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Singers’ Club turns nostalgic in
“The Way We Were” this weekend

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by Daniel Hathaway

Singers Club SquareWhen you’re 125 years old, you have lots of memories to share. Institutionally speaking, the Singers’ Club of Cleveland has reached that elevated station of life this season, and it’s time to reminisce. The chorus will do just that on Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 pm in its next concert at the Breen Center at St. Ignatius High School in Ohio City.

“We’ve already programmed an old-fashioned Christmas,” artistic director Natalie Mallis said in a telephone conversation, “and now we’re going to give a concert titled ‘The Way We Were,’ with the Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford movie in mind. We’ll give the audience a look at what we’ve done over the years through footage of our performances, and sing songs from movies all the way back to the advent of the talkies and all the way forward to the music of John Williams. We’ll even project baby pictures of our current members.”

The all-male chorus is one of Cleveland’s oldest performing organizations, having been formed at the request of the Cleveland YMCA in November of 1891. [Read more…]

Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Festival: Natalie MacMaster’s Christmas in Cape Breton (Dec. 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

MacMaster-Natalie

Last December, Cape Breton fiddling phenomenon Natalie MacMaster brought her husband and fiddling partner Donnell Leahy and their children along for a heartwarming program of Nova Scotian fiddling at the Cleveland Museum of Art. This year, MacMaster popped down from Ontario in the middle of her family’s Christmas tour for a one-night show with Brett Mitchell and the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra celebrates the Holidays

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by Mike Telin

MacMaster-NatalieIt’s all about the holidays this week at Severance Hall. On Wednesday, December 17 at 7:30 pm, Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and renowned Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster in “Christmas in Cape Breton,” a special show that mixes folk and Celtic styles with Holiday favorites and Nova-Scotian jigs.

“We’re really excited about it,” MacMaster said during a telephone conversation. “I love playing music with symphony orchestras. It’s such a nice change for us. We do about a dozen shows with orchestra each year, out of our one hundred shows a year. And this is even more special because it is Christmas time.”

If you’ve had the privilege of hearing Natalie MacMaster perform live, you know she is one of the most versatile and exciting musicians on the folk and Celtic scenes. You also know that Christmas is a special time for her. “I’m a fiddler and at Christmas time in Cape Breton there are a ton of house parties. It’s a time to get together and play our traditional music, so there will be a lot of that on the program as well.” [Read more…]

Review: CMA’s “Masters of the Fiddle” — MacMaster and Leahy (November 15)

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by Daniel Hathaway

MacMaster-&-Leahy“Never work with children or animals,” said W.C. Fields. Good advice — unless of course you have such a reliable brood as Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who closed the first half of their sold-out concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Friday evening with an adorable parade of child fiddlers, beginning with 4-year-old Clare, then 6-year-old Michael, then 7-year-old Mary Frances, and eventually a cameo by 2-year-old Julia, who didn’t fiddle but gamely joined in a step dance. (1-year-old Alec stayed behind, while a sixth MacMaster-Leahy protègé was definitely involved in the show but hasn’t been born yet).

That gesture reflects the wholesome, family-values nature of MacMaster’s and Leahy’s show in Gartner Auditorium on November 15, an engaging, 2-1/2 hour festival of Cape Breton-infused music that took traditional fiddling to new heights of sophistication while preserving its down-home charm. At the beginning, MacMaster quipped that this was their last stop on a 12-city tour, “so you got us fresh,” and later narrated a long but charming account of how she and her future husband met. [Read more…]

Preview: CMA’s “Masters of the Fiddle” — a chat with Natalie MacMaster

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by Mike Telin

MacMaster-&-LeahyOn Friday, November 15 beginning at 7:30 pm in Gartner Auditorium the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series presents Masters of the Fiddle: Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. The sold-out concert includes French Canadian, Celtic, Bluegrass and Cajun music in addition to original compositions by MacMaster and Leahy.

“Sold out, how exciting is that!” Natalie MacMaster exclaimed by telephone. MacMaster says that she always looks forward to being on stage with Donnell Leahy, who is also her husband. She is also quick to point out that they do travel as a family and yes, they do travel with their four children. So how does MacMaster juggle everything that comes with the life of a working mother who performs over 100 concerts dates a year? “I don’t really know the answer, but I do know that life is full and rich and exciting and difficult and wonderful. We’re really living and all the things you could hope for are happening for us, with the children, building a home and being able to play music. It’s fabulous.”

MacMaster says the show as always, is very energetic and upbeat. [Read more…]

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