The Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming will present Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas playing new & traditional music on Scots fiddle and cello, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 at 8:00pm, at Calvary United Methodist Church, on the corner of Allegheny and Beech Avenues, Pittsburgh, PA. The concert is part of the 15th Annual Balmoral Classic, which includes the US Junior Solo Piping & Drumming Championships, held earlier that day.
The musical partnership between Alasdair Fraser, long regarded as Scotland’s premier fiddle ambassador, and the sizzlingly-talented Californian cellist Natalie Haas may not seem an obvious one, but the duo’s dazzling teamwork, driving rhythms, and their shared passion for improvising on the melody and the groove of Scottish tunes has helped reconstruct and revive the Scottish tradition of playing dance music on violin and cello. They have toured internationally for over twenty years, wowing audiences at festivals and concerts worldwide with their unique sound and have released six critically acclaimed and award winning albums along the way.
“You would think they’d been playing together for centuries. While his fiddle dances, her cello throbs darkly or plucks puckishly. Then [Haas] opens her cello’s throat, joining Fraser in soaring sustains, windswept refrains, and sudden, jazzy explosions. Their sound is as urbane as a Manhattan midnight, and as wild as a Clackmannan winter.” — Boston Globe
“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… A positive joy.”— The Scotsman
“Reels and airs, hornpipes and jigs, and influences from Scandinavia, and even Broadway, flow through the strings commanded by this always-impressive and distinct duo.” — Songlines
“As the playing is of the highest possible level and the pieces are at the same time folksy and intricate, I believe this is the most fully realized hybrid of folk and classical chamber music I have encountered. You can take this set to a trad fest and a classical recital and it would be easily at home in both.” — CeltBritFolk
Tickets are on sale at www.showclix.com, or by phone at 888-71-TICKETS
Sponsored by: The Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization founded and maintained in Pittsburgh, PA since 1979. It is our mission “to raise the standard and promote the appreciation of bagpipe music in the USA by providing world class instruction, cultivating excellence in youth, presenting innovative musical events, and fostering tradition.”
