Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy Bring a Celtic Family Christmas...PARTY! to Saskatoon

by Scott Roos

photo by MARY ZITA PAYNE

Cape Breton fiddle, Christmas classics, family traditions and a whole lot of musical firepower are on the menu when traditional music power couple Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy bring their festive celebration to TCU Place on November 30.

Christmas concerts come in all shapes and sizes. There are the traditional holiday productions, the sentimental celebrations built around familiar seasonal favourites, and then there is the Celtic Family Christmas...PARTY! For celebrated fiddlers Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, the latter is an opportunity to take the musical traditions that have shaped their lives, combine them with the infectious energy of their growing family, and deliver a holiday experience that is every bit as spirited as its name suggests.

The couple, accompanied by their children and their world-class band, will bring their latest Christmas production to TCU Place on Monday, November 30. And while audiences can certainly expect a few familiar seasonal moments, MacMaster says this year's show is designed to be a little different from the Christmas productions they've presented in the past.

"Oh, my gosh, yes, (it's evolved)" she says when asked how the show has evolved since the days when their children were younger. "The funny thing is that with every passing year, things change so dramatically. But I mean, that's just with the ages of kids and all that, because it's the Celtic Family Christmas. But this one's a party vibe. It's just meant to be a little more like a lighthearted Christmas."

That doesn't mean the production has abandoned the more traditional and reflective side of the season.

"We still do a couple of our standards that are just really rich, deeply beautiful, like 'What Child Is This' and those sorts of things," MacMaster explains. "But it's very fun and it's really meant to just be like a very spirited, like get you in the Christmas spirit and the joy of that, like just wanting to be happy and light in life, you know."

And, of course, there will be plenty of the musical fireworks that audiences have come to associate with the two performers.

"It's very fiery. I mean, Donnell, he plays incredible fiery fiddle stuff and I do my Cape Breton thing, and that'll never change."

One of the biggest differences between the earlier Christmas productions and this latest incarnation is the musical development of the MacMaster-Leahy children. With seven children ranging in age from eight to 20, the family dynamic has naturally changed, and so has the contribution each member makes to the show. For MacMaster, watching her children develop their own musical personalities has been one of the most rewarding aspects of raising a family in a musical household. Their daughter Claire, now 17, will be stepping into the spotlight for a particularly memorable Christmas moment.

"Our daughter Claire is going to be singing 'The Christmas song', which is 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire,'" MacMaster says. "So it's kind of a sophisticated song, but she's 17 now and she sings it beautifully."

The show also incorporates instrumental fiddle music, step dancing and a selection of Christmas standards, creating a balance between the familiar and the distinctly Celtic.

"You can't have a whole night of that," she says of relying exclusively on instrumental arrangements of Christmas songs. "The fiddle music that we play really is so strong when we do its niche style, which is, you know, fiddle tunes from Cape Breton or Donnell's tunes that he popularized and that sort of thing. So that still remains in the step dancing and all of that. But it's pickled in with all the Christmas standards through the night."

And the family genuinely looks forward to the experience.

"One of the nicest little things I hear from my kids is, 'Mom, you know, the Christmas tour is our favourite thing the whole year.' My daughter Julia just said to me, she's 15. She's like, 'Mom, I can't wait to do the tour.' So this is really lovely to hear. And it's just a really feel-good thing for everybody."

The musical traditions that inform the production stretch back generations. MacMaster grew up on Cape Breton Island, surrounded by the fiddle music and community gatherings that have long been central to the region's cultural identity. Leahy, meanwhile, was raised in Ontario with Irish and Scottish musical influences through his parents. The result is two distinct musical identities that complement one another while remaining firmly rooted in tradition.

"We grew up very much in the thick of this authentic culture, traditional music...," MacMaster explains.

She adds that Leahy's musical upbringing produced something uniquely his own.

"So Donnell has his own sound, but it's rooted in those traditions. He grew up with all the house parties and, you know, that sort of thing. And for me (in Cape Breton), the square dances and house parties as well, local concerts, like just as much as you would eat food almost, you'd listen to fiddle music. Like, that's just the way it was. And it's still like that in many ways."

Those traditions have also informed how the couple has raised their children. While fiddle music and Celtic heritage have naturally played an important role in their musical education, MacMaster and Leahy have also encouraged them to explore other genres and develop their own interests. In fact, their musical tastes are considerably more diverse than one might expect from a household so closely associated with traditional fiddle music.

MacMaster describes pop music as something of a musical treat.

"I tell my kids, pop music is like candy. I mean, it's fun. It's delicious. And there's nothing wrong with it if you have it in moderation. But if that's all you're listening to, it doesn't give you a broad spectrum of music."

For her, traditional music offers something that goes beyond the latest musical trends.

"With cultural music, it's rooted in something that exists beyond fads and beyond, you know, some of it goes on for like hundreds of years. It's like, it's real stuff and it comes from people and personalities and traditions. That's what it comes from."

That doesn't mean the children are discouraged from exploring other musical territory. Quite the opposite. Her 19-year-old son Michael, for example, has developed a serious interest in electric guitar and heavier rock music.

"He plays his electric guitar. I'm sure if he could, he'd play it all day. But he'll play hours a day and he's listening to heavy stuff, you know, like Led Zeppelin and all of that. But I mean, I really like it actually. He's developing his skills and he's enjoying music."

And Michael hasn't abandoned his Celtic roots either.

"On his playlist, he'll have the East Pointers on there... And it's just like, oh, man, you're cool."

Other children have found their own musical directions, including daughter Mary Frances, who developed a passion for Latin music during her early teens.

"She's still swimming in a sea of Latin music. Like she absolutely loves it," MacMaster says.

Ultimately, she believes allowing those individual interests to flourish is every bit as important as passing along the family traditions.

"All of them have their own little thing, actually."

It's a philosophy that reflects something larger than simply raising seven musical children. For MacMaster, the importance of preserving and sharing cultural music has become an increasingly significant part of her life, particularly in the years since the pandemic.

"I'm telling you, that's something this mother bear has been on fire with," she says. "Ever since COVID hit I have just had a totally different attitude."

She believes traditional music serves a purpose that extends well beyond entertainment.

"You realize, oh my gosh, this cultural stuff that we do is so important. It's nourishing souls, really. That's how I feel. I feel like a musician is the physician of the soul."

It's a particularly beautiful way of describing the power of music, and one that seems especially appropriate for a Christmas concert built around family, community and shared experiences.

"We need to be in communion with one another," she continues. "and music creates that, how music draws together people and everything melts away, any differences, they just melt away."

For MacMaster, that sense of connection can happen on an enormous scale, with thousands of people gathered together for a performance, or in a much more intimate setting.

"Imagine playing on stage in front of those people who play in Wembley Stadium and places like this. It's unfathomable to think that 70,000 people or whatever it is can come together and celebrate in unison. It's just such a beautiful thing."

And it doesn't necessarily require an audience of thousands.

"Even just for a soloist sitting in a car listening to some music that really affects them, I'm telling you, it's very healing. So I really am passionate about passing that on."

That passion is also reflected in the couple's latest Christmas arrangements, which find room for some unexpected musical influences. MacMaster reveals that one of the show's instrumental arrangements of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" was inspired by an unlikely contemporary source.

"We do a version of 'O Come, All Ye Faithful,' which was actually inspired by a groove that I heard from Dua Lipa."

The result combines a contemporary rhythmic sensibility with a traditional Christmas melody.

"I just love how that one kind of mills together, I guess, that little bit of a pop culture sound with the traditional tune and then playing it instrumentally on the fiddles. So it's got kind of Celtic pop, jazzy kind of thing."

Other selections include a medley beginning with "Marshmallow World," the swinging holiday favourite "Man with the Bag," and a fiddle-jig treatment of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." It's precisely that willingness to have fun with the material while respecting its musical roots that gives the Celtic Family Christmas...PARTY! its personality. And while MacMaster has spent decades performing on some of the world's biggest stages, she has no intention of treating music as something with an expiry date. Reflecting on the years spent touring, recording and raising a family, she says writing her recently released memoir gave her an unexpected opportunity to look back at the journey.

"The ultimate thing that I realized is I loved music and I still love music, and that is the fuel that runs everything in my life."

She recalls a piece of advice from a friend that particularly resonated with her.

"He said, 'Don't get a job, get a passion.' And like, oh my gosh, that's me. That's what fueled everything."

Asked whether she could ever imagine stepping away from performing, her response is characteristically enthusiastic.

"You know what? I actually was thinking today, I'm like, I don't see me ever stopping."

That enduring enthusiasm will be on full display when MacMaster, Leahy and their family arrive in Saskatoon.

"I love Saskatoon," she says. "I love Saskatoon. I love the prairies and all that. I have some friends out that way too, and there's a fiddle culture out there. And the venue, you know, I think we've done a dozen times, I'm sure, in the past 30 years. It's just always an honour to play for people. I think they just understand it."

She adds that the family is looking forward to returning.

"We're all excited to head out, but yeah, can't wait to play Saskatoon."

Beyond the concert stage, as briefly mentioned above, MacMaster has also been sharing more of her personal journey through her recently released memoir, I Have a Love Story (MacIntyre Purcell Publishing, 2025). Published in October 2025, the 160-page book offers an intimate look at her life, from her beginnings on Cape Breton Island and her experiences performing around the world to building a family and musical partnership with Donnell Leahy while raising seven children. MacMaster describes the writing process as unexpectedly revealing.

"To witness your own life like that is a gift," she says. "It was an incredible process. I did not expect to get out of it myself what I got out of it."

The experience also gave her a renewed appreciation for the work behind her career, including years of extensive touring, developing as a musician and balancing the demands of family life.

"I realized, oh my gosh, I worked my butt off," she says, recalling a year in which she performed as many as 250 shows.

But ultimately, the book brought her back to the same realization that continues to drive her performances today: "I loved music and I still love music." For readers interested in discovering more about the woman behind the fiddle, I Have a Love Story offers reflections on family, faith, culture and music, along with family photographs, musical scores and even recipes from the MacMaster-Leahy kitchen. And for those who want to experience that musical passion firsthand, the place to be is TCU Place on November 30. After all, Christmas is a time for family, traditions and coming together. Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are simply bringing a little extra Celtic fire to the celebration.