Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May 1955, Clackmannan,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

) is a Scottish

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r, composer, performer, and recording artist. Fraser operates Culburnie Records and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded various summer fiddling programs: the Valley of the Moon fiddle camp in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

begun in 1984; Sierra Fiddle Camp in

begun in 2006; Crisol de Cuerda, a trad strings program in Spain begun in 2008; and Stringmania!, a trad strings program in Australia in 2016. Adept in various Scottish idioms, in recent years, with cellist Natalie Haas, he has helped reconstruct and revive the Scottish tradition of playing traditional music on

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

("wee fiddle" and "big fiddle"). Fraser lives near Grass Valley, California with his wife and two sons. He has won the Scottish National Fiddle Championship two times. In December 2011, Fraser was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. In November 2023, the violin on which Fraser had performed for the previous forty years was stolen from a rental car in downtown Portland, Oregon, along with his favored bows, a cello, and music notations. The cello was found and returned the same day. The violin and bows were recovered by local music store David Kerr Violin Shop the following month and returned intact to Fraser.

Discography

*''Portrait of a Scottish Fiddler'', Solo album -released 1982 *''Skyedance'', with Paul Machlis (Keyboards, Piano) - released 1985 *''The Road North'', with Paul Machlis (Keyboards, Piano) - released 1987 *''The Driven Bow'', with Jody Stecher (Guitar) - released 1989 *''Dawn Dance'', Solo album - released 1996 *''Way Out to Hope Street'', with Skyedance Band - released 1997 *''Return to Kintail'', with Tony McManus (Guitar) - released 1999 *''Labyrinth'', with Skyedance Band - released 2000 *''Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle, Vol 1'', with Paul Machlis (Piano) and Natalie Haas (Cello) - released 2002 *''Live in Spain'', with Skyedance Band - released 2002 *''Legacy of the Scottish Fiddle, Vol 2'', with Muriel Johnstone (Piano) and Natalie Haas (Cello) - released 2004 *''Fire and Grace'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2004 (winner, Scots Trad Album of the Year) *''In the Moment'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2007 *''Highlander's Farewell'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2011 *''Abundance'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2014 *''Ports of Call'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2017 *''Syzygy'', Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas - released 2021

Compilation appearances

*''The Narada Wilderness Collection'' *''Celtic Odyssey'' (

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

) *''Celtic Dance'' (

) *''The Narada Nutcracker'' *''

Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction film, science fiction adventure film directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and written by Musker, Clements and Rob Edwards (screenwriter), Rob Edwards. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' soundtrack (featured soloist, co-composer on "Silver Leaves" (contains "Alasdair Fraser's Compliments to Lorna Mitchell"))

References

External links

*
Crisol de Cuerda Spanish Fiddle and Cello Camp
website
Sierra Fiddle Camp
website
Stringmania!
website *''

'
film credits at the Big Cartoon DatabaseValley of the Moon
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Alasdair 1955 births Living people Scottish fiddlers British male violinists Narada Productions artists 21st-century Scottish violinists 21st-century British male musicians