International Duo Comes to Olympia

by Molly Gilmore for OLY ARTS

A cello is kind of a big fiddle, and in Scotland, it’s traditionally been paired with the violin (or “wee fiddle”). Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and American cellist Natalie Haas are reviving that partnership and making it their own. “They’re both world-class master musicians,” said Emily Teachout, vice president of the board of Arbutus Folk School, which is producing the concert.

Teachout, herself a fiddler, is a regular at the duo’s summer music camp on Whidbey Island, as is her daughter Maggie, 16, who plays both fiddle and cello.

Fraser has been called “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling.” “He’s unique and very charismatic and very passionate about what he does, and that all comes through in his music,” Teachout said. “It’s not going to be a traditional ‘sit in your chair and listen to folk music’ kind of night.”

Opening the concert is The REDS, an Olympia folk and traditional-music group. Its name is an acronym for the names of its members, all in their teens: River Scheuerell, Eros and Dante Faulk and Sage Scheuerell.

Fraser and Haas will teach a workshop Nov. 19. Both events will be held at NOVA Middle School, which has a large auditorium that seats 200. The Arbutus space, which serves as a workshop for arts from ceramics to woodworking, seats about 65.

“This is our first concert there to test the waters,” said Stacey Waterman-Hoey, Arbutus’s executive director. “I think it will be a great option for mid-size concerts—larger than Traditions but smaller than The Washington Center.”

What: Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas Concert

Where: NOVA Middle School,
2020 22nd Ave. SE, Olympia

When: Concert at 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 18

How much: $15-$20

Learn more: 360-867-8815 | Brown Paper Tickets

What: Workshop with Fraser and Haas

Where: NOVA Middle School,
2020 22nd Ave. SE, Olympia

When: 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19

How much: $30

Learn more: 360-867-8815 | Arbutus Folk School

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