Peterborough Musicfest has announced Celtic music superstars Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy will be opening the music festival’s 36th summer season with a Canada Day concert.
Natalie MacMaster began playing fiddle in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia when she was nine years old. Also a step dancer, she released her debut album Four on the Floor when she was 16 years old. Since then, the Juno and East Coast Music award winner has released 11 more records, toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana, and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma.
Donnell Leahy rose to prominence as the lead fiddle player for Leahy, a Juno award-winning Celtic-folk group that originally included 11 members of the Leahy family from Lakefield.
MacMaster and Leahy, who married in 2002 and now have seven children, have released three albums together: 2015’s One produced by Bob Ezrin, 2016’s A Celtic Family Christmas, and 2023’s Canvas, which introduces rock, pop, Latin and classical influences to their trademark Celtic sound and features guest musicians Rhiannon Giddens, Yo-Yo Ma, and Brian Finnegan, as well as their daughter Mary Frances Leahy.
MacMaster and Leahy will perform a free-admission concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 1st in Del Crary Park. Their live show features all seven of their children playing instruments.
This is the third concert announced for Peterborough Musicfest’s 36th summer season, with Toronto-based music collective Dwayne Gretzky performing on Wednesday, July 5th and Little River Band performing on Wednesday, July 26th.
VIDEO: “The Chase” – Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy
VIDEO: “Canvas” – Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy
VIDEO: “Keeping the Family Tradition of Fiddling Alive”
Launched on July 1, 1987 under the name Peterborough Festival of Lights with concert series founder Fred Anderson at the helm, Peterborough Musicfest is Canada’s longest-running free-admission outdoor summer concert series. Dallas Green, Our Lady Peace, Serena Ryder, Gordon Lightfoot, 54-40, and Blue Rodeo are just a few of the many musical acts that have performed over the years.
Overseen by general manager Tracey Randall and a board of directors, Peterborough Musicfest is able to offer free-admission concerts thanks to corporate sponsorships (most of whom, including kawarthaNOW, are locally owned businesses) along with multiple levels of government funding, fundraising initiatives, and private donations.
Individuals and businesses interested in sponsoring the festival can email sales@ptbomusicfest.ca or call 705-755-1111.
