Natalie, and her uncle Buddy MacMaster, are Honorary Board Members at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre located in Cape Breton. Visiting fiddlers have noted that Cape Breton has one of the strongest fiddling traditions that they have encountered anywhere. In recent years, Cape Breton’s fiddling and step dancing traditions have achieved international recognition and have played a significant role in launching high profile events such as the East Coast Music Awards, which generate millions of dollars in revenue and garner enormous media coverage. Some have been invited back to Scotland as instructors to help reintroduce the traditional Gaelic style of playing. Fiddlers are the mainstay of local concerts and dances and are also active on tour throughout Canada and internationally. Fiddlers began recording the Nova Scotia Gaelic musical tradition as early as the 1930s, and today there is a prodigious output of traditional music recordings by old and young exponents of the art. ![]() Unlike Scotland, Nova Scotia was spared many of the pressures that would erode such forms of Gaelic cultural expression in the 19th century. Gaels were immigrating to Nova Scotia during the golden age of Scottish fiddling and at a time when piping was still a robust folk art, so the initial musical environment that was established in the province was particularly rich and vibrant. Gaels have long been noted for their love of music and dancing, and they brought this affection with them to the new world. As a result modern day Celtic performers and ethnomusicologists view cape Breton as a kind of cultural benchmark and regularly flock there to recover their lost heritage.” (MacCallum-Whitcomb, Celtic Music Interpretive Centre)Īnother perspective on the tradition of fiddling in Nova Scotia comes from the landmark study published in 2002 by the Nova Scotia Museum “Gaelic Nova Scotia – An Economic, Cultural and Social Impact Study” (Curatorial Report #97), written by Michael Kennedy: It remains a purer form of their ancestral music than anything you might encounter in Scotland where fiddling Gaels, heavily influenced by the English, often felt compelled to reinvent themselves as classical violinists. It is the music, and specifically Cape Breton Fiddling, that leads the way in the resurgence of Celtic culture in Nova Scotia “Although pianos, bagpipes and the occasional guitar each contribute to Cape Breton’s signature sound, fiddles clearly dominate and folks continue to play them in a way their kilted ancestors would recognise. However it is the musical traditions of Cape Breton that moves from strength to strength. The Gaelic language, once spoken by an estimated 100,000 transplanted Scots and their descendents in Nova Scotia, is on a long road to revival. Thus, the musical talent, fame and success has come by her “honestly”. In a biographical sketch of her uncle Buddy written by Paul MacDonald it was noted that Natalie’s grandmother was accomplished at lilting, a form of traditional singing common to the Gaelic speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland, and would sing these magical songs for her family in her home. She is also Cape Breton musical royalty the niece of the legendary Buddy MacMaster, married to Donnell Leahy of the award winning Leahy Family Band and himself a fiddler, and cousin to members of the MacIsaac family who boast several successful fiddlers. ![]() MacMaster is more than the take-away from her image of a polished, beautiful super star of popular Celtic culture. Transceltic are honoured to have had the opportunity to interview Natalie MacMaster who, with two Grammy nominations, numerous music awards and multiple Gold Albums, is an internationally renowned fiddler in the forefront of the revival of Scots Gaelic musical traditions of Cape Breton. Known for its fiercely individualistic musical style it is a dynamic musical genre that is changing with the generations of new fiddlers as they join the ranks. Cape Breton Fiddling, internationally renowned as a distinctive musical genre, is enjoying immense commercial success. The musical traditions that flourish in the Cape Breton region of this Maritime province are most closely associated with the Fiddle. ![]() The legacy of immigration in the 1800's from Scotland to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is evidenced in the strength of the cultural traditions that survive and which today are experiencing a renaissance.
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