By Sean Smith, Contributor to BostonIrish February 1, 2021 Sean Smith, Contributor to BostonIrish Maggie Holtzberg, manager of the Folk Arts & Heritage Program for state agency Mass Cultural Council, began playing traditional fiddle styles in her teens. "I do think that being a musician yourself can be helpful in evaluating and assessing musicians in other traditions. You feel you’re with family, because you have something in common."
Boston-area resident Maggie Holtzberg’s job involves looking after one of Massachusetts’s most prized attributes: its folk traditions. As manager of the Folk Arts & Heritage Program for the state’s Mass Cultural Council agency, Holtzberg researches and documents the array of ethnic and cultural artistic activities within the Bay State, from Irish dance and Cape Breton fiddle to Wampanoag regalia and Chinese seal carving. And she plays an important role in ensuring these traditions are passed along, notably through helping oversee the agency’s Artist Fellowships in the Traditional Arts and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships.