Cassie & Maggie MacDonald

2011 Galaxie Rising Star Award Winners

2011 Music Nova Scotia Nominations

New Artist Recording and Traditional Recording of the Year

Fun, exciting, charming and talented Cassie and Maggie MacDonald are a dynamic Celtic duo who have emerged on to the music scene as the ones to watch.

  Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia with strong roots in Antigonish, the girls have been wowing audiences across Canada with their unique blend of original and traditional Celtic music.

Cassie’s fiddle playing has been described as “sweet and elegant with just the right amount of raw power” while  Maggie’s piano playing has an irresistible drive that will leave your foot incapable of staying still and complements Cassie’s playing perfectly.  Together these delightful sisters bring more than your average fiddle and piano duo.

Cassie is an award winning highland and step dancer  and also sings harmony for Maggie.  In addition to her piano playing, Maggie sings lead, plays guitar, banjo, accordion and is also an accomplished step dancer. Their music fits together seamlessly encompassing various styles from Cape Breton reels to Antigonish polkas, Quebecois fiddling and footwork to down east standards. Their vocal harmonies are sweet yet powerful and their step dancing exact and exciting, showing off their youthful charm and energy. Their debut album, “Fresh Heirs” was released in June 2011 and features many traditional tunes passed down through several generations of musicians as well as some original compositions from both girls.

Cassie and Maggie have been extremely busy over the past three years.  They were in Germany and Spain in November of 2011and previously, performed in Paris for the French Ambassador at the Canadian Embassy.  They were featured soloists in the 2009 and 2010 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.  The girls were also invited to represent Nova Scotia in the 2009 and 2010 Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship in Ottawa.

They have performed at numerous festivals including The Archie Neil Chisholm Stage at the Celtic Colours International festival, the Lunenburg Folk Harbour festival, Ottawa Folk festival, The New Hampshire Highland Games and the 2010-2011 Goderich Celtic Festivals in Ontario where, they were chosen as one of five acts to participate in the Galaxie Rising Star showcase. They play weekly gigs in the vibrant pub scene in downtown Halifax. Their summer schedule took them across Nova Scotia, out west to Ontario and as far as Bermuda.

In November they were chosen as official showcase artists at the Music Nova Scotia Conference in Yarmouth and 2012 will see them coming to the US to share their wonderful music with our audiences.