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Revisiting The Moab Music Festival On Tuesday's Access Utah

moabmusicfest.org

Thursday on Access Utah we’ll spotlight the ongoing Moab Music Festival. We’ll talk with master fiddler Alasdair Fraser, cellist Natalie Haas, and violinist Charles Yang, all of whom are performing at the festival. We’ll also hear music performed by these artists.

The musical partnership between Alasdair Fraser, "the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling", and  California cellist Natalie Haas spans the full spectrum from intimate chamber music to ecstatic dance energy. This seemingly unlikely pairing of fiddle and cello is the fulfillment of a long-standing musical dream for Fraser: his search eventually led him to find Natalie Haas, an adept and powerful player who could help return the cello to its historical role at the rhythmic heart of Scottish dance music. Charles Yang, who was awarded the 2018 Leonard Bernstein Award, “plays classical violin with the charisma of a rock star” (Boston Globe), and his improvisational cross-over abilities on violin, electric violin, and as a vocalist and composer led The Texas Observer to note that, “Mr. Yang is a true crossover artist, a pioneer who can hop between classical and popular music and bring fresh ideas to fans of both genres.” Today on Access Utah we’ll spotlight the ongoing Moab Music Festival. We’ll talk with master fiddler Alasdair Fraser, cellist Natalie Haas, and violinist Charles Yang, all of whom are performing at the festival. We’ll also hear music performed by these artists.

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.