Hanneke Cassel
“
Exuberant and rhythmic, somehow both wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness…” – Boston Globe
Former U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion Hanneke Cassel teams up with cellist Mike Block and guitarist Keith Murphy for Scottish and Irish fiddle music and songs from Eastern Canada and Quebec. Block is a pioneering multi-style cellist, composer, and educator and member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble and Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio. A native of Newfoundland, singer/guitarist Murphy is known for his work with the bands Nightingale, Childsplay and Assemblys.
HANNEKE’S LATEST RELEASE, Dot the Dragon’s Eyes (February 2014) features an all-star cast of musicians – including Mike Block, Rushad Eggleston, Jeremy Kittel, Keith Murphy, Christopher Lewis, Dave Wiesler, Ryan McKasson, Cali McKasson Kovin, and Ariel Friedman. Influences from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton Island fuse together with grooves and musical innovations from the hip Boston bluegrass/Americana scene to give Hanneke a uniquely American approach to Scottish music. She creates sounds on the cutting edge of acoustic music, while retaining the integrity and soul of the tradition.
IN ADDITION TO HER SOLO ACT, Hanneke has performed with Baroque/Celtic group Ensemble Galilei, Irish singer Cathie Ryan, Cherish the Ladies, Alasdair Fraser, and Makem & Spain. She is an active member of Boston-based band Childsplay (featuring 20+ fiddles made by Bob Childs) and co-founder (with Laura Cortese and Lissa Schneckenburger) of Celtic chick band Halali. She teaches regularly at Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon and Sierra Fiddle Camps, the Mike Block String Camp, Harald Haugaard’s International Fiddle School, and the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School. Hanneke’s fiddling has graced the stages of The Boston Hatch Shell (performing with Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block), Boston’s Symphony Hall (opening for Judy Collins), Mountain Stage, and Lincoln Center.
AWARDS
*2008 USA Songwriting Contest
1st place INSTRUMENTAL
3rd place OVERALL
*2006 Nomination for Boston Music Award
Best Folk Act
*1998 Berklee College of Music Strings Award
*1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion
*1996 Oregon State Texas-style Grand Champion
*1996 Berklee U.S. Scholarship Tour Award
*1992 and 1994 U.S. National Jr. Scottish Champion
DISCOGRAPHY
*Dot the Dragon’s Eyes (February 2014) Hanneke Cassel
*For Reasons Unseen Hanneke Cassel
*Notes From Across The Sea Ensemble Galilei
*Waiting for the Dawn Childsplay
*Calm the Raging Sea Hanneke Cassel/Christopher Lewis
*From the Edge of the World Ensemble Galilei
*In the Moment Alasdair Fraser/ Natalie Haas
*Silver Hanneke Cassel
*Some Melodious Sonnet Hanneke Cassel
*The Farthest Wave Cathie Ryan
*Many Happy Returns Hanneke Cassel/ Dave Wiesler
*Halali Halali
*My Joy Hanneke Cassel
*Diary of a Fiddler Darol Anger
*The Wee Hours Various
PRODUCTION CREDITS
*Hop High Crooked Still
*All that is True Scott Alarik
Cassie & Maggie MacDonald
