{"id":206298,"date":"2026-03-05T23:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206298\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T23:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T23:07:17","slug":"san-francisco-scottish-fiddlers-coming-to-aptos-tpg-online-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206298\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers Coming to Aptos \u2013 TPG Online Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tBy Jon Chown<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers will be coming to Aptos in May as part of a three-city concert series led by fiddler and music director Caroline McCaskey.<\/p>\n

The group will perform at 2 p.m. May 10 at the Crocker Theater in Aptos, the final stop of its \u201cStravaig\u201d spring concert series, which also includes performances May 8 in Davis and May 9 in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

\"Scottish<\/a><\/p>\n

Caroline McCaskey<\/p>\n

The fiddling ensemble was founded in 1986 by legendary Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and includes more than 200 members overall, with more than 65 performers expected onstage for the concerts.<\/p>\n

The spring concert series is the organization\u2019s major annual event.<\/p>\n

McCaskey, a 2019 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, is leading the annual spring performances for the first time, taking over for Fraser, who turns 71 in April.<\/p>\n

McCaskey said it is a huge honor. She joined the group about 25 years ago at age 12 after hearing her mother play Fraser\u2019s records. His first album, \u201cPortrait of a Scottish Fiddler,\u201d was released in 1982 a year after he moved to California.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents loved to listen to music and my mom loved Alasdair Fraser, and as a young kid, thought I needed to do that. It\u2019s so compelling, the Scottish music. I still feel that way about it,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you were to tell 11-year-old Catherine that she would step in for Alasdair someday, it would blow her mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concert has a strong local connection: Santa Cruz County cellist Renata Bratt serves as the ensemble\u2019s cello leader and will be among the featured performers in Aptos.<\/p>\n

\"Scottish<\/a>Bratt, an educator and composer who has played with the group since 2004, has performed in a range of musical styles from classical and jazz to folk traditions. \u201cShe\u2019s fantastic,\u201d McCaskey said.<\/p>\n

The ensemble features fiddles, cello, piano, guitars and percussion performing traditional Scottish and Irish repertoire alongside music from other Celtic-influenced traditions. McCaskey described the performance as \u201clike a big welcoming party with fiddles.\u201d It will include dance tunes and lyrical ballads drawn primarily from Scottish fiddle traditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is invited to the party. They can expect to see people gathering in the way humans always have to share stories and song and dance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers rehearse monthly throughout the year, and with more than 50 musicians on stage at once, McCaskey said it is a force.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just nothing like it,\u201d she said. \u201cFiddles, of course, are exciting to listen to. When you get us all tougher the energy is like nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Tickets and information are available online at www.sfscottishfiddlers.org<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP PHOTO:\u00a0Caroline McCaskey will lead the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers when they appear in Aptos on May 8. \u2022 Photo Credit: Amy Luper<\/p>\n

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