Maggie astounds listeners with her crystal clear voice, her mastery of the unique sounds and rhythms of Gaelic Song, and her ability to present these songs in a thoroughly enjoyable yet informative fashion.
Raised in Hyannis, Massachusetts, Maggie discovered Gaelic song and step dance in 1993 while on a trip to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Since that time, she has returned numerous times to Cape Breton. Her studies paid off, for in 1995, Maggie won the Women's Championship in Gaelic Singing at the US Mòd. After graduating from the College of Wooster, Ohio in May of 1997 with a degree in Music Therapy, Maggie made her first trip to Scotland. On the Isle of Skye she studied puirt a beul ("mouth tunes") at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig with the famous Barra singer Cathy Ann MacPhee. During the summers of 1998 and 2004, Maggie returned to the Hebrides to study Gaelic song at the Ceòlas music school on South Uist. Her teachers at Ceòlas included Mairi MacInnes, Kenna Campbell, Mary Smith and Catriona Garbutt, all of whom are well-respected in the world of traditional Gaelic music.
Maggie has released two albums: Songs the Mermaid Sang in 1997, and Rù-Rà, recorded with her husband, keyboardist/percussionist Thomas Leigh, in 2000.
Maggie performs widely throughout the East Coast of the United states. She is also sought after as a workshop presenter in Gaelic song and dance.
In 1998, Maggie founded the Callanish School of Celtic Arts, where she teaches Highland dancing, Cape Breton step dancing, and Gaelic song. She also works as a music therapist in Connecticut.