Natalie & Brittany Haas
- Celtic
Sisters Natalie (cello) and Brittany Haas (fiddle) began their musical lives together, filling their childhood home with Bach suites and Old-Time tunes alike. It was on their own, however—following divergent paths through disparate musical traditions, countries, and cultures—that they both arrived as virtuosi and composers at the highest levels of contemporary string music. Fans of acoustic music can hardly mention one without referencing the other’s work. With HAAS, these singular musicians finally record together – in duo form – for the first time.
Credited with putting cello on the map of contemporary Celtic music, Natalie brings a wealth of world influences to her instrument, fashioning a tone and rhythmic sense that transcends any single tradition. Along with her longtime collaborator Alasdair Fraser, with whom she has released seven albums, Natalie has charted a new course through the string music of Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and beyond—all without losing the influence of classical technique or her American roots, the combination of which have been on display since her earliest years, particularly in her remarkable ease in toggling between the worlds of traditional fiddle camps and Juilliard, where she studied classical performance.
Among the most influential fiddlers of her generation, Brittany has combined a world-renowned virtuosity with a musical sensibility all her own—a combination that has gained the attention, and elicited the admiration, of some of the greatest musicians in the world. Having studied under Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger, Brittany went on to join Anger’s Republic of Strings, Crooked Still, Tony Trischka and Steve Martin, Dave Rawlings Machine, and most recently her own quartet, Hawktail (formed alongside Paul Kowert, Jordan Tice, and Dominick Leslie). A mainstay of Chris Thile’s “Live From Here,” Brittany’s fiddle has made waves throughout American music, crossing genres and generations in a new approach to her instrument.
On HAAS, these two brightest lights of contemporary strings join forces as a duo all their own. It is a collaboration a lifetime in the making, and a music encompassing travels through time and through the world. From Nashville to Norway, the Celtic Isles to California, Natalie and Brittany have absorbed, adapted, and made their own world of music. The result? HAAS.
