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Betty Beaton

Cape Breton

Betty Lou Beaton began playing the piano at the age of five. Although she has a couple of years of piano training, all her Cape Breton piano is done by ear. At 14 years of age, she started playing dances with her brother Buddy MacMaster and has been accompanying fiddlers for dancers ever since. Betty has taught at Colaisde na Gàidhlig / the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s, and also at the Ceildh Trail School of Music in Inverside Cape Breton, Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, Washington, USA, and Ceòlas in South Uist, Scotland. She has played on numerous recordings including the Smithsonian Folkways recording The Beaton Family of Mabou: Cape Breton Fiddle and Piano Music and, most recently, her daughter Andrea’s 2016 release Andrea Beaton with Betty and Dave. This year we’re celebrating Betty with a special concert.

Festival Performances

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