What’s happening

July 14, 2012

CBC Canada Live July 11 concert 1: Barra MacNeils

Recorded at The World Trade & Convention Center in Halifax, NS. When it comes to getting an audience out of their seats and onto the dance floor, there are few bands better than The Barra MacNeils. This family band from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia has been touring the world for over twenty years with their […]

June 21, 2012

Barra MacNeils to play at Strathspey Place, Mabou

Cape Breton Post Mabou – Strathspey Place will welcome The Barra MacNeils to the stage this fall. The well-known family band, featuring siblings Stewart, Sheumas, Kyle, Lucy, Boyd and Ryan, will perform at the theatre in Mabou, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale Monday at 1 p.m. through the Strathspey Place […]

May 7, 2012

Music Monday 2012 unites Canadian students in coast-to-coast day of celebration.

Hundreds of thousands students fill the skies with song to celebrate music education Newswire SYDNEY, NS – Hundreds of thousands of students from cities and towns across Canada are uniting in song today to raise awareness about the importance of music education. On Music Monday, students and teachers take their music programs outdoors and into […]

April 22, 2012

Symphony Nova Scotia

Photos from our Symphony Nova Scotia recording. We had such a wonderful time doing this!

The Barra MacNeils celebrate 25 Years

By Dan McPeake, !earshot The Barra MacNeils have been Canada’s Celtic Ambassadors for 25 years and celebrate with the Symphony Orchestra. “It’s what we grew up with” states Stuart MacNeil, thinking back to the origins of the Barra MacNeils 25 years ago. MacNeil and his siblings, Lucy, Sheamus, and Kyle,have established themselves as Canada’s Celtic […]

April 21, 2012

Latest CD features the six C.B. siblings sharing 20 instruments, with SNS adding overdrive

Stephen Cooke, Halifax Herald CAPE BRETON’S BARRA MACNEILS are like an orchestra unto themselves, with its five brothers and one sister sharing 20 instruments between them, over a bass-and-drums rhythm section. Their sound is powerful to be sure, so imagine their fiery reels and poignant ballads amplified by Symphony Nova Scotia. It’s like James Cameron […]

April 19, 2012

The Barra MacNeils partner with Symphony Nova Scotia on new album

Laura Jean Grant, Cape Breton Post SYDNEY — The Barra MacNeils are equally at home at local square dances as they are on stage at major concert halls, a quality that has served the band well in a career spanning 25 years. “It really is a testament of the versatility of the band,” said Stewart […]

March 26, 2012

Canada’s Celtic ambassadors mark their 25th anniversary with release of new symphonic recording

The Barra MacNeils with Symphony Nova Scotia (Live) – In Stores April 10, 2012 For Immediate Release – Toronto, Canada There is something special about a live Barra MacNeils’ performance. Over the past 25 years this group of siblings from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia has built deep, almost indefinable, connections with fans around the world […]

March 15, 2012

Two cars as fit as a fiddle

Petrina Gentile, The Globe and Mail Kyle MacNeil Profession: Musician (fiddle, guitar, violin, mandolin) Age: 49 Hometown: Cape Breton, N.S. Notable achievements He and his siblings have released 14 CDs beginning with their first album, The Barra MacNeils in 1986 Studied classical music at Mount Allison University The group takes its name from the Scottish […]