PHIPPSBURG
Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and cellist Natalie Haas will perform in concert at the Phippsburg Congregational Church on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Fraser has been featured on more than 100 television and radio shows in the U.S. and the U.K. including “CBS Sunday Morning,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Mountain Stage” and the NPR programs “Morning Edition” and “Thistle and Shamrock.” He has made guest appearances with The Chieftains and as featured soloist along with Itzhak Perlman at New York’s Lincoln Center. His film credits include solo performances on the soundtracks of major films including “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Titanic.” On The Kennedy Center Honors, Fraser played a special solo tribute to honoree Sean Connery, a fellow Scot.
Haas, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, wasn’t even born when Fraser was winning national fiddle competitions on the other side of the Atlantic. Just 11 years old when she first attended Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School in California, Haas responded to Fraser’s challenge to find and release the cello’s rhythmic soul, and four years later, they played their first gig together. She now regularly tours with Fraser at festivals and in concert halls throughout Europe and North America. They have toured internationally for over 16 years and have released four critically acclaimed and award-winning albums along the way.
“Going back to the 1700s, and as late as the early 20th century, fiddle and cello made up the dance band of choice in Scotland, with the cellist bowing bass lines and driving the rhythm,” Fraser said. “Pianos and accordions elbowed out the cello, relegating it to an orchestral setting. I’ve been pushing to get the cello back into the traditional music scene for years, always on the lookout for a cellist with whom I could have a strong musical conversation, one that incorporated not just the cello’s gorgeous melodic tones, but also the gristly bits — the rhythmic, percussive energy that makes the wee hairs on the back of the neck stand up.”
The show will be performed at the Phippsburg Congregational Church. Tickets are $23 and are available from the church or online at BrownPaperTickets.com. Advance tickets are recommended. Doors open at 7 p.m. For more information, call (207) 389-1770.
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