Dig out your party hats, folks: it's time for Opening Night at 2020 Addison! Come on over and help us throw wide the doors and exorcise the "new car smell" with a rousing evening of fiddle magic steeped in talent and tradition...the 21st annual Freight Fiddle Summit. You'll be in excellent company, with host Alasdair Fraser and some of traditional music's most notable players—Natalie Haas, Liz Carroll, and Darol Anger—as they bow, strum, and pluck up a storm tonight to help heat up the Freight's new home.

Alasdair, one of Scotland's most valued tradition-bearers, is justly renowned for his warmth and wit as well as his music. His richly expressive playing transports listeners across a broad spectrum ranging from haunting laments drawn from the Gaelic tradition to classically styled airs and raucous dance tunes, all delivered with sincerity, flawless virtuosity, and the sweetest of sounds. Alasdair performs with brilliant young cellist Natalie Haas, a recent graduate of the Juilliard School who has also toured extensively with Mark O'Connor and Natalie MacMaster.

One of the masters of traditional Irish music living in America today, Chicago-born Liz has been amazing audiences with her fiddle ever since she won the Senior All-Ireland Championship at the age of 18. Known for her fiery, inventive performances, Liz has contributed many self-penned "new traditionalist" tunes to the repertoire of Celtic performers throughout the world and won the National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship award for her great influence on Irish music in America.

For over two decades, violinist and composer Darol has been reinventing the string ensemble to incorporate his explorations into American traditional, bluegrass, jazz, and world music in groups he helped found, such as the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss, Montreux, and the Republic of Strings. He's also a longtime Freight favorite, beloved for the wild, inventive, you-never-know-quite-what's-coming-next nature of his passionate musical explorations.

And so...let the festivities begin!