Don't.
"I think it's a great compliment when people use that term to describe me, but that's not what I am," she said. "To me, a virtuoso is someone with great technical ability, and I've never had that. My strength is a feel for the music. My husband says I have the groove."
It's a knack the musician developed while growing up on Cape Breton, an island off Nova Scotia that was settled by Scots.
"There was a fiddle in every house," MacMaster said. "Music is in our genes."
Jamming with friends and family was a part of everyday life, but the holiday season always managed to kick things up a notch. "As a kid I loved Santa Claus, but what I remember most about the holidays is the house parties," she said. "The days after Christmas right up until the first of the year were always filled with music."
That yuletide atmosphere will be in the air Tuesday when MacMaster brings her own holiday party, "Christmas in Cape Breton" to The American Theatre in Hampton.
"The show is a reflection of my Christmas memories," she said.
It's also a chance for some local children to make a few of their own. The Hampton Roads-based Virginia Children's Chorus will perform a medley of Christmas tunes with MacMaster to open the second half of her performance.
"I'm very much looking forward to that element,"MacMaster said. "It's going to very lively and joyful." As the mother of five kids under 8, the 40-year-old fiddler is familiar with the pitter-patter of little feet and says her transformation from mom to musician is pretty easy. "All you need is some glitter and a tube of lipstick," she laughed.
And you won't hear this working mother expressing angst over striking a balance between career and family.
"I actually like being on stage even more now," she revealed. "It's my little departure from momhood. When you're on stage you're in your own world. It's wonderful for the time that it lasts."
MacMaster was just a teenager when she self-released her first album, which was only available on cassette. The fiddler's toe-tapping jigs and Scottish reels won her a loyal following and made her an in-demand collaborator. She's toured with The Chieftains and bluegrass great Alison Krauss and won a Grammy for her work with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. MacMaster's live performances generate buzz thanks in part to a trick she's perfected over the years.
"I was just 16 when I first started step dancing and fiddling at the same time," she recalled. "As the years went on, people came to expect it. As you get older you get a good sensibility for what the crowd wants. It's called getting your show legs."
Last year, MacMaster released her 11th album, "Cape Breton Girl," a title that seems to sum up the fiddler's attitude. "I was never trying to conquer the world," she noted. "I'm a traditional girl. My only motivation has always been about making great music. I just want to play."
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