Mari Black & Troy MacGillivray with Matt Heaton, June 22, 2024

From Highlands to Islands

A musical journey through Scotland, Cape Breton, and beyond!

Get ready for an explosion of joyous, foot-stompin’ Celtic dance music, as champion Scottish & multistyle fiddler Mari Black and Nova Scotia/Cape Breton fiddler & piano extraordinaire Troy MacGillivray team up for an unforgettable musical adventure! Drawing on each of their deep musical roots, Troy and Mari will take you on journey from the majestic highlands of Scotland to the famed musical island of Cape Breton…and lots of other places where these musical styles have spread over the years. Come dance along to driving reels, majestic strathspeys, cheeky hornpipes, lilting jigs, and soulful airs as these two power-house fiddlers let you into their playful collaboration that’s been years in the making. They’ll make you laugh, sigh, tap your toes, and immerse completely in the delights of this beloved music.

Mari Black

burst onto the international stage when she became Scotland’s Glenfiddich Fiddle Champion, 2-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and 2-time Canadian Maritime Fiddle Champion, all within a 3-year period. Always eager to share her love of dance-driven music with audiences around the world, she has performed on five continents, playing everywhere from Celtic Festivals to Carnegie Hall and appearing on prominent radio stations including the BBC Scotland and NPR. Holding advanced degrees from the Yale School of Music and Columbia University, Mari is a passionate educator, teaching regularly at fiddle camps and workshops around the county.

TROY MacGILLIVRAY

is from Lanark, a small community on the north-eastern shore of Nova Scotia. Troy’s commitment to music has spanned 30 years and includes both practical and academic accomplishments – most recently an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick in Ireland. From as young as six years old, Troy was impressing audiences with his step dancing and soon after, his fiddle and piano skills. His roots-centered approach comes from a family of proud Scottish heritage where fiddle playing and Gaelic traditions runs in the bloodline. In 2012, Troy was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for contributions to culture in Canada. Troy’s strong career has brought him around the world playing and teaching from the North Pole to the Afghanistan while solo recordings have received numerous nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards.