The East Coast Music Awards have announced Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster is an honourary award winner for next month’s event in Halifax. She is being recognized for her 40-year career in the industry which has seen her earn a Grammy as well as the Order of Canada, the highest civilian honour for the country and most recently, the Order of Nova Scotia.
MacMaster has worked with artist such as Alison Krauss, Michael McDonald, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Carlos Santana. She is grateful to be recognized with the award and says that “Music, like love, is eternal.”
The ECMAs take place in Halifax from May 3rd-7th.
One of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia’s most important exports and a superstar in the Celtic music world (though she’s far too humble to admit it), fiddler and step-dancer Natalie MacMaster has built a sterling, multi-decade career on electrifying playing and must-see live performances.
Her latest album is Canvas, released on March 17, 2023 and just the third record with her husband, Donnell Leahy and features Rhiannon Giddens (“Woman of the House”), Yo-Yo Ma (“So You Love”) Brian Finnegan (“Colour Theory”)—and, on “Choo Choo,” Donnell and Natalie’s 17-year-old daughter Mary Frances Leahy.
