Two internationally touring string virtuosos will perform an evening of traditional and original music in Parksville on Nov. 7.
Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas have played their respective fiddle and cello together for 25 years, from music festivals to concert halls and soon they will appear in Knox United Church (345 Pym St.).
“It’s great when you find someone you can play with and are simpatico with for that long, for any amount of time for that matter,” said Fraser.
Fraser has become known as "the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling", which is appropriate as he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.
His musical career includes many awards as well as feature performances on Hollywood films such as Titanic and Last of the Mohicans.
Haas is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and has become one of the most sought after cellists in traditional music today.
The duo play a mix of traditional songs and originals and are working on their eighth studio album, Fraser said.
“Increasingly we’re doing original stuff. We’re just loving creating and testing ideas, testing the tradition," he said. "And yes we can go back and play tunes from 300 years ago.”
Fraser and Haas met in the U.S. at one of many music camps Fraser has hosted over the years, when Haas was just 11 years old.
“We teach fiddle, cello, piano, Gallic singing, late night philosophy, dancing, all kinds of dances and we take different cultures and we compare and contrast from Irish to Greek to Catalan to Moorish, Middle Eastern, Celtic," he said. "It’s a very creative atmosphere."
By the time Haas was in her late teens, it was clear to Fraser that she was "different" and had an "incredible" skill set, plus a ton of enthusiasm to learn and, as Fraser likes to say, "release the cello from its orchestral shackles and let go back to a kind of a more traditional music mindset.”
Fraser was on the lookout for a cellist because of the long history of Scottish dance bands being comprised of a fiddle and a cello. “Which is surprising to many. No guitars, no piano, back in 18th Century Scotland it was a fiddle and a cello.”
Born and raised in Scotland, Fraser said he grew up in a family that respected music and his father was a bagpiper.
“My grandfather’s fiddle was sitting in the house, not being used, and so eight-year-old Alasdair got the job,” he said.
Fraser soon fell in love with the instrument and enjoyed both the challenge and the exposure to violin repertoire as he learned from a teacher at his school. Physically there is no difference between a fiddle and a violin, but the musical genres they perform in are distinct.
He appreciated both and was influenced by greats such as Jascha Heifetz and Igor Oistrakh, plus Scottish violin heroes like Hector MacAndrew and Angus Grant.
“I became aware of what it meant to play the fiddle for a dance, you know, how you have to bow in certain ways and so I learned from all these people," Fraser said. "I think that comes across in our sound. We’ve done our homework and grown up in the tradition, but we also respect the potential of these instruments in a big way.”
The two have toured extensively across many countries and Fraser has developed a particular appreciation for Spain and its enthusiastic audiences.
“There’s something there about the way the audience just leans forward into the music," he said. "They don’t hold back like waiting to be impressed. They arrive determined to have a good night out. They enable the energy to kind of get heightened.”
Fraser is excited to return to Vancouver Island — another place home to good audiences.
“I have a wonderful relationship with that part of Canada," he said. "And again, I think we get that energy happening. We’ve had that energy on Vancouver Island and various places where people show up and they’re ready to have a good time.”
The concert begins at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $35 and are available online at Eventbrite and with cash at Parksville retailers Close to You Boutique and Fireside Books, and Edge Outdoors in Qualicum Beach.