Natalie MacMaster, wife, mother and virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler, was profiled in our blog this summer. She commented at the time that “it’s important for [their] children to have their mother and father doing what their gift is, and doing it really well. Doing it in moderation, but so that they see and hear it.” She and her husband Donnell Leahy are expecting their fourth child, and seem well on their way to having found the secret to work-family balance.

In the announcement of an upcoming concert by Natalie in November,  My Mississauga reports that for Natalie her family now shapes and informs her musicianship as much as the jigs, reels, air, waltzes, strathspeys, marches and traditional folk that feed her spiritual soul.

“Not so much the sound as the delivery. I am a Mom now. I am a wife. Those things are my priorities in life, and I think people get a sense of that – of that part of who I am – through my show.

“But my music itself hasn’t changed.”

If anything, family has reinvigorated her commitment to the stage and her audience.

“I like being on stage even more,” she enthuses. “When I appear onstage, that’s my departure from Momhood – and I transform into Natalie MacMaster: the entertainer, the fiddler, the performer.

“ I relish that now more.”

Natalie  will perform live at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga Sunday, November 14, 2010, at 7pm. More details here.

We all have talents to build up our family, work and community. Do you have another story on how to combine these three aspects of our lives?