International Christmas
George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, an epicenter of the area’s holiday entertainment, is presenting both a much-loved Christmas tradition and something entirely new this weekend.
Virtuoso fiddler Natalie MacMaster, whose annual Christmas performances have become a holiday essential for Northern Virginia fans, returns to the Center for the Arts on Saturday at 8 p.m. with “Christmas in Cape Breton.”
Appearing for the first time, the Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, whose Grammy-winning music instantly dispels Mexican-restaurant Mariachi stereotypes, brings the joyful “Fiesta Navidad” to Mason on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Fiddler Natalie MacMaster
“Awesome” is how MacMaster, 39, describes her longtime relationship with the Center for the Arts and her loyal Northern Virginia fans. “The older I get the more I appreciate the longevity, the people who are true blues. … It’s always been like “wow!” It makes a difference; you can feel the love,” said MacMaster before a performance soundcheck.
Celebrated for her spirited Cape Breton-style fiddling as well as step dancing, which she often does with pianist Mac Morin, MacMaster, who has played fiddle since the age of 9 and is the niece of famed Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster, will take audiences on a musical sleigh ride through Nova Scotia at Christmastime, performing traditional and contemporary Celtic melodies and Christmas carols. In addition to Morin, drummer J.D. Blair, cellist Nathaniel Smith and bassist John Chiasson will join her onstage.
MacMaster — who has collaborated with master violinist Mark O’Connor, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, banjo prodigy Bela Fleck and fellow award-winning fiddler Alison Krauss —doesn’t make distinctions between fiddle and violin playing, suggesting they are interchangeable, except the fiddle is associated folk and the violin with classical. On the other hand, the sound of the fiddle music from her native Cape Breton, she acknowledged, is highly distinctive.
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MacMaster — who has collaborated with master violinist Mark O'Connor, legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, banjo prodigy Bela Fleck and fellow award-winning fiddler Alison Krauss —doesn't make distinctions between fiddle and violin playing, suggesting they
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