Irish Trad Music Blog

EMC Events - Celtfest is coming up this weekend (July 8-10), and offers more fun and excitement for its 15th year. "This year's event literally is bigger and better," says Jim Mountain, Almonte Celtfest Organizing Committee. "It is a tribute to all the performers, volunteers and supporters who have made Celtfest possible over the past 15 years." Beginning Friday night and running through Sunday, Almonte's annual celebration features three jam-packed days of Celtic art, music and song, language and culture. The event takes place in "one of the best natural amphitheatres in Canada - Gemmill Park," as well as Almonte's Old Town Hall. "Come and celebrate with us the great traditional and contemporary music, song and dance of the Ottawa Valley region," says Mountain. "Discover your inner Celt!" He notes nearly 200 performers will entertain residents and visitors during the festival. With Celtfest's growing popularit...

Cover of Cathie Ryan “You can’t swing a cat without hitting a fiddler,” is a fact at the July 9 Saline Celtic Festival, according to entertainment chair Sheila Graziano. Two high school fiddle groups – Fiddlers ReStrung from Saline, and The Tecumseh Fiddlers – will launch the day on the Red Dragon Stage. The Tecumseh Fiddlers are directed by Saline High School grad Amy Feldcamp Marr. One of the original members of the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic, she played with that group at the first Saline Celtic Festival. “Amy has established, from scratch, the entire orchestra program in the Tecumseh Schools, and started this fiddle group four years ago to give to the Tecumseh community some of the riches she gleaned from her own experiences in Saline,” Graziano says. The high school fiddlers will be followed by Blue Fiddle, featuring Tom Ware on fiddle; and a performance by the current (and youngest ever) U.S. Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, Maura Shawn Scanlin. Fiddler Matt Mancuso, a f...

“You can’t swing a cat without hitting a fiddler,” is a fact at the July 9 Saline Celtic Festival, according to entertainment chair Sheila Graziano. Two high school fiddle groups – Fiddlers ReStrung from Saline, and The Tecumseh Fiddlers – will launch the day on the Red Dragon Stage. The Tecumseh Fiddlers are directed by Saline High School grad Amy Feldcamp Marr. One of the original members of the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic, she played with that group at the first Saline Celtic Festival. “Amy has established, from scratch, the entire orchestra program in the Tecumseh Schools, and started this fiddle group four years ago to give to the Tecumseh community some of the riches she gleaned from her own experiences in Saline,” Graziano says. The high school fiddlers will be followed by Blue Fiddle, featuring Tom Ware on fiddle; and a performance by the current (and youngest ever) U.S. Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, Maura Shawn Scanlin. Fiddler Matt Mancuso, a former lead fiddler for Lord o...

When Paul Keating became artistic director of the Catskills Irish Arts Week in November 2003, he knew its coming 10th anniversary as a weeklong summer school for Irish traditional music and dance represented a rare opportunity. "It was a chance to further establish the school and enhance its programming," he recently recalled over the phone from his home in Hillsdale, N.J. "So I increased the instructional classes and expanded the rental of classrooms in a nearby elementary school that doubled the space for teaching." Mr. Keating also found additional funding sources, hired a lawyer to handle visa applications for overseas artists, refined the live sessions of Irish music so that they'd be more comfortable for performers and listeners alike, and scheduled music lectures for each weekday and more CD launches throughout the week. "I wanted it to be as good as it could be," he said. The 17th annual Catskills Irish Arts Week will be held from July 10 to ...

The Catskills Mountains will come alive from July 10-16 for the 17th annual Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW), in East Durham, New York. One of the most popular weeks in the Catskills Irish calendar, this internationally-renowned summer school - the largest in North America devoted to traditional Irish music and dance - is operated by the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural and Sports Centre, under the artistic direction of Paul Keating. In all, some 120 classes in all types of traditional Irish musical instruments are on offer across varying levels, as well as set dancing classes, contemporary and Sean Nos step dancing instruction, and Celtic crafts workshops in painting, quilting, metal, jewelry and more. There is also a children’s Irish culture program which runs from Monday to Friday for those aged 5-12. Daily topical lectures and video screenings will include The Yellow Bittern and Beautiful People, as well as a special talk from Len Graham on Joe Holmes, based around his biography...

A group of Irish natives and lovers of the Emerald Isle’s cultural traditions have launched a new nonprofit organization known as Culture Ireland Tennessee. The group is already planning a traditional Irish festival Aug. 5-7 on the grounds of O’More College of Design and around downtown Franklin. One of the goals of the Authentic Ireland Festival is to celebrate Irish roots in music, song, dance, film and literature with an interesting review on how they have influenced the country and bluegrass musical traditions in Middle Tennessee. The weekend’s events will kick off at 6 p.m. Aug. 5 evening with A Taste of Ireland at The Factory at Franklin. There will be dancing and informal presentations about growing up in Ireland and the country’s history. The event will be geared toward children. On Aug. 6, several workshops on O’More’s campus will focus on musical instruments such as the button accordion, fiddle, uilleann pipes and flute, along with performances and sean nós singing an...

Six years ago in the midst of the frenzied Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham at a special afternoon reception on the Quill Festival Grounds, some young students were asked to perform sampling how the CIAW was influencing the generational passage for traditional Irish music. Among those displaying their talents that day were some very young teenage women who made a deep impression for their vocal and tune-playing skill and poise on stage and behind a microphone. Coming from the Pearl River cauldron of music education and promotion, they hit their stride at the upstate summer school as they were exposed to more master teachers who encouraged them along with their parents. It was the nascent days of Girsa, the all-female ensemble who were developing an approach to Irish music and performance that belied their age but not their background and training. Following on an impressive debut two years ago of their first self-titled CD, they have just released their second CD A Swee...