MASTERS OF THE FIDDLE Brings a Whirlwind of Fiddle-Driven Music, Dance and Song, 1/23

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, celebrated as the power couple of the Canadian fiddling world, will play an unforgettable evening of Celtic music Saturday, January 23 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

Known for her flamboyant skill and trademark step dancing, MacMaster is the sweetheart superstar of the Cape Breton Fiddle, often performing as many as 250 shows a year. MacMaster has collaborated and performed with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti, Paul Simon, Béla Fleck, Allison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Carlos Santana. Her albums top Billboard's World Music charts and have won her multitudes of awards.

But to MacMaster, her beloved family now shapes and informs her musicianship as much as the jigs, reels, air, waltzes, strathspeys, marches and traditional folk that feed her spiritual soul. "Not so much the sound as the delivery," states MacMaster, who married handsome fiddle phenomenon Donnell Leahy of Leahy in 2002. "I am a Mom now. I am a wife. Those things are my priorities in life, and I think people get a sense of that - of that part of who I am - through my show. But my music itself hasn't changed."

MacMaster's other half is equally impressive. The son of a fiddle-playing father and a champion step-dancing mother, Donnell Leahy is widely acclaimed for his agility on the fiddle. Growing up on a Canadian farm with eight sibling members of his band called Leahy, they became fast favorites on the festival circuit. By the late 1990s, Leahy had won Juno Awards (Canada's version of the Grammy Awards) for Best Instrumental Group, Best New Group and Best Country Group.

Together Natalie and Donnell are a whirlwind matrimony of fiddle-driven music, dance and song. The foot-tapping rave-ups, heart-wrenching ballads, and world-class step dancing of this collaboration will leave onlookers breathless from the moment they hit the stage January 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Phillips Center.

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Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy - Masters of the Fiddle
Saturday, January 23, 7:30 p.m.
Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

The performance is sponsored by Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors and WUFT.

Pre-performance Discussion
Led by Michael Kemp at 6:45 p.m.

Ticket Prices $23.25-$39.25

Web sites:
University of Florida Performing Arts: www.performingarts.ufl.edu
http://www.nataliemacmaster.com/
http://www.leahymusic.com/

To Purchase tickets, call the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or 800-905-ARTS (toll-free within Florida) or call Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 (toll-free). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Phillips Center Box Office, the University Box Office at the University of Florida Reitz Union or from any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Cash, checks, MasterCard and Visa are accepted.

UF students may purchase $10 tickets (with a valid student ID) at the Phillips Center Box Office and the University Box Office at the Reitz Union. Other students may purchase $10 student tickets (in the balcony) at the Phillips Center Box Office.