the awards podium himself.
He is the oldest brother of the internationally acclaimed
family musical group Leahy, winners of three JUNO Awards.
Widely recognized as one of the best Celtic fiddlers in the
world, his high-energy playing style also makes him a
highly popular performer.
The fiddling duo have toured extensively over the years
both together and separately, selling out venues across the
continent. Each show is an unforgettable experience for all
those in attendance, and word of their musical feats has
travelled. The last Christmas concert series sold out in a
matter of days, leading to additional shows added due to
high demand.
"If you really love fiddle music, there are performances
here that are nothing short of jaw dropping ...
performances that will raise you up and performances that
will leave you misty-eyed," The Guardian
This year, A Celtic Family Christmas exceeds all
expectations with riveting performances by Natalie,
Donnell, and their children, bringing the Cape Breton
Christmas to you. Through a mix of both song and dance,
they will take you on a journey of virtuoso performances,
telling the story of the night before Christmas in the
Leahy/Macmaster household. "Christmas is where this whole
concept started and we are excited to be travelling as a
family," says Donnell. "It's a perfect time to travel
across Canada and bring light and happiness to families and
fans across the country." With a lineup of familiar
Christmas songs intermingled with classic Celtic songs sure
to warm your heart, A Celtic Family Christmas brings you in
the door, and welcomes you in as part of the family.
The Band:
Mac Morin (piano), a founding member of the band, Beolach,
has continued to perform his innovative Cape Breton piano
style, touring and recording full time with Natalie
MacMaster for nearly the last two decades. He has also
appeared live and recorded with the likes of The Rankin
Family, Yo-Yo Ma, Buddy MacMaster and the Chieftains and
has recorded on many of the traditional projects produced
in Cape Breton in the last 20 years. He also continues to
travel as a guest with the Scottish group, Dannsa. As a
well-known and respected dancer at home and abroad, Mac has
travelled internationally to teach the traditional Cape
Breton style. Such workshops and private events have taken
him to private and group lessons at festivals, Féisan and
universities across Canada and the U.S. and throughout the
UK, Europe and New Zealand.
Ben Wittman (Drums: November 30 -December 6), drummer,
composer, and producer, was raised in the creative and
adventuresome atmosphere of Bennington College, Vermont in
the '60s and '70s. Ben initially studied piano, but by age
11 was drawn to the energy and rhythm of the drumset. He
pursued this passion into high school, where he studied
with Milfred Graves and Freddie Waits. He moved to Boston
in 1982, attending the New England Conservatory of Music
and graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz
Performance. Ben moved to New York in 1993, where he
continues to combine his love of world rhythms,
songwriting, and production. having reconnected with a
musician with whom he'd played in Boston during the mid
'80s, clarinetist Don Byron, Ben's playing with Don remains
one of his most vital performance outlets. His tenure in
New York has also included recording and performing with a
diverse range of artists from Sting, Paul Simon, Paula
Cole, Laurie Anderson, Jonatha Brooke and Rosanne Cash, to
Don Byron, Theo Bleckmann and contemporary Celtic artists
Eileen Ivers, Solas and Cathie Ryan.
Mark Kelso (drummer December 7 - December 22), originally
hails from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has made Toronto,
Canada his home. Not only is he a skilled musician who
plays drums and percussion, but is also a singer, producer,
composer and band leader. Mark has been the head of the
percussion dept. and Humber College in Toronto since 2005.
Mark's ability to play a wide variety of music styles has
led him to become one of Canada's most sought-after
drummers and he has worked with a wide array of artists
such as Pat Metheny, Michael Bublé, David Foster, Herbie
Handcock, Olivia New John, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and
many others. Mark's own Junonominated band, the Jazz
Exiles, has just released its second record.
Elmer Ferrer (guitar), Cuban-Canadian guitarist, is widely
recognized as one of the world's premier guitarists. Born
to a musical family in 1973, in Santi Spiritus - a small
city that holds one of the strongest histories in Cuban
traditional music - Elmer started to play and study
classical guitar at age 12 while devoting every free minute
to self -study of the electric instrument. An extremely
versatile and prolific session musician, Elmer has recorded
and toured the globe with many of Cuba's top producers and
artist. As a producer, arranger, session acoustic or
electric guitarist, Ferrer has contributed to more than 100
music recordings, including two Latin Grammy nominee
albums. He has a prominent career as a composer and solo
performer and is the leader of the remarkable Elmer Ferrer
Band, known for captivating audiences and critics alike
with their signature "advanced mix of Cuban Jazz and
electric blues". Ferrer's touring includes performances
at international music festivals world-wide. Six-time
Grammy winner, pianist Chucho Valdes, on the occasion of
having Elmer as a special guest of the Chucho Valdes
quarter, introduced Elmer as "one of the greatest
guitarists I have listened to in the last 30 years".
Rémi Arsenault (bass/guitar) has been a prominent side and
session musician in the PEI music scene for over 20 years.
He picked up bass, drums and guitar before he was 10 years
old, growing up in a very musical family that is well known
for its cultural contributions to the French-Acadian music
scene on the Island and beyond. He has toured North America
and Europe numerous times with artists such as, Vishten,
Catherine Maclellan, Coig, Fayo, Dominique Dupuis, Gadelle,
An Acoustic Sin and many more.
Purchase tickets through TICKETMASTER