Scottish Fiddling
Welcome to the Scottish Fiddle page. Check out our schedule below for all weekend events and list of some of the main performers. Our special guest fiddler and workshop instructor this year is Karen Steven, Scottish fiddle player, teacher, composer and recording artist, originally from Caithness in the far north of Scotland, now lives in Petawawa ON. She will be accompanied by her partner, Alastair MacDonald on accordion as well as by Ottawa based Ian Clark on guitar and John Mitchell on piano. Together they complete the group’Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band’.
See all bios below.
See you in the air conditioned Arena Hall.
Fiddle Events You Won’t Want to Miss
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 2:00pm - 5:00pm | Scottish Youth Fiddlers Showcase featuring The MacLeod School Fiddling & The Students Of David MacPhee and more... | Arena Hall |
| Friday 2:30pm | Karen Steven & Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band | Metcalfe Centre |
| Friday 5:00pm | Karen Steven & Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band | Arena Hall |
| Friday 5:30 - 6:00pm | Glengarry Massed Fiddlers | Arena Hall |
| Friday 6:30pm | Pre-concert entertainment – Glengarry Massed Fiddlers | Infield Stage |
| Saturday 9:30am - 11:30am | Fiddle Workshop with Karen Steven Mini Concert with Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band |
Arena Hall |
| Saturday 1:30pm - 5:00pm | Scottish Fiddle Concert featuring; Special Guest Karen Steven & Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band, The Glengarry Massed Fiddlers, Bernard McDonell, Kelsey & Cassie McDonell, Ashley MacLeod-McRae, Ashley Flipsen, The Students Of David MacPhee, Charlotte Reed, Evelyn Cumming, The MacLeod Fiddlers, Rachel Campbell, Connor MacLeod, and more... | Arena Hall |
Karen Steven - Special Guest Fiddler & Workshop
Karen, began learning violin at the age of 13 in high school, later switching to traditional fiddling as a result of the twinning of the highlands of Scotland with Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia in 1985. In 1986, Karen joined the Caithness Junior Fiddlers who embarked on a 3 week tour of Cape Breton. Returning from that tour marked a turning point in Karen’s fiddle playing. She focused on committing her sheet music repertoire to memory.
In 1988, ’90, ’94 and the year 2000, Karen obtained scholarships to attend Alasdair Fraser’s ‘Valley of the Moon’ Scottish fiddle camp in California. As well as Alasdair, Karen studied under Cape Breton’s Buddy MacMaster and Jerry Holland in addition to Berklee School of Music Boston’s Matt Glazer and Irish folk band, Altan’s fiddler, Mairead NiMhaonaigh. Karen feels that the tunes, techniques, ornamentations and bowings she has learned from these musicians and from a multitude of others by way of studying audio & video recordings has stood her in good stead when expanding her own repertoire of materials to pass on in workshops to others.
Karen has enjoyed many teaching and performance opportunities at Sabhal Mor Ostaig (The Gaelic College) on the Isle of Skye over the years and at Celtic Connections international festival in Glasgow, Scotland. For 6 years, Karen taught music full-time at North Highland College Thurso and Alness. Professional development opportunities have included attending the Blas summer school at Limerick University, Ireland 2004 and 2005, and attendance at a week long summer school in psychology for musicians, London, UK. Funding from Aberdeen city and Highland Councils, Scotland, enabled Karen to bring the ‘ceilidh’ to the vulnerable in society. Along with close friend and pianist, Anne Taylor, the duo delivered performances in 10 carehomes to residents who would otherwise not have the opportunity to hear live traditional music.
Karen takes commissions for new music composed in a traditional Scottish style. She enjoys writing tunes for highland dance choreography and for Scottish country dancing. In 2021, Karen released her CD ‘The Stroma Swelkie’ as a fundraiser for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. More recently, in November 2024, her band ‘Atlantic Firth’ released a 15 track album of Scottish country dance music. Both CD albums, in addition to Karen’s book of 51 compositions, published in 2020 and her memoir, ‘NUDGED…A journey from music career to brain surgery and back again’ will be available to purchase on Glengarry Highland Games weekend in the fiddle arena.
Alastair MacDonald, Ian Clark & John Mitchell
Alastair grew up in the town of Wick in Caithness, learning accordion from age 12 with Addie Harper. On leaving high school, Alastair then toured with Addie Harper and the Wick Scottish dance band, as 2nd box player. Alastair recorded his first solo album on cassette, to fund his trip to Cape Breton Island with Caithness Junior Fiddlers, 1986. Since emigrating to Canada in 2018, Alastair has been playing with folk band Traditional Fare which includes Dan Schryer on fiddle and Paul McClelland on Scottish Small pipes & whistles. Alastair has sound engineered 2 albums since arriving in Canada; Traditional Fares 2023 album and Atlantic Firth’s Scottish dance music album, Ready, and… in late 2024. Ian grew up in Stranraer, Scotland and has made Canada his home for the last 40 years. Ian has performed with numerous bands over the years, including recording live album ‘Heat of the Moment’ with fiddler Pierre Schryer. Ian uses a DADGAD tuning, popular in the Celtic music realm, significant for providing a deeper sound. John comes from the Ottawa Valley and is much sought after as an accompanist, particularly for fiddle players. John features regularly at Ontario Fiddle & Stepdance competitions as house pianist. While rooted in the Ottawa Valley style of accompaniments, John enjoys injecting a bit of Cape Breton rhythm, which complements Karen’s fiddle style. Along with Karen – Alastair, Ian & John complete the line up that is ‘Atlantic Firth Scottish Dance Band’.
The Glengarry Massed Fiddlers
For many years, one of the popular features at the Glengarry Highland Games has been the music of the Glengarry Massed Fiddlers. The group varies from about 50 to as many as 80 plus musicians of all ages who gladly volunteer their time to play each year at the Games and other events. Their appearances on the main stage in the Friday night Tattoo and the Saturday afternoon Scottish Fiddle Concert in the Arena Hall are definitely the weekend highlight of all things fiddle. Sponsored by The Glengarry Celtic Music Hall OF Fame in the spring of 2015 they recorded a CD simply entitled ‘The Glengarry Fiddlers’. Seventy-four musicians showed up to participate and the CD was released later that summer. Most of the musicians are from the greater Glengarry area and throughout Eastern Ontario. The new CD is available at all the fiddle events in the Arena Hall Games weekend.
The MacLeod Fiddlers
The MacLeod Fiddlers are a Scottish youth group from the county of Glengarry. They are the performance group for “The MacLeod School of Fiddling” which focuses on the teaching, promotion and preservation of the Glengarry Scottish Fiddle.
As well as performing throughout Eastern Ontario, they have also toured Canada’s East Coast four times where they have performed in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia including the Festival Of Cape Breton Fiddling. In the USA they have performed at the New Hampshire Highland Games, the Scottish Festival in Dundee, New York. For thirteen years in a row they have performed at the Greater Philadelphia Mid-winter Scottish & Irish Festival. In July of 2012 they did a successful two week tour of Scotland. They have recorded three CD's which include “Ceilidh Time” in 2005 and Glengarry Roots” in 2010 and just newly released “Passion For Fiddling” 2018.
The group will be performing on Friday in the Youth Fiddlers Showcase and on Saturday at the afternoon Scottish Fiddle Concert in the arena hall. They are under the direction of teacher & instructor Ian R. MacLeod.
The Students Of David MacPhee
The students of David MacPhee come from many different backgrounds ranging from descendants of the first settlers here to recent arrivals, all bound by a common love of our local musical culture. They are generous with their time and talents, performing at many community functions throughout the year, either as soloists, a group or as part of a larger group. They recorded a CD in 2018 entitled “Tunes From Auld Glengarry”.
The group will be performing Friday during the Youth Fiddlers Showcase and on Saturday in the afternoon Scottish Fiddle Concert in the arena hall. They are under the direction of David MacPhee.
Kelsey & Cassie McDonell
Kelsey and Cassie McDonell are a multi talented sister duo with deep musical roots in their native Glengarry. From majestic slow airs to marches, jigs and reels their music captivates their audiences wherever they play. They have also performed with The MacLeod Fiddlers, Scotch River Fiddles and Kelsey currently plays with the Celtic group Fridge Full Of Empties. These lassies, with their high energy performances are an integral part of the Saturday afternoon Scottish Fiddle Concert.
Contact Info: If you are interested in participating with The Glengarry Massed Fiddlers at The Glengarry Highland Games go to The Glengarry Celtic Music Hall Of Fame website for tune sets & practices. If you are interested in participating in The Scottish Youth Fiddlers Showcase or for more information on all Scottish Fiddle events, please contact Ian R. MacLeod at 613-525-4096.