Biography

From her home base in tiny Prince Edward Island, Canada, fiddling sensation Cynthia MacLeod has built an international reputation that is expanding around the globe.

It’s a reputation founded in raw talent, nurtured by boundless energy, and polished to a gleaming finish by a touring schedule that has taken her across Canada, through New England, and as far away as Japan. Audiences far and wide have thrilled as this tiny dynamo takes the stage for whirlwind performances that garner spring-loaded standing ovations everywhere she performs.

Just as remarkable is the acceptance and respect accorded Cynthia by her peers. In a part of the world known for dazzlingly talented fiddlers, fellow musicians have awarded her more than a dozen Music PEI awards, including multiple awards as Roots/Traditional Artist of the Year and Instrumental Artist of the Year. She has also twice been chosen by audiences as Entertainer of the Year.

And all this before she’s 25 years old.

In that time, she has produced four critically-acclaimed (and top-selling) CDs. Head Over Heels (2002) won her instant credibility with a hard-bitten music industry and was named Album of the Year. Her second CD, Crackerjack (2004), built on her growing reputation as a precise, lively interpreter of traditional fiddle music. Hot Off The Floor (2007) combined that traditional sound with newer compositions and cemented Cynthia’s place among the very best in East Coast fiddle music. With her newest release, Riddle (2010), we see a new finesse, subtlety, and maturity that creates an emotional journey with heart and strength in every tune.

Cynthia’s grace and charm with an audience is unchanged whether she is performing at home at her perpetually standing-room-only ceilidhs in Brackley Beach, PEI, or taking the stage in front of thousands at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan. She is equally comfortable in an intimate workshop in New England, an enormous festival setting in Cape Breton or Goderich, Ontario, or bursting onto the stage to a packed house in St. Albert, Alberta or Whistler, B.C.

Her growing fan base across Canada and throughout the New England states knows what to expect from Cynthia – soft-spoken down-home charm followed by a high-energy, electrifying show with fun, fiddle, and step-dancing – and often all three at the same time!

Awards and Recordings At A Glance:

*Album of the Year for Head Over Heels (2002)
*Instrumental Artist/Group of the Year (2002, 2003 & 2004)
*Roots/Traditional Artist/Group of the Year (2002, 2003 & 2004)
*New Artist of the Year (2002)
*Female Artist of the Year (2002)
*Country Artist/Group of the Year (2004)
*Entertainer of the Year (2003 & 2004)
*Group of the Year with former bandmates Fiddlers’ Sons (2002)

Some Other Milestones:

*performing at well-known events such as Celtic Colours International Festival, Festival of Lights (Charlottetown), and the Celtic Roots Festival in Goderich, Ontario
*performing regularly for such organizations as the Canadian Cancer Society, IWK, and Children’s Wish Foundation
*showcasing her talent on East Coast Music Awards stages as well as the Canadian Learning Television Station in Edmonton, Alberta
*touring alongside Nils Ling and Gordon Belsher in Alberta and Ontario with the hit show, “The Truth About Christmas”

Contact

cynthia@cynthiamacleod.com

902.940.1825

RR#3 Hunter River
PEI, Canada C0A 1N0