The Municipality of Leamington, in partnership with The Bank Theatre, is pleased to present the final concert of the Music Onthe42 Summer Concert Series, featuring Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy on July 29.
Famed East Coast fiddle masters Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy will hit Leamington’s SUNSET® Amphitheatre in Seacliff Park at 8:30 PM. The night will open at 7:30 PM with Mary Frances Leahy.
Hearing Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy speak reverentially about the fiddle, which has propelled their dazzling careers since childhood while cementing their status as Canada’s reigning couple of Celtic music, is almost as electrifying as hearing them play it.
Indeed, when MacMaster and Leahy married in 2002 — both were already stars in their own right — they could not have predicted their merger would recast what contemporary musical success looks like; or that they would produce a large family and ensure their mantelpiece was jammed with JUNO and East Coast Music Awards while creating an inventory of achievements spanning the globe.
Natalie and Donnell have released “Canvas” a brand-new album receiving critical acclaim, rave reviews, and worldwide radio play.
Natalie explains their journey in the creation of Canvas as “indulging in full musical freedom, throwing patterns of the past aside. With a few challenges along the way, it was a delight from beginning to end.”
Opening the show, at 7:30 PM, is daughter Mary Frances Leahy, freshly 17, a fiddler, pianist, dancer, and composer from Ontario.
Since age 5, she has been performing shows throughout Canada and the US with her parents, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, with an estimated 600 live performances under her belt.
The oldest of seven siblings, Mary Frances has been developing her own style, which is rooted in her Celtic heritage but also heavily influenced by jazz and Latin genres.
This new fusion will be displayed on her debut recording featuring all original material.
All are welcome to attend these free, un-ticketed outdoor events!
Refreshments are available at the Kinsmen Kanteen.
LT-Go on-demand transit hours have been extended to 11:00 PM for each concert.
Thanks so much for your heads-up on this very special event. Years ago, I met the Leahy family “children” when they were young and still all at home practicing and playing together. I was flabbergasted when I witnessed their performance, firsthand. The only way I can describe the brilliant and unique talent of the Leahy family is that the music flows from deep inside of them and out through their fiddles as if the fiddles were simply additional appendages. Brilliance at its best!