Canadian Fiddle Sensation Natalie MacMaster Comes to Buffalo State

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The Buffalo State Performing Arts Center proudly presents Canadian celtic fiddling sensation Natalie MacMaster on Thursday November 8 for one performance at 8:00pm. Her appearance at the Buffalo State Performing Arts Center is part of the 2001-2002 Great Performers Series. Ticket prices range from $29.50 - $15.00. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, 1300 Elmwood Ave. or by calling 716-878-3005. Box Office hours are Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm.



Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster is a multi-award winning superstar in Canada and quickly gaining recognition in the United States. In addition to her Grammy nomination for My Roots Are Showing as "Best Traditional Folk Album" in 2000, Natalie's accolades include two gold records, eight ECMA Awards (including 2000 Female Artist of the Year and Roots/Traditional Solo Artist of the Year), three Canadian Country Music Awards (1997, 1998 & 1999 Fiddler of the Year), and a 1999 Juno Award. After her foray into the pop sphere with 1999's hugely successful In My Hands, Natalie MacMaster's latest album, My Roots Are Showing, is a return to traditional Cape Breton music.



My Roots Are Showing features an invigorating set of jigs, reels, marches, strathspeys and hornpipes. Tunes such as "Close to the Floor" and "Willie Fraser" reaffirm fiddle music's role as dance music, while the album includes some of the most historically important and influential tunes in the genre, many of them dating from the early part of the twentieth century.



A native of Cape Breton Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, MacMaster comes from a musical family with a Scottish lineage. MacMaster's dedication to traditional Cape Breton music is strong. Unlike the more familiar Irish fiddle style, it's a method that employs very little improvisation. Her shows offer a mixture of musical elements ranging from traditional jigs and reels to occasional Latin rhythms and pop grooves.



Her shows also include highly spirited segments in which she combines traditional Irish step dancing with her fiddle playing. The Houston Chronicle reported that "she may be the only violinist who can twirl across a stage while playing six notes a second and never missing a beat?her feet hit the stage with the same dexterity that her fingers hit the string."



Natalie's tour itinerary is comprised of an impressive, if not exhaustive, series of sold out dates in venues across Canada, throughout the United States and around the world. Natalie is as equally adept at setting the house on fire with her band as she is at hypnotizing a crowd while alone in the footlights, fiddle in hand. In one concert you get it all: foot-tapping rave-ups and heart-rending waltzes, along with a bit of step-dancing and good old-fashioned storytelling thrown in for good measure.



The 2001-2002 Great Performers Series is sponsored by WBFO 88.7.

Media Contact:
Jeff Marsha, Director of Operations Performing Arts Center | 7168783032 | marshajl@buffalostate.edu