Biography:
Effervescent and engaging, Boston-based fiddler Hanneke Cassel is a performer, teacher and composer whose career spans over two decades. Her style fuses influences from the Isle of Skye, Scotland and Cape Breton Island with Americana grooves and musical innovations, creating a cutting-edge acoustic sound that retains the integrity and spirit of the Scottish tradition. Hanneke’s music is a blend of the contemporary and traditional, described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.”
A native of Port Orford, Oregon, Hanneke started out as a Texas-style fiddler and went on to win the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship. This title awarded her the opportunity to study with Scottish fiddle master Alasdair Fraser and introduced her to fiddle camps and the folk community — both of which continue to play an integral role in her life. Hanneke teaches regularly at Fraser’s Valley of the Moon and Sierra Fiddle Camps, Silk Road’s Global Musician Workshop, the Mike Block String Camp, and Harald Haugaard’s International Fiddle School. She holds a Bachelors in Violin Performance from the Berklee College of Music and has returned as a guest clinician to Berklee’s American Roots Department.
Hanneke is a sought-after performer who has graced stages across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. She has been featured at Scotland’s Celtic Connections Festival, Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours, Boston WGBH’s Christmas Celtic Sojourn with Brian O’Donovan, Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the National Celtic Festival in Port Arlington, Australia. In addition to performing with her own band, Hanneke has been featured on PBS with fiddle band Childsplay and has performed with Baroque/Celtic group Ensemble Galilei at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and the National Geographic in Washington, D.C.