GLFF 2003 Benefit!

Special thanks to our event sponsor, APCapital

Tickets now available online! Click here for info.

The Michigan State University Museum will present an evening of Celtic and Cajun music on Friday, June 6, 8 p.m. at MSU's Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, featuring Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster and Louisiana's young sextet Feufollet.

A benefit concert for the Great Lakes Folk Festival, this special event blends dynamic musicianship from folk festivals past with a preview for this year's GLFF musical line-up. The festival is set for Aug. 8-10 in East Lansing.

"Wrapped into one evening, we have an outstanding music program and an exceptional way for our community to support the folk festival," explains Marsha MacDowell, GLFF festival director and coordinator of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at the MSU Museum.

"The folk festival celebrates culture, tradition and community in a way that's both engaging and enduring." Proceeds from the benefit concert will support the staging, sound design and other production expenses associated with the August event, which spans a half-mile of East Lansing's downtown.

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Natalie MacMaster will be making her first appearance in East Lansing since she headlined the first National Folk Festival in 1999. Feufollet, with members of the group ranging from 14 to 18 years of age and hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana, will be back in town to perform at this summer's Festival.

Natalie has often been called "the future of folk music." She has won 11 East Coast Music Awards, including 2002 Entertainer of the Year. She's been named Fiddle Player of the Year the past five consecutive years by the Canadian Country Music Awards. She's won two Juno Awards (Canada's Grammy), and speaking of Grammy awards, has been nominated for one of those as well.

The niece of influential Cape Breton fiddler Buddy MacMaster, Natalie MacMaster has turned the music of Cape Breton, an island off the east coast of Canada near Nova Scotia, into an international phenomenon. Whether performing with her band, featuring guitar, piano, bass, drums and percussion, or with a classical orchestra such as the Edinburgh Symphony, MacMaster has thrilled audiences with her exciting fiddling and dynamic stage persona. Inspired by the musical members of her family, MacMaster began playing fiddle at the age of nine on an instrument given her by a great-uncle.

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Feufollet (say: FUH-foh-LAY) will open the evening's event. Common interests in French language, music and Louisiana heritage brought the young members together. Their performances locally and internationally have proven inspirational for anyone with an interest in Louisiana and Cajun music. The group performs original and traditional songs in the French language including twin fiddle pieces from the 1800s and early 1900s in addition to traditional accordion pieces. Several of the children in Feufollet are enrolled in French immersion programs at school and are fluent in French, which is a wonderful enhancement to their performances. The children are very active in promoting the culture and heritage of Louisiana through educational workshops in schools or camps and through the State and Local Departments of Tourism. Audiences enjoy the performances of Feufollet for the fine quality of their music and musicianship, along with the energy and spirit that the children portray. Their first recording, "Feufollet," was produced by Steve Riley of the Mamou Playboys -- himself a notable Cajun musician.

Having played together for the last five years, Feufollet has performed numerous times at prestigious festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Lafayette’s Festivals Acadiens, and the Merlefest in North Carolina. Last summer, the band completed a whirlwind tour in Michigan and Wisconsin. Feufollet is honored to have appeared in several documentaries focusing on the heritage, language, and music of the Cajuns of Louisiana. These documentaries have aired on Public Television, as well as national television in Canada and France.

Advance, preferred seating tickets are on sale now at $40; reserved seating will be $25 for the Great Lakes Folk Festival Benefit Concert.
Tickets can be purchased online with the MSU Museum here, at the Wharton Center website at http://whartoncenter.com or at the Wharton Center box office on the MSU campus.
For more information about this concert, please call the MSU Museum's Great Lakes Folk Festival phone line at (517) 432-GLFF (4533)