NIC GAREISS and Maeve Gilchrist. AT LEFT, Natalie Haas and Yann Falquet. PHOTOS COURTESY PHIPPSBURGCONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
PHIPPSBURG
What do you get when you combine a cellist and harpist duo with one comprised of a singer and a percussive dancer?
The DuoDuo Quartet.
Acclaimed cellist Natalie Haas and Quebecois musician Yann Falquet will join Scottish harpist and singer Maeve Gilchrist and percussive dancer Nic Gareiss to perform together in a unique concert at Phippsburg Congregational Church Saturday. The show, which will start at 7:30 p.m., will showcase the intimacy of each duo, as well as the powerful collaboration between all four.
Haas is one of the most sought after cellists in Celtic music today, well-known for her 18-year collaboration with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser that has resulted in five popular albums and numerous international tours. 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, and Americana icon Dirk Powell.
Her husband, Yann Falquet is one of the leading acoustic guitarists in the Québécois music scene, having toured the world as part of French Canadian power trio Genticorum. In the last few years, the married couple has also performed as a duo, playing a mix of Quebecois traditional songs and new takes on western European folk music.
Born and raised in Scotland, Maeve Gilchrist’s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. Her many appearances include the Tanglewood Jazz festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the opening of the Scottish Parliament. Also a composer, Gilchrist recently premiered her first concerto for lever harp and symphony orchestra and is currently working on a number of commissions including a string quartet for Irish harp and string quartet to be premiered in Scotland this year.
Gilchrist and percussive dancer Nic Gareiss made their duo debut at Celtic Connections in Glasgow. Gareiss has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington and at venues and festivals throughout America, Canada and Europe. He has performed with luminaries of contemporary traditional music including The Chieftains, Darol Anger, Solas, Liz Carroll, and Bill Frisell. Gareiss has been described by the Irish Times as “the human epitome of the unbearable lightness of being,” and “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald.
The show will be performed at the historic 1802 Phippsburg Congregational Church, located at 10 Church Lane (at Parker Head Road) in Phippsburg. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 at the door; $18 advance tickets are available at brownpapertickets.com. For more information, call (207) 389-1770.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
