Kings Place welcomes Fraser and Haas to their Scotland Unwrapped programme, a fiddle and cello duo who blend a profound understanding of the Scottish folk tradition with cutting-edge string explorations.

This seemingly unlikely pairing of fiddle and cello is the fulfilment of a long-standing musical dream for Fraser. ‘The Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling’ teamed up with Haas, a cellist who could help return the cello to its historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music, where it stood for hundreds of years before being relegated to the orchestra. The duo’s debut recording, Fire & Grace, won the coveted Scots Trad Music Album of the Year award, the Scottish equivalent of a Grammy. Since its release, the two have gone on to record five more critically acclaimed albums. Over the last 23 years of creating a buzz at festivals and concert halls across the world, they have truly set the standard for fiddle and cello in traditional music. They continue to thrill audiences internationally with their virtuosic playing, their near-telepathic understanding, and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.

Alasdair Fraser has a concert and recording career spanning over 40 years, with a long list of awards, accolades, radio and television credits, and feature performances on top movie soundtracks (Last of the Mohicans, Titanic, etc.). In 2011, he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

Natalie Haas, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, is one of the most sought-after cellists in traditional music today. She has performed and recorded with a who’s who of the fiddle world including Mark O’Connor, Natalie MacMaster, Irish supergroups Solas and Altan, Liz Carroll, Dirk Powell, Brittany Haas, Darol Anger, Jeremy Kittel, Hanneke Cassel, Laura Cortese, and many more.

This event will last approximately 80 minutes, without an interval.

Reviews

‘ … you would think they’d been playing together for centuries. While his fiddle dances, her cello throbs darkly or plucks puckishly. Then [Haas] opens her cello’s throat, joining Fraser in soaring sustains, windswept refrains, and sudden, jazzy explosions….’ Boston Globe 

‘Fraser, one of the most respected of all exponents of the Scots fiddle, would look long and hard to find a more appropriate cellist as a partner. Haas can switch just as effortlessly as Fraser from a gentle singing tone to driving, dancing melody. A positive joy.’ The Scotsman