TSO Pops to Welcome Donnell Leahy & Family for CELTIC CHRISTMAS, 12/9-10

On December 9 and 10, the TSO Pops series welcomes JUNO Award-winning fiddler Donnell Leahy and his family for a traditional Celtic Christmas with singing, dancing and storytelling! Featuring special guest fiddler Natalie MacMaster, this Celtic holiday music party, under the baton of TSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, will also spotlight the Etobicoke School of the Arts Holiday Chorus in a high-energy performance.

For well over 100 years, the Leahy family, descendants of a poor Irish immigrant in rural Ontario, have been fashioning fiddlers that are remarkable in both their level of musical skill and their hard-working attitude. Iconic Canadian fiddler Donnell Leahy is the epitome of this skill and work ethic.

Honing his talent since the age of three, Donnell has spent his entire life with a fiddle in his hand. His initial skills were learned at home from his parents-a fiddle-playing father from Ontario and a step-dancing mother from Cape Breton. With a well-trained ear, he learned tunes from fiddlers both in person and on recordings, and his own style emerged; some even say he even created a new genre of music known simply as 'Leahy'. Whether he is performing with Leahy, alongside his wife, Canadian fiddling sensation Natalie MacMaster (they have just recorded their first album together), with his brothers, or solo, audiences lap up every amazing moment of Donnell's riveting performances. "I'm not the greatest with words, but on the fiddle, I can tell the whole story passionately," says Donnell.

Along with TSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, Donnell Leahy and Natalie MacMaster have created a Celtic Christmas programme that balances the traditions of the Leahy-MacMaster family with festive orchestral and choral selections ensuring a perfect holiday programme that appeals to everyone. Coming from a family with 11 siblings, and with six children of their own, one or two Leahy youngsters are sure to appear, performing alongside their parents for a special holiday treat!