Natalie MacMaster

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title: "Natalie MacMaster" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1972-births", "living-people", "20th-century-canadian-violinists-and-fiddlers", "20th-century-canadian-women-pianists", "21st-century-canadian-violinists-and-fiddlers", "21st-century-canadian-women-pianists", "canadian-female-dancers", "canadian-folk-music-award-winners", "canadian-folk-violinists", "canadian-people-of-scottish-descent", "canadian-women-violinists-and-fiddlers", "cape-breton-fiddlers", "juno-award-for-instrumental-album-of-the-year-winners", "members-of-the-order-of-canada", "members-of-the-order-of-nova-scotia", "musicians-from-nova-scotia", "nova-scotia-teachers-college-alumni", "people-from-cape-breton-island", "people-from-inverness-county,-nova-scotia", "people-from-peterborough-county", "rounder-records-artists"] description: "Canadian musician" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_MacMaster" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian musician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]

Field	Value
name	Natalie MacMaster
image	Natalie MacMaster 2007.jpg
caption	MacMaster performing in Centralville, Massachusetts, 2007
image_size
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth_name	Natalie Ann MacMaster
birth_date
birth_place	Troy, Nova Scotia, Canada
instrument	Fiddle, piano, vocals
genre	Cape Breton fiddle music
occupation	Musician
years_active	1989–present
label	Rounder Records
associated_acts	Buddy MacMaster
Donnell Leahy
website
::

| name = Natalie MacMaster | image = Natalie MacMaster 2007.jpg | caption = MacMaster performing in Centralville, Massachusetts, 2007 | image_size = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = Natalie Ann MacMaster | birth_date = | birth_place = Troy, Nova Scotia, Canada | instrument = Fiddle, piano, vocals | genre = Cape Breton fiddle music | occupation = Musician | years_active = 1989–present | label = Rounder Records | associated_acts = Buddy MacMaster Donnell Leahy | website = | current_members = | past_members = Natalie MacMaster (born June 13, 1972) is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. She has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma. She has appeared at the Celtic Colours festival in Cape Breton, Celtic Connections in Scotland and MerleFest in the United States.

Background

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Natalie_McMaster_&_Donnell_Leahy_at_SoM2018.jpg" caption="MacMaster and Donnell Leahy performing together at the 2018 [[Burlington's Sound of Music Festival"] ::

MacMaster is the daughter of Alex and Minnie (née Beaton) MacMaster and the sister of Kevin and David MacMaster. She is the niece of the late renowned Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster and the cousin of two other fiddlers, Ashley MacIsaac and Andrea Beaton. She is also distantly related to Jack White.

In 2002, she married the fiddler Donnell Leahy of the Leahy family band, and moved to Lakefield, Ontario. They have seven children, and have performed and recorded together as a duo, and occasionally include their children, who also play fiddle, in their performances.

Musical career

MacMaster began playing the fiddle at the age of nine, and made her performing debut the same year at a square dance in Glencoe Mills, Nova Scotia. When she was 16, she released her first album, Four on the Floor, and a second album, Road to the Isle, followed in 1991. Her first album was self-produced, Both albums were initially released only on cassette, but Rounder Records omitted a few tracks and re-released them as A Compilation in 1998. In 1999, she performed at the Juno Awards show in Hamilton.

In recent years she has expanded her musical repertoire, mixing her Cape Breton roots with music from Scotland and Ireland, as well as American bluegrass.

In 2004, MacMaster appeared on Sharon, Lois & Bram's 25th Anniversary Concert special titled 25 Years of Skinnamarink that was broadcast on CBC on January 1, 2004, at 7:00pm. She performed two songs with the trio, "C-H-I-C-K-E-N" and "Grandpa's Farm".

Awards

MacMaster has received a number of Canadian music awards, including several "Artist of the Year" awards from the East Coast Music Association, two Juno Awards for best instrumental album, and "Fiddler of the Year" from the Canadian Country Music Association. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Niagara University in New York in 2006. In 2006, she was made a member of the Order of Canada and, in 2020, she was made a member of the Order of Nova Scotia. In 2023, she was inducted into the Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour at the 2023 Canadian Grand Masters event in Truro, Nova Scotia.

Discography

Albums

::data[format=table] | Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | CAN | US Heat | US Indie | US Folk | US Grass | US World | Four on the Floor | Road to the Isle | Fit as a Fiddle | A Compilation | No Boundaries | In My Hands | My Roots Are Showing | Live | Blueprint | Natalie & Buddy MacMaster: Traditional Music from Cape Breton Island | Yours Truly | Cape Breton Girl | One (with Donnell Leahy) | A Celtic Family Christmas (with Donnell Leahy) | Sketches | Canvas (with Donnell Leahy) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 32 | — | — | — | — | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23 | 4 | 15 | 6 | — | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 49 | — | — | — | 10 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Singles

::data[format=table]

Year	Single	Peak positions	Album	CAN AC	"Catharsis"	"Fiddle and Bow" (with Bruce Guthro)	"The Drunken Piper" (with Cookie Rankin)	"In My Hands"	"Get Me Through December" (with Alison Krauss)	"Appropriate Dipstick"
1996	—	No Boundaries
1997	—
—
1999	18	In My Hands
40
2004	—	Blueprint
"—" denotes releases that did not chart
::

Music videos

::data[format=table] | Year | Video | Director | "Catharsis" | "Fiddle and Bow" (with Bruce Guthro) | "The Drunken Piper" (with Cookie Rankin) | "In My Hands" | "Get Me Through December" (with Alison Krauss) | "Appropriate Dipstick" | "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (with Johnny Reid and The Rankins) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1996 | | | | | | | | | | | 1997 | Andrew MacNaughtan | | | | | | | | | | 1999 | Christopher Mills | | | | | | | | | | Mark Hesselink | | | | | | | | | | | 2004 | | | | | | | | | | | 2014 | Margaret Malandrucco | | | | | | | | | ::

Other appearances

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Natalie_MacMaster_at_MerleFest,_2004.gif" caption="MacMaster at Merlefest, 2004"] ::

• Traditional Music From Cape Breton Island, Nimbus NI5383, 1993 (two tracks)
• Celtic Colours – The Road Home, 1997 (one track)
• Celtic Colours – The Second Wave, 1998 (one track)
• Celtic Colours – Forgotten Roots, 1999 (one track)
• Roots Music: An American Journey, Rounder 0501, 2001 (one track)
• Songs for the Savoy, 2001 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — The Colours of Cape Breton, 2002 (one track)
• Celtic Colours — Volume VII, 2003 (one track)
• The Rough Guide to the Music of Canada, 2005 (one track)
• Yo-Yo Ma & Friends: Songs of Joy and Peace; Songs:A Christmas Jig/Mouth of the Tobique Reel; 2008 (Sony BMG)
• Thomas Dolby: Amerikana EP, Songs:Toad Lickers and 17 Hills, 2010 (Lost Toy People, Inc)

References

References

1. (June 19, 2007). "White Stripes Gear up for Canada, Find Family Along the Way".
2. Iwasaki, Scott. (February 15, 2019). "MacMaster and Leahy have combined their love of music with their love of family". Park Record.
3. Gillard, Cheryl. (2013). "Natalie MacMaster".
4. while her second was co-produced by John Morris Rankin ([[The Rankin Family]]) and Tom O'Keefe.According to original cassette jacket
5. McCann, Mike. "Live Reviews: The 1999 Juno Awards March 7, 1999 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, ON". Chart Attack.
6. (March 8, 2012). "A Celtic Celebration with Natalie MacMaster". National Arts Centre, Ottawa.
7. (May 2, 2007). "Governor General to invest 41 recipients into the Order of Canada". The Governor General of Canada.
8. "Canadian Grand Masters - 2023".

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