Special Guests

Special Guests
Saturday, April 12, 1997

Paula Poundstone is a humorist of the stage and of the written word. She is a contributing editor for Mother Jones magazine, where she writes "The Poundstone Report" for each issue. Her writing has also been published in scads of other places, including the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Buzz Magazine, the Rolling Stone Book of Comedy, and another book, Comedy Explosion. Poundstone's career as a standup comic keeps her constantly on the move-she performs tour shows for 45 weeks each year, at concert venues and colleges across the country. In 1989, her razor-sharp wit and impeccable timing earned her an American Comedy Award for Best Female Stand-Up. She's also received two ACE awards-cable television's highest honor-one for her HBO special, Cats, Cops and Stuff, and the other for her HBO limited-run talk show, The Paula Poundstone Show. During the presidential elections of 1992, Poundstone served as The Tonight Show's "Official Correspondent," reporting live from the Democratic and Republican conventions. That same year, Poundstone became the first woman to headline at the prestigious White House Correspondents Dinner, where she entertained journalists, members of Congress, Cabinet officials, and President George Bush. Her most recent comedy special for HBO, Paula Poundstone Goes to Harvard, made its debut in February '96. On June 11, Poundstone will perform at Carnegie Hall with comedian Steven Wright as part of the New York Comedy Festival. This fall, Poundstone's voice will be heard on an ABC Saturday-morning show called Science Court. Her recording of the book A Mother For Choco (Children's Book of the Month Club)-about foster parenting-will be released later this year. A native of the Boston area, Poundstone now lives in L.A. with two young foster daughters, seven cats, and two rabbits.

Critics around the globe have been raving about Natalie MacMaster, a 24-year-old fiddler who plays fiddle in the Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) tradition. The Halifax Chronicle-Herald says, "While nimbly marking the time with both feet, Natalie MacMaster demonstrated superb fiddle virtuosity, ornamenting her choruses with elaborate figuration and an amazing variety of bowing techniques. No other Cape Breton fiddler is capable of this sort of brillance." Brought up in a musical family that stressed their Scottish heritage, the young MacMaster was encouraged by her father and musically influenced by her uncle, Buddy MacMaster, a master of the Cape Breton fiddle. She began playing fiddle at age nine and has garnered all sorts of awards, including the East Coast Music Association's awards for Roots/Traditional Artist, Instrumental Artist of the Year , and Female Artist of the Year. Her latest recording is No Boundaries (Rounder). Performing with MacMaster tonight are Tracey Dares (piano), Dave MacIsaac (guitar), and Tom Roach (percussion).

Maria Jette has had roles ranging from Monteverdi's Poppea to Handel's Cleopatra and Galatea to Britten's Fido. She lives in the Twin Cities and has performed locally with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, Lyra Concert, the Plymouth Music Series, and others. Her voice hasn't been limited to the Midwest, however. Jette has been heard on stages all across the country and with prominent groups around the world, including the Smithsonian Institution's 20th Century Consort, the Wratislava Cantans Festival in Poland, the Academia Bach in Caracas, and at New York City's 92nd St. Y with the New York Chamber Symphony. Jette also does commercial and theaterical soundtracks. Last month, she performed Bach's St. Matthew Passion, in Minneapolis with the Minnesota Orchestra and in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Choral Arts Society and the National Symphony. She is currently working on an album of Schubert songs in conjunction with the Schubert Club and rehearsing for George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, which will be presented April 27 at Hamline University.