Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in Concert

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Friday, June 3rd, 2011
7:30 PM to 10:00 PM

World renowned fiddler and cellist, Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas, will perform one show only in BC, before they start their week long Celtic Music Cruise from Vancouver to Alaska.

The show is at St Stephen's Church on Village Way in Qualicum Beach.
Friday June 3.
Doors at 7pm
Show at 7:30pm
Tickets $20 available through Joyce Beaton [email protected] and at The Vintage Candy Shop in Qualicum and Cranky Dog Music in Parksville.

Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
"Fraser, one of the most respected of all exponents of the Scots fiddle, would
look long and hard to find a more appropriate cellist as a partner. Haas can
switch just as effortlessly as Fraser from a gentle singing tone to driving,
dancing melody. A positive joy."
�The Scotsman

The musical partnership between Alasdair Fraser, long regarded as
Scotland�s premier fiddle ambassador, and the sizzlingly-talented young
California cellist Natalie Haas may not seem an obvious one. Fraser,
acclaimed by the San Francisco Examiner as �the Michael Jordan of
Scottish fiddling,� has a concert and recording career spanning 30 years,
with a long list of awards, accolades, television credits, and feature
performances on top movie soundtracks (Last of the Mohicans,Titanic).
Fraser has been sponsored by the British Council to represent Scotland�s
music internationally, and received the Scottish Heritage Center Service
Award for outstanding contributions to Scottish culture and traditions.

The 25-year-old Haas, a graduate of
the Juilliard School of Music, wasn�t
even born when Alasdair was
winning national fiddle competitions
on the other side of the Atlantic.
But this seemingly unlikely pairing is
the fulfillment of a long-standing
musical dream for Fraser, whose
cutting-edge musical explorations
took him full circle to find a cellist who could help him return the cello to its
historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music.

Natalie Haas was just 11 when she first attended Fraser�s Valley of the Moon
Scottish Fiddling School in California. She responded to Fraser�s challenge to
find and release the cello�s rhythmic soul, and four years later, when Natalie
was just 15, Fraser and Haas played their first gig together. Now regularly
touring with Fraser and creating a buzz at festivals and in concert halls
throughout Europe and North America, Natalie is in the vanguard of young
cellists who are re-defining the role of the cello in traditional music. �Cellists
are coming out of the woodwork to study with Natalie, to learn how she
creates a groove and a whole chunky rhythm section,� says Fraser. �It�s
inspiring to hear the cello unleashed from its orchestral shackles!�

The duo�s two recordings, In the Moment and their debut CD, Fire and
Grace � both on Fraser�s own Culburnie Records label � are providing a
great deal of inspiration to other players. The CDs display the duo�s dazzling
teamwork, driving, dancing rhythms, and their shared passion for
improvising on the melody and the groove of Scottish tunes. �Haas is the
percussive power to Fraser's fiddle fireworks, providing syncopated, bowed
underpinnings to his melodies and solos,� writes Kira Schlechter of The
Patriot News.

The duo has performs frequently in Europe, and throughout the US and
Canada. They have been featured on NPR�s Performance Today, the Thistle
& Shamrock, and Mountain Stage, and represented Scotland at the
Smithsonian Museum�s Folklife Festival. In addition, Fraser and Haas have
busy teaching schedules, including summer fiddle courses in the US,
Scotland, and Spain. Natalie also teaches at the Berklee College of Music in
Boston.

For more information, go online to www.alasdairfraser.com, or www.nataliehaas.com



Herald Scotland Review of their latest CD

Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas: Highlander�s Farewell (Culburnie)
Published on 1 May 2011

...by Rob Adams

Clackmannan-born, California-based fiddler Alasdair Fraser and his American musical partner, cellist Natalie Haas, have been investigating and reinvigorating the relationship between their instruments that flourished in former times with spectacular success over recent years. This third album is yet more proof of both the musicians� and their instruments� compatibility. An expanded cast sees County Clare�s poet of the fiddle Martin Hayes and American old-time master Bruce Molsky shift the accent from Scotland to Ireland to Appalachia on the opening medley, and there are French and Galician interludes as well as a distinctly drawing-room quality on Gloomy Winter�s Noo Awa�. At the heart of the album, however, are the sparky understanding and mutual inspiration that make Fraser and Haas such a classy, self-sufficient pairing and emphasise their ability to give even popular session tunes such as Fergie MacDonald�s Jig Runrig and Gordon Duncan�s The High Drive a new lift.


HIGHLANDER'S FAREWELL by Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas
Bringing a Fresh Sound to an Old Tradition

Award-winning duo Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas once again unleash their dazzling teamwork, driving, dancing rhythms, and shared passion for taking the infectious melodies and grooves of Scottish/Celtic music on an exciting new journey.

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS:
Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill - Bruce Molsky - Brittany Haas - Hanneke Cassel - Laura Risk - Ryan McKasson - Evan Price - Emily Onderdonk - Mike Block - Tristan Clarridge

Fraser, long regarded as Scotland�s premier fiddle ambassador, and the sizzlingly-talented young California cellist Haas continue to delight audiences with live performances throughout the US, Canada and Europe and with their seminal and highly inspirational previous releases �Fire & Grace� and �In the Moment�.