MacMaster Leahy family brings nine-piece fiddle show to Sherwood Park
Legendary Canadian fiddlers Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy perform at Festival Place June 8 with all seven of their children on stage.
Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy—two of Canada's most celebrated fiddle players—are bringing their whole family to the stage in a way they've never done before.
On Monday, June 8, the MacMaster Leahy Family Band takes over Festival Place in Sherwood Park. But this isn't the husband-and-wife duo touring solo. This is all nine of them: MacMaster, Leahy, and their seven children, ranging from eight-year-old Maria to 20-year-old Mary Frances, each a trained musician in their own right.
Raising seven kids while touring the world, the couple chose to homeschool and teach each child the fiddle. What started as practical necessity—keep the kids educated, keep the kids musical—evolved into something neither expected: a family band. Now their children play fiddle, accordion, drums, and vocals. MacMaster told reporters she never set out to create her own band, but in hindsight, "how was anything else supposed to happen?"
The performance will feature the uptempo fiddle tunes and slower ballads fans know, but with the added energy of watching a family of virtuosos jamming together on stage—older kids showing off alongside the eight-year-old, all of them building something alive and unpredictable. MacMaster recently released a memoir, "I Have a Love Story," that explores her life from Cape Breton to balancing music and motherhood. The June 8 show is a chance to see those themes come alive.
What makes this performance special isn't just the music—it's the glimpse into a family built around creativity, and the privilege of watching that family share what they've built together.