Christmas with Celtic Angels
By ANDREA NEMETZ, Entertainment Reporter
Christmas came in August for the Celtic Angels.
Fiddlers Gillian Boucher and Kendra MacGillivray, Kendra’s sister Sabra MacGillivray, a champion highland dancer, vocalists Stephanie Hardy and Patricia Murray and Maggie MacInnes of Scotland, a Gaelic singer and master of the Celtic harp, gathered at St. Matthew’s United Church in Halifax to film a one-hour special featuring Celtic-style Christmas music.
Celtic Angels at Christmas premieres on VisionTV tonight at 9 p.m. (it also airs Thursday at 7 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.)
"It was hard initially to get into the mindset, but as soon as we walked onto the set with the candles, sparkles and white trees we got into the mood," says Sabra MacGillivray, who grew up in Antigonish, but now makes her home in Creignish, with her husband, Ian MacDonald.
"We didn’t use the sanctuary, but built a set separate from the church. It was all white and beautiful."
Sabra dances a solo to the music of Winter Wonderland, sporting a skirt of white tulle with sparkly snowflakes and a green velvet bodice. "I felt like a ballerina," she laughs.
She also brought along six of her students from the Celtic Touch Dance Studio. The girls, aged 10 to 12, join Sabra for an upbeat strathspey reel. Brother Troy, an accomplished pianist, and Kendra play on the set.
"Christmas wouldn’t be the same without a Christmas ceilidh," says Sabra, recalling that at house parties, part of the family tradition was getting together to make music.
The middle child of three was immersed in Celtic music. Her grandfather on her mother’s side, Hughie A. MacDonald, was a well-known fiddler, her mother fiddled and played piano and her grandmother was also a pianist. Her father’s side was also musical and at every house party people would pick up banjos, mandolins and guitars and add to the music.
Kendra, who now lives in Prince Edward Island with her broadcaster husband Bruce Rainnie, brought her son, Mark Anthony to the set. Born April 19, the tot sat in a Jolly Jumper and became a little jumping bean when Kendra played, Sabra reports.
Murray was seven-and-a-half months pregnant during the filming of Celtic Angels.
Looking radiant after the birth of Rowan Marie five weeks ago, the Gaelic songstress says the show will be a permanent memento of her daughter’s first public appearance.
Rowan is a tree found in the Highlands of Scotland. "They would plant a Rowan tree in front of their homes for protection," Murray says, adding Marie is a nod to her husband’s Acadian ancestry.
Raised in Prince Edward Island and now living in Halifax, Murray sings the Holly and the Ivy and the Wexford Carol in the show.
"The Wexford Carol is one of the oldest Irish carols, it tells the story of the birth of Christ, it’s a haunting tune," she explains, noting it’s one of her favourite seasonal tunes.
Murray was also pleased to sing with Hardy, who hails from Cape Breton, and MacInnes, on an English/Gaelic version of Silent Night.
"They’re three different voices and they blend in so well," adds MacGillivray.
Murray, whose husband Michael McNeil, a medical student at Dalhousie University plays the bagpipes, has been singing Gaelic songs to Rowan since before she was born. "She really responds to the music, she finds it soothing."
Murray’s headed home to Summerside, P.E.I. for the holidays.
Because of her love of the season she was thrilled when producer Charlie Cahill on Halifax-based New Scotland Pictures Inc. approached her to be part of the production.
"I love the music of the season, the meaning behind the songs, the beauty of all the melodies," she says. MacGillivray plans to watch the show Wednesday with her family in Creignish.
She’ll watch it again when she, Kendra and Troy are home in Antigonish for Christmas.
Asked about her favourite carol, MacGillivray says anything that talks about angels.
"It reminds me of my mother, she’s our angel now." (Janice MacGillivray passed away in 2005).
