Sarah Neufeld used to be terrified of intimacy—but that’s not quite what you might think.

Getting close to another human was no problem, and the Vancouver Island–born musician does just fine performing in front of thousands as part of Arcade Fire. But playing unaccompanied violin for a handful of avid listeners? That was a recipe for the jitters, at the very least.

“The first few times I played solo, I was so nervous I felt almost sick,” Neufeld reveals, on the line from the New York City yoga studio where she teaches when she’s not playing music. “I’ve never felt that kind of pressure.”

As Neufeld notes, she is at heart “a collaborative artist”, one who’s at her best working in a supporting role. So her recent move into solo performance has been an undeniably brave break from the past, a learning experience, and, it seems, an increasingly rewarding activity.

“As humans, we adapt to our surroundings and our challenges pretty quickly,” she says. “And I’m enjoying the feeling of that becoming less scary.”

Helping calm her nerves is that the violinist is touring as part of a triple bill that also includes Colin Stetson and Gregory Rogove, with all three playing unaccompanied sets. It’s an impressive—and impressively varied—package. Stetson, for instance, is the saxophonist who adds grit and intensity to both Arcade Fire and Bon Iver; solo, he’s developed a layered, almost electronic-sounding approach to multiphonics that’s one of the most exciting sounds in contemporary music. Rogove is best known as the drummer in Devendra Banhart’s band, but he’s also an elegant and imaginative pianist. And Neufeld, in turn, has figured out a way to combine her interest in minimalism with her folk-fiddle roots.

Expect some “hard-driving, rhythmic stuff” in addition to more lyrical pieces, she says, and when I suggest that this could sound like Philip Glass on a Cape Breton vacation, she doesn’t disagree.

“You’re kind of fishing in the right pond,” she responds, laughing. “I’ve always had a lot of more contemporary classical influences, and I love Gypsy fiddle, and I love all the fiddle styles from around the world, but I’ve never had a home in any of them. I just get inspired by the rawness and the rhythms and all that, but my melodic sensibilities are more rooted in pop music.”

Neufeld adds that both Stetson and Rogove have encouraged her quest to find new things to do on the violin—which in many ways is also her oldest friend.

“I picked it up at the age of two, although I didn’t have the most traditional path with it,” she says. “But I’ve kept on with it, and it always feels like the way I’m supposed to be expressing myself, for better or worse.…People say that the violin sounds like the human voice. I don’t know about that, but it feels as natural as singing or talking, or maybe even more so, actually. So it’s kind of like my voice.”

And a lovely voice it is, too.

Sarah Neufeld, Colin Stetson, and Gregory Rogove play the Western Front on Saturday and Sunday (May 5 and 6).