Dexter Native to Perform at Saline Celtic Festival

Dexter native and cello player Leigh Rudner will perform at the Saline Celtic Festival on Saturday with Maura Shawn Scanlin, the reigning and youngest U.S. Open National Scottish Fiddling Champion.

The duo will perform at 4 p.m. on the Red Dragon Stage and 6:30 p.m. on the Brecon Stage in downtown Saline.

Rudner played cello in Dexter Community Schools orchestras for most of her primary and secondary education, sang in the school choirs and participated in some drama activities in 2002 and 2003. She attended DHS before transferring to Clonlara School in Ann Arbor her sophomore year.

“My parents have lived in Dexter Township for over 25 years and introduced my brother and me to folk music by taking us to fiddle camps and traditional arts festivals throughout the United States and eastern Canada while we were in middle school and high school,” she said.

Rudner's first official fiddle experience was at Phillips' Family Fiddle Camp in Saline when she was in fifth grade, and from there she has continued to explore old time, Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and Cajun music on the cello.

In 2009 she completed a bachelor of arts degree in music at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, through a joint program between the university and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

She became the first freshman to win CWRU’s concerto competition, performing Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto in A-minor with the University Circle Symphony Orchestra.

She completed her master's degree in cello performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro this year. Her training in Scottish music comes primarily through the Ceilidh Trail School of Celtic Music on Cape Breton Island in 2003 and 2010.

Although Rudner now lives in North Carolina, when she’s back in her hometown she plays in the Sunday Irish Session at Conor O’Neill’s pub in downtown Ann Arbor. She is planning a series of solo cello recitals in Dexter, Cleveland and Greensboro this year.

“I enjoy Celtic music because I find it fun, challenging and beautiful to listen to, and also because of its strong community-oriented social contextualization in open jam sessions and dance halls,” she said. “Like many of the performers who cherish it, this versatile genre works equally well when played on a stage in concert or in a hall for dancing or by everybody in a community for recreation and bonding.”

Rudner, who in 2008 became the first cellist to win the Riverfolk Fiddle Contest in Manchester, is looking forward to performing at the Saline Celtic Festival.

“As an activist, the festival is an important local event that keeps music thriving close to home, presenting area artists alongside touring acts from outside Michigan,” she said. “As an individual artist, this is my first time performing at the festival, and as a collaborator, this is my first opportunity to manage all of the rhythmic, harmonic and even melodic support for a Scottish fiddler on stage. I will be Maura’s only accompanist during our part of the show.”

The Saline Celtic Festival will feature a 5K run, music and dance, jousting knights, clan encampments, living history re-enactments, pipe
bands, weaving demonstrations, sheepdogs, rugby games, an Irish song-and-dance competition, food and drink, Celtic merchandise and Highland athletics.

Festival attendees can take part in a “Celtic Survivor” contest or the Haggis Hurl, Celtic Clobber or Golf Chip competitions.

Tickets for Friday's Pub Night at Mill Pond Park are $5 at the gate. Tickets at the gate on Saturday are $5 for ages 13 to 17, $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and veterans. Admission is free for active military and children 12 and under. After 8 p.m., the cost is $5. Adult tickets are $10 when purchased online.

For more information, visit www.salineceltic.org.